Boulder County Bar Association

The laws relating to divorce in Colorado are found in Title 14 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. Specifically, Article 10 of Title 14 contains the Uniform Dissolution of Marriage Act and other articles in Title 14 contain other laws pertaining to the dissolution of marriages and the enforcement of orders relating to dissolutions. Many of the forms that are required to file for and obtain a divorce are available from the Judicial Department of the State of Colorado. These forms are available on the web page at http://www.courts.state.co.us/scao/Forms.htm. In addition, the Twentieth Judicial District (Boulder County) has a Family Court Facilitator who can help people who cannot afford a lawyer prepare and file the necessary paperwork.

Colorado is a no-fault divorce state. People who wish to get divorced in Colorado do not need to prove any wrongdoing on the part of the other party to the marriage. All that is required in order to get a divorce is an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. Additionally, Colorado is a separate property state. This means that the court presiding over a divorce will consider separately the separate property of a party and the marital property of both when considering how to divide up the assets of the parties.

A divorce case begins with the filing of a Petition for Dissolution in the District Court. The party filing the Petition is called the Petitioner. The Petition can be co-signed by the other party, in which case the other party is called the Co-Petitioner, and is an indication that both parties want to dissolve the marriage. If the other party does not sign the Petition, then the petition must be served upon the other party by the sheriff or a private process server, with a summons ordering the other party to respond. In this case, the other party is called the Respondent. A Respondent has twenty (20) days to file a response to the Petition. If the Respondent does not answer the Petition, the Respondent is in default.

The Petition should be filed in the county where the parties reside. If the parties reside in different counties, the petition should be filed in the county where the Petitioner resides. If the Respondent cannot be located, the Respondent may be served notice of the pending dissolution through a process known as notice by publication that involves asking the Court to publish the summons and petition in a newspaper of general circulation (e.g., in Boulder County, the Boulder Daily Camera) to notify the Respondent.

At the time of the filing of the Petition, or at any other time during the divorce proceeding, a party may file a Motion for Temporary Orders. The party must file a Request to Set a Hearing on temporary orders (in Boulder County, other jurisdictions require a Notice of Setting instead). At the temporary orders hearing, the Court may make determinations as to temporary decision-making for any minor children of the marriage, parenting time (parenting time used to be referred to as custody and visitation), temporary child support, temporary maintenance (maintenance used to be referred to as alimony), use of property, payment of debts and bills and any other issues as requested by the parties or considered necessary by the court. After the entry of temporary orders by the Court, the parties are bound by the temporary orders until a Final Decree of Dissolution is entered or until some further Order of the Court modifying the temporary orders.

The court will not enter a Final Decree of Dissolution granting a divorce until at least ninety (90) days have passed since 1) the date the case was filed if the Petition was filed jointly, or 2) the date the Respondent was served with the Petition if the Petition was not filed jointly.

During the 40 days after the filing of the Petition, both parties are required by Rule 26.2 of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure to make certain financial disclosures to each other and to the court. These disclosures are accomplished primarily with two documents: Affidavit with Respect to Financial Affairs ("Financial Affidavit") and Certificate of Rule 26.2 Disclosure. (These documents are available at the web site described above.) In addition to these two documents, the parties are required to exchange copies of pay stubs for the last three months, federal and state tax returns for the last three years, business tax returns, an affidavit as to income if self-employed and most recent statements for retirement or pension plans. Additional information and/or documents relating to the financial situation of the parties can be obtained through an expanded discovery process that involves a series of questions and requests for production of documents relevant to the financial issues.

The parties to a divorce may engage in a variety of processes to resolve the issues that need to be settled. Some parties choose to work with a mediator or other form of alternative dispute resolution (see Chapter 10.1) in an attempt to reach a settlement without Court intervention. In other cases, the parties rely on their attorneys to work together to resolve a case. Many parties are able to reach a complete resolution of the issues without an attorney or with minimum assistance from an attorney.

Often, the most difficult issues to resolve are those relating to the children of the marriage. The parties must agree upon the issues relating to decision-making and parenting time, or have the Court impose its decision upon the parties. The Court will look to the best interests of the child when evaluating the agreement of the parties or when resolving these issues itself. If the Court determines that it needs more information about what is in the best interest of the child, the court may appoint a special advocate to help inform the court. In addition, questions relating to child support must be answered. Whenever there are children involved in a divorce, the Court will require both parents to attend parenting classes and provide proof to the court of the successful completion of the course.

The amount of child support one party must pay depends upon the amount of time the child spends with each party and the respective incomes of the parties. The specific amount is determined by a formula established by the legislature. (A program to make this calculation is available on the web page.) The goal of the formula is to ensure that the child receives the same sort of financial support that the child would have received if the parents had not divorced.

By contrast, maintenance (which used to be referred to as alimony) is not required. Maintenance is usually a temporary measure, designed to give one party to a divorce some financial support for a limited amount of time until that party can take care of his or her own needs without assistance.

A divorce action is completed by the Court's entry of a Final Decree of Dissolution. The Final Decree must address all the issues relating to payment of debts and division of property. The court will look to see if the division of debts and property is equitable; this often, but not always, means a 50 - 50 split of property and debts. If there are children, parenting time and child support issues must be fully resolved in the final decree. The final orders of the Court consist either of a Separation Agreement that sets forth the agreements reached by the parties or, if the parties cannot agree, the permanent orders as determined to be appropriate by the Court. The final decree is final: it terminates the marriage permanently. The decree may be modified, however, with regard to maintenance and the issues relating to any children, upon a showing of changed circumstances.

If both parties are represented by counsel and have filed a Separation Agreement, the Court may enter a Final Decree without holding a hearing. The same is true even if the parties are not represented by counsel, as long as there are no children involved and the parties have filed a Separation Agreement. However, a court hearing is required whenever one party is not represented and children are involved.

As noted, a court cannot enter final orders dissolving a marriage until at least ninety days have passed from the commencement of the action as described above. A dissolution generally takes longer than that; it is not unusual for a dissolution to take a year from start to finish. The length of time it takes depends largely on the willingness and ability of the parties to resolve their issues and differences amicably.