Family law is constantly shifting as the laws of society attempt to keep up with the norms of the population. So far in the 2026 Colorado legislative session family law has been a hot topic with eleven bills being introduced to create or amend laws relating to family law and children. Many of these bills cycle around two major topics parenting time and how to safely navigate internet access for children.
Bill Regarding Parenting Time
The Parental Equality & Child Empowerment Act bill was rejected by committee after strong participation by the Colorado Bar Association specifically the family law section. The bill sought to raise the presumption in favor of 50/50 parenting from a preponderance standard (an argument that convinces the judge by 51%) to a clear and convincing standard (an argument that convinces the judge by 90%).
Practitioners opposed this bill because it placed judicial efficiency above the best interest of the child factors, most importantly safety. Additionally, the bill failed to address concerns about instance of domestic violence and abuse that are not formally recorded by law enforcement and what victims would need to show in order to overcome an inflated burden. Nexus Family Law Group’s own Elizabeth A. Gregory, Esq. was one of the advocates that signed up to speak against the bill. The bill failed in committee and is unexpected to be brought again this legislative session.
Bills Concerning Minors and Social Media
One of the modern challenges for parents has been navigating technology and social media use for children. This year the legislature has also taken on the challenge with a laundry list of bills introduced on the topic.
Protections for Youth on Social Media is a bill that seeks to regulate the data platforms can collect and sell on minors. It also would regulate the times of day that the platforms can schedule push notifications to go out to profiles registered as minors. Nationally, such bills are not uncommon with some nations even adopting bans for those under 18 such as our neighbor Nebraska adopted in 2025. This bill is still under consideration by the legislature as of February 9, 2026.
The Protections for Minors Feature in Digital Content while similarly named applies to a more narrow subset. This bill targets social media accounts that are monetized and feature a minor in 30% or more videos within a 30 day period, largely seeming to target Family Vlogs, Mom-fluencers, and other family content creation channels that feature the minor children of the family. This bill would only apply to accounts that receive $0.10 or more per view and the content creator receives a minimum of $15,000 in actual compensation from the online content. If an account met all of these requirements the bill would require that a portion of the money generated be set aside for the minor in a trust account until the minor reaches emancipation. The bill contains a clause allowing a lawsuit to be brought on behalf of the minor child for enforcement if the regulation is not complied with. This bill is still under consideration by the legislature as of February 9, 2026.
