Colorado Abandonment Laws: An Overview and Practical Legal Guidance

Overview of Colorado Abandonment Laws

Abandonment laws are a critical component of the legal landscape in Colorado. In essence, these laws govern what happens when an individual or entity leaves behind property or assets without any intent to return for them. While the concept of abandonment is straightforward, the legal consequences of such abandonment can be far-reaching and complex.
In Colorado, abandonment laws cover a broad range of issues, including lost property, unclaimed funds, and franchise agreements. The laws are designed to protect the interests of both the original owner of the property and other parties who have an interest in the abandoned property, such as creditors, beneficiaries, and law enforcement agencies.
The significance of abandonment laws goes beyond protecting the interests of parties who have a vested interest in the property. It also serves to protect the rights of those who abandon property , ensuring that they are not unfairly penalized for leaving behind their possessions. At the same time, abandonment laws provide a mechanism for disposing of abandoned property and returning it to the public sphere.
In understanding Colorado’s abandonment laws, it is important to recognize that these laws are subject to change. Over time, lawmakers have enacted a variety of amendments to address the evolving needs of Colorado residents and ensure that the state’s abandonment laws remain relevant and effective.
Generally, abandonment laws require individuals to take reasonable steps to protect their property from damage, loss, or theft and to take action to recover their property if it is lost or stolen. If an individual fails to do so, the law may consider that person to have abandoned their property, with significant implications.

What Happens When Property is Considered Abandoned?

The legal definition of property abandonment in Colorado requires intent to abandon and a continuous period of time in which the property must remain abandoned. The intent may be shown through the surrounding circumstances. It has been held that there can be no intentional abandonment unless the property is given up with the manifest intention of not again claiming it.
Although there is no statute outlining the specific period of time for statutory abandonment, Colorado decisional law holds that absent extenuating circumstances, personal property which has been left upon the premises for a period of 30 days, and which has not been re-claimed or removed, may be presumed to have been voluntarily abandoned for the purposes of Colorado law. Rather, the surrounding circumstances may or may not suggest an intent to permanently relinquish entire ownership of the property or a mere willingness to give it up for a time. Even circumstantial evidence of intent, however slight, is probable evidence that on some occasion title passed to another. In fact, the intention to abandon or relinquish ownership of property can be deduced from the language of its owner, his acts and conduct, the nature of the property, its situation and condition, and the facts and circumstances surrounding the transaction, at the time it took place.
Given the disparity in the meaning of abandonment, a good faith belief that the property has been abandoned is not enough. The person attempting to change the locks should have knowledge that they are authorized to do. It is not enough that the property is without a known owner and has been unattended for some time. There must be sufficient facts and circumstances to justify a belief based upon objective analysis; a belief that does not remain at the level of mere suspicion.
In this section, the law does not refer to a specific period of time. Only administrative action or a granted motion for abandonment would require the court to determine the date the real property was abandoned. Since the statute does not give a period, the court will look at the surrounding facts and circumstances surrounding the abandonment.
There must be circumstances of such a character as to justify the conclusion that the owner intended to abandon his property.

Parental Abandonment

Abandonment Laws in Colorado
The definition of abandonment varies from state to state. According to the Colorado Revised Statutes, a parent can be found to have abandoned a child by failing to have any contact or connection with the child without just cause for more than one year. This does not mean that sporadic phone calls or visits once a year will be sufficient to keep the parent from being considered an abandoning parent. However, sufficient contact might occur, even if something like a temporary change of address leads to any lapse. The contact must actually be with the child, not the custodial parent or others. Mere payments of child support and gifts are not enough.
There are significant legal consequences that follow a determination by a court that there is parental abandonment. Parental consent to adoption is not required and the procedure for giving a child up for adoption is simplified.

Abandonment in the Landlord – Tenant Context

Abandonment in landlord-tenant relationships:
Generally speaking, an abandonment occurs when a tenant vacates the premises and willfully relinquishes any claim to it. "Abandonment" is generally distinguished from "surrender," which is a voluntary yielding of possession, by a tenant, to an act or course of conduct which amounts to a destruction of any intermediate relation existing between that tenant and the landlord in the lease or tenancy.
Under Colorado law, the landlord does not have to get a court order to dispose of the property, but must provide reasonable notice to the tenant of the abandonment and hold the property for 30 days before disposing of it. The landlord may then recover the costs of storage or sale, as well as reasonable expenses.

Abandonment of Motor Vehicles

The Colorado Revised Statues ("C.R.S.") § 42-4-130 (3) governs the unlawful placement of an abandoned vehicle on the public highway, but it also defines the term "abandoned vehicle" under state law. This will give you a better understanding of how Colorado’s laws govern vehicle abandonment, as well as the steps that authorities may take when they find vehicles that are abandoned on highways or other public places.
In Colorado, an abandoned vehicle is defined as a vehicle left "without legal owner and/or lien holder consent on a highway (i) for more than forty-eight hours; (ii) without being covered with identifiable material; or (iii) without the owner or operator being in continuous contact with the vehicle." C.R.S. § 42-4-130(3). You should note that this part of the statute applies only to vehicles that are found on public highways. Abandonment in any other location would be addressed under the next section of the statute.
As such, § 42-4-130 provides further for "any public officer or agency authorized to effect removal of vehicles from a highway" who finds an abandoned vehicle on a highway. The public agency or officer must move the vehicle into open storage, and may then take "[n]otice affixed to the vehicle." But as the official title of the statute indicates, the statute is also entitled "Abandonment of vehicles on highways – penalty." Accordingly, the statute also provides for penalties for those who abandon vehicles on highways in Colorado.
Section (3) of the statute provides penalties for the unlawful placement of abandoned vehicles on Colorado highways. C.R.S. § 42-4-130 (3) states:

(3) (a) An owner of a vehicle commits a class 2 misdemeanor if the owner abandons the vehicle on a highway. A person who abandons a vehicle on a highway commits a class 3 misdemeanor .

(b) The exception to criminalization of abandonment of vehicles on highways is that section (3) does not apply to: a motor vehicle that has been left upon a highway after being struck by a hit and run driver; a motor vehicle belonging to or being driven by a person who is injured or incapacitated because of the crash of the vehicle; or a motor vehicle belonging to or being driven by a person who was operating the motor vehicle in conformity with applicable law at the time of abandonment.
If a vehicle is abandoned in any location other than on a highway, the abandoned vehicle statute goes on in further detail. First, any "public officer or agency authorized to remove vehicles" must first "make reasonable investigation to ascertain the owner’s name and address. C.R.S. § 42-4-130 (4)(a)(I). Second, the public officer or agency must send notice of a vehicle’s abandonment via certified mail to the last known owner’s address within "seven days after taking custody of the vehicle," and must "also send notice to all lienholders" within the same time period. C.R.S. § 42-4-130(4)(a)(II). In addition to this, the notice must state "that the vehicle may become the property of a secondary purchaser if it is not relieved of its record liens within forty-five days after the date when the notice is sent." C.R.S. § 42-4-130(4)(a)(III).
For all vehicles other than abandoned buses (which this statute seems to apply only to motor vehicles), the public agency or officer may sell the vehicle "if there are no liens on the vehicle or if all lienholders have indicated their consent to the disposition of the vehicle." However, the dispensation process cannot occur sooner than 30 days after the sending of the notices described above. Furthermore, "the notice shall state that the owner or lienholder of record may redeem the vehicle from the public officer or agency upon payment of all expenses incurred by the public officer or agency in the removal, storage, and sale of the vehicle." C.R.S. § 42-4-130(4)(a)(IV).

Legal Process and Remedies for Abandonment

Abandonment is a legal concept governed by state laws that vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Colorado law defines abandonment as the "voluntary relinquishment of a right with the intention of never more claiming it." Abandonment occurs in family law matters and outlines legal obligations for separated or divorced parents. For example, to prove legal abandonment in a divorce proceeding, the spouse must prove that he or she has been without support for a designated period of time, must establish the intention of never claiming that benefit again, and must establish that the other spouse has actual knowledge of the claim having been relinquished. Similarly, in a child custody proceeding, the custodial parent may be found to have abandoned his or her child if there is proof of the failure to pay child support for 6 months. Abandonment also occurs by statute for real property in Colorado. Colorado Revised Statute 38-41-101 addresses the abandonment of real property and states the following: (1) Whenever any person who has vacated and abandoned real property desires to sell the property, such person may file and record in the office of the clerk and recorder of the county in which the property is located a notice of abandonment upon a form prescribed by the [D]ivision of Housing in the [D]epartment of Local Affairs, that such person vacated and abandoned the property. Special statutory rules shall prevail over federal laws and regulations, unless otherwise provided by federal law. (2) Upon the filing and recording of such notice by a person who has vacated and abandoned real property, the ensuing rights and liabilities of all parties shall be governed by sections 38-41-102 to 38-41-113, subject to the exempting provisions of part 2 of article 41 of title 38. All such rights and liabilities shall file within one year after filing and recording of such notice of abandonment, or until such abandonment is judicially determined not to be effective. Such effective abandonment shall be a lien in favor of the person filing the notice of abandonment and of those to whom the right of possession has been extinguished. Upon receiving a notice of abandonment, the Division of Housing may establish residency at the property. The Division of Housing may file or assert an action to quiet title to the property. If it is determined that there has been an abandonment, the property may be taken into possession by the Division of Housing, subject to judicial review. To ascertain whether there has been an abandonment, the Division of Housing must schedule and conduct a public meeting at which the public may express concern and oppose the abandonment claim at the property.

Recent Cases Concerning Abandonment

In recent case law, Colorado courts have begun to provide greater insight on what encompasses abandonment. In Fischer v. Haver, 2016 COA 107 (Colo.App.)., the Colorado Court of Appeals held that once an abandonment claim has been asserted and established at trial, a business entity seeking disinterment under the statute must nevertheless show that abandonment occurred within the 20 year statutory period that preceded the filing of the original lawsuit to disinter.[1] While the affect this decision will have on Colorado law is yet unknown, this decision provides clear guidance as to how disinterment actions are to proceed in the context of an abandonment action in a Colorado state court. Looking at the case, it appears that the Colorado Court of Appeals is relaxing the strict standard that Rocky Mountain courts previously employed when discussing disinterment and abandonment cases. This loosened standard of proof may lead to a more common occurrence of such cases moving forward. As such, the movements of this case law may broaden the interpretation of what it means for a burial site to be considered abandoned in Colorado.

Conclusion and Legal Tips

As discussed above, Colorado abandonment involves an individual leaving their residence, or in some cases, failure to pick up a child, with no intent to return. As seen in the example above, abandonment can occur without actively abandoning a child. Moreover, this can involve leaving the state to visit another residence. Colorado law is not as cut and dry as some laws in other states, and there are many exceptions and circumstances concerning abandonment.
Ultimately, abandonment deals with intent and a determination of where a person intends to reside. Additionally , your particular situation or circumstances will determine what actions you need to take in order to have a determination made by a judge.
Because of the complex nature of abandonment claims, it is crucial to consult with an attorney who is experienced in handling cases relating to parenting time and abandonment. Colorado has unique requirements that you need to consider if you are facing a potential abandonment claim or you are attempting to prove abandonment has occurred. In addition to these requirements, it is critical that you take prompt action or you could risk losing your ability to pursue your desired results.