Colorado Divorce and Legal Separation

Divorce affects more than a person’s marital status. It may determine how property and debts are divided, whether one spouse will receive maintenance, where children will spend their time, who will make important decisions for them, and how they will be financially supported.

Every family is different. Some spouses are able to reach agreements with limited conflict, while others face serious disputes involving children, finances, businesses, concealed assets, domestic violence, or personal safety.

Thomas A. Ramunda Jr. helps clients understand their rights, evaluate practical options, and move through the Colorado divorce process with clear advice and determined representation. His goal is not to create unnecessary conflict. It is to protect his client, identify reasonable solutions when possible, and prepare thoroughly for court when an agreement cannot be reached.

Divorce in Colorado

Colorado law refers to divorce as a dissolution of marriage. Colorado is a no-fault divorce state, which means that a spouse does not need to prove adultery, abandonment, cruelty, or other marital misconduct to obtain a divorce.

The court may enter a decree when it finds that the marriage is irretrievably broken. In connection with the divorce, the court may also address:

Division of marital property and debts
Allocation of parental responsibilities
Parenting time
Child support
Spousal maintenance
Attorney fees
Other financial and protective issues

A legal separation can address many of the same issues without immediately terminating the marriage. Legal separation may be appropriate in some circumstances, but it can have significant legal, financial, insurance, and tax consequences that should be considered carefully.

Divorce With or Without Children

The basic filing process is similar whether spouses have children or not, but a divorce involving minor children requires additional decisions and court orders.

Divorce Without Minor Children

When there are no minor children, the primary issues may include:

Identification of marital and separate property
Valuation and division of homes, investments, retirement accounts, and businesses
Allocation of marital debts
Spousal maintenance
Attorney fees
Restoration of a prior name

A case without children may be resolved without a contested hearing when the spouses reach a complete agreement and submit the required documents for court approval.

Divorce With Minor Children

When spouses have minor children, the court must also address parental responsibilities and child support.

Parental responsibilities include:

Parenting time
Major decision-making authority
Holiday and vacation schedules
Transportation and exchanges
Communication concerning the children
Child support and child-related expenses

Colorado courts determine parenting time and decision-making responsibilities according to the best interests of the child. The child’s safety and physical, mental, and emotional needs are central to that determination.

An agreement between parents must still be reviewed by the court. When the parents cannot agree, the court decides the disputed issues after considering the evidence and applying Colorado law.

Starting a Colorado Divorce Case

A divorce or legal-separation case begins with the filing of a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage or Legal Separation and the required case-information documents.

The spouses may file together as petitioner and co-petitioner. Alternatively, one spouse may file as the petitioner, and the other spouse becomes the respondent.

The principal initial documents generally include:

Petition for Dissolution of Marriage or Legal Separation
Case Information Sheet
Summons, unless the spouses file together
Any additional forms required by the court

The case is generally filed in the district court for the county in which either spouse resides.

At least one spouse must have lived in Colorado for the required period before the case may be filed. When parenting orders are requested, Colorado must also have jurisdiction over the children under the laws governing child-custody jurisdiction.

The Mandatory Waiting Period

A Colorado divorce cannot be finalized immediately, even when both spouses agree on every issue.

The court generally cannot enter the decree until at least 91 days have passed from the date:

The petition was jointly filed;
The respondent was formally served; or
The respondent signed a waiver or otherwise submitted to the court’s jurisdiction.

The 91-day period is a minimum waiting period, not a guarantee that the case will be finished within 91 days. Contested cases and cases involving complicated financial or parenting issues may take considerably longer.

Service of Process and the Response

When the spouses do not file together, the petitioner must arrange for proper service of the petition and summons on the respondent. A party to the case cannot personally serve the documents.

A cooperative respondent may sign a waiver accepting the documents rather than requiring formal personal service. Signing a waiver of service does not necessarily mean that the respondent agrees with the petitioner’s requests.

After service, the respondent may file a formal response stating the respondent’s position and requests concerning the divorce.

A person who has been served should not ignore the case. If the respondent does not participate, the court may proceed and enter orders without the respondent’s evidence or position being fully presented.

Automatic Temporary Injunction

The filing and service of a divorce petition triggers an automatic temporary injunction that applies to both spouses.

Subject to the terms and exceptions provided by law, the injunction generally prohibits either spouse from:

Transferring, concealing, encumbering, or disposing of marital property without consent or court permission, except for ordinary business or necessities of life
Disturbing the peace of the other spouse
Removing the children from Colorado without consent or court permission
Cancelling or changing certain insurance coverage without the required consent, notice, or court authorization

These restrictions are intended to preserve property, insurance, safety, and stability while the case is pending. Violating the injunction can have serious consequences.

Mandatory Financial Disclosures

Each spouse must provide financial information and supporting documents. Required disclosures ordinarily include a sworn financial statement and documents concerning income, taxes, bank accounts, debts, real estate, retirement accounts, investments, insurance, and other assets and obligations.

Financial disclosure is required even when the spouses believe they already understand their finances or expect to settle the case.

Complete and accurate disclosure is essential. The court and the parties need reliable information to evaluate property division, maintenance, child support, and attorney-fee issues. Failure to disclose information may cause delay, sanctions, adverse rulings, or later challenges to an agreement or order.

Initial Status Conference

After the case begins, the court ordinarily schedules an initial status conference.

The initial status conference is not usually the final trial. It is a case-management proceeding at which the court, magistrate, or family court facilitator may:

Review the status of service and disclosures
Identify disputed issues
Establish deadlines
Discuss mediation or other dispute-resolution requirements
Address the need for temporary orders
Schedule future proceedings
Explain procedural requirements

The parties should review and comply with the court’s case-management order before the conference.

Temporary Orders

A divorce may take months to complete. Temporary orders establish rules and responsibilities while the case is pending.

Temporary orders may address:

Use and possession of the marital home
Temporary parenting time
Temporary decision-making arrangements
Child support
Spousal maintenance
Payment of household expenses
Responsibility for debts
Health insurance
Attorney fees
Restrictions necessary to protect property or safety

The spouses may reach a written temporary agreement and submit it for approval. If they cannot agree, either party may request a temporary-orders hearing at which the court receives evidence and enters interim orders.

Temporary orders do not necessarily determine the final result, but they can significantly affect the family and the course of the case.

Division of Marital Property and Debts

Colorado courts divide marital property in proportions the court determines to be equitable after considering the statutory factors. An equitable division is intended to be fair under the circumstances; it is not automatically an equal division.

Marital property may include property acquired by either spouse during the marriage, regardless of whose name appears on the title. Common assets include:

The marital residence and other real estate
Bank and investment accounts
Retirement plans and pensions
Business interests
Vehicles
Stock options and employment benefits
Personal property
Cryptocurrency and other digital assets

Property acquired before the marriage, by gift, or by inheritance may be separate property, but increases in value during the marriage may create a marital component. Separate and marital funds can also become mixed, making classification and tracing more complicated.

The court must also allocate marital debts. Debts are not necessarily divided according to the name on the account or according to which spouse incurred them.

Careful investigation, documentation, valuation, and negotiation are particularly important when a case involves a business, professional practice, complex compensation, valuable real estate, retirement benefits, disputed separate property, or concerns about undisclosed assets.

Spousal Maintenance

Spousal maintenance, often called alimony, is financial support paid by one former spouse to the other.

Maintenance is not ordered in every divorce. The court considers the requesting spouse’s financial resources, reasonable needs, income, employability, the marital standard of living, the duration of the marriage, the spouses’ ages and health, and other relevant statutory factors.

Colorado law contains advisory maintenance guidelines for certain cases. The guidelines can help inform the analysis, but they do not replace the court’s consideration of the parties’ circumstances and the statutory findings required for an award.

Maintenance may be temporary or may continue after the divorce. The amount, duration, tax treatment, modifiability, and conditions for termination should be considered carefully before an agreement is signed.

Allocation of Parental Responsibilities

Colorado does not use “custody” as the principal statutory term. Instead, the court allocates parental responsibilities, including parenting time and decision-making authority.

A parenting plan may address:

Regular parenting time
Holidays, school breaks, and vacations
Transportation and exchanges
Telephone and electronic contact
Education
Medical, dental, and mental-health care
Religious upbringing
Extracurricular activities
Travel
Access to records and information
Methods for resolving future disagreements

The court determines parental responsibilities according to the child’s best interests. No single schedule is required for every family, and the law does not presume that one parent should receive preferential treatment because of the parent’s sex.

Evidence involving domestic violence, child abuse, neglect, substance misuse, coercive control, or other safety concerns may significantly affect parenting orders.

Child Support

Colorado uses statutory child-support guidelines. The calculation generally considers both parents’ incomes, the number of children, the parenting-time schedule, health-insurance expenses, work-related child care, extraordinary medical expenses, and other allowable adjustments.

Equal or nearly equal parenting time does not necessarily eliminate child support. Differences in income and responsibility for child-related expenses may still result in a support obligation.

The court may also allocate expenses such as:

Health-insurance premiums
Uninsured medical, dental, vision, and mental-health expenses
Work-related child care
Extraordinary educational expenses
Other qualifying child-related costs

Determining income can become complicated when a spouse is self-employed, owns a business, receives commissions or bonuses, has irregular income, or is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed.

Divorce Mediation

Mediation gives spouses an opportunity to resolve disputed issues with the assistance of a neutral mediator.

Colorado courts frequently require mediation before a contested final hearing, although requirements and exceptions may vary by court and case. Mediation may address property, debts, maintenance, parenting time, decision-making, child support, and other disputed matters.

The mediator does not decide the case or provide legal advice to either spouse. Each spouse should understand the legal and financial consequences of a proposed agreement before accepting it.

A successful mediation can allow spouses to retain greater control over the outcome, reduce expense, protect privacy, and create solutions tailored to their family. Mediation is not appropriate in every circumstance, particularly when safety, coercion, intimidation, hidden assets, or an extreme imbalance of power prevents meaningful negotiation.

Separation Agreements and Parenting Plans

When spouses reach an agreement, their terms are ordinarily placed in a written separation agreement. If children are involved, the parties may also submit a parenting plan and child-support documents.

A separation agreement may address:

Property division
Debt allocation
Sale or retention of the marital home
Retirement accounts
Maintenance
Tax matters
Insurance
Attorney fees
Other financial obligations

The court reviews the agreement as required by law. Provisions concerning children remain subject to the child’s best interests and applicable child-support requirements.

A carefully drafted agreement should do more than resolve the immediate dispute. It should clearly explain deadlines, payment obligations, transfers, contingencies, enforcement provisions, and the steps needed to complete the division of assets.

Permanent or Final Orders Hearing

When the spouses cannot resolve every issue, the court conducts a permanent-orders hearing, sometimes called a final-orders hearing.

At the hearing, each party may present testimony, documents, financial evidence, expert opinions, and other admissible evidence. The court then determines the unresolved issues, which may include:

Division of property and debts
Maintenance
Parenting time
Decision-making responsibilities
Child support
Attorney fees
Other requested relief

Preparing for permanent orders requires more than telling the judge what happened during the marriage. The parties must present relevant, organized, and admissible evidence connected to the legal standards governing each disputed issue.

The Decree of Dissolution

The marriage is legally ended when the court enters the Decree of Dissolution of Marriage—not merely when the spouses separate, file the case, attend mediation, or reach a verbal agreement.

The decree may be accompanied by permanent orders, a separation agreement, a parenting plan, support orders, and other documents establishing the parties’ rights and responsibilities.

Some obligations continue after entry of the decree. Property may need to be transferred, accounts refinanced, retirement orders prepared, support paid, and parenting orders followed. The court may retain authority to enforce existing orders and, where permitted by law, modify certain provisions.

Post-Decree Matters

Legal issues may continue after the divorce is final. Tom assists clients with appropriate post-decree matters, including:

Modification of parenting time
Modification of decision-making responsibilities
Modification of child support
Modification or termination of maintenance when legally permitted
Enforcement of parenting or financial orders
Contempt proceedings
Relocation disputes
Disputes concerning compliance with property provisions
Protection-order matters

Property divisions are generally final and are treated differently from child support, parenting, and modifiable maintenance provisions. Prompt legal advice is important when a former spouse fails to comply with an order or when circumstances materially change.

Domestic Violence and Protection Orders

Domestic violence can affect personal safety, possession of the home, communication between spouses, parenting arrangements, mediation, and the presentation of the divorce case.

A person who is unsafe should not assume that direct negotiation with the other spouse is required. Appropriate protections may include a civil protection order, emergency parenting restrictions, structured communication, protected exchanges, or other court orders.

Immediate danger should be reported to law enforcement. Legal advice should be obtained promptly concerning available civil remedies and the effect of domestic violence on the family-law case.

Experienced Colorado Divorce Representation

Tom understands that divorce involves legal issues as well as personalities, emotions, expectations, and fears. He works to keep manageable cases from becoming unnecessarily hostile while remaining prepared to advocate forcefully when a client’s children, finances, safety, or future are at risk.

He handles family-law matters involving:

Divorce and legal separation
Uncontested and contested dissolution
Allocation of parental responsibilities
Parenting time and decision-making
Child support
Property and debt division
Spousal maintenance
Temporary orders
Domestic violence and protection orders
Post-decree modification and enforcement
Relocation disputes
Grandparent and nonparent family-law issues

You can obtain a Colorado divorce only through a court decree. Whether your case can be resolved by agreement or requires contested proceedings, informed legal advice can help you make decisions that protect your family and your future.

Tom firmly believes that not all divorces have to be contentious. In a recent interview about how he achieves such successful outcomes in his divorce cases, Tom stated, “My goal is not to stick my nose in these divorces and muck them up. I will help keep things as simple as possible for those who are able to be reasonable and civilized with each other.” Tom is ready to navigate you through the many stages of separation and divorce, from the initial stage of deciding to end a marriage to the closing stage of obtaining final orders. With Tom as your divorce attorney, you have a wise and strong advocate by your side. During this difficult time, Tom’s help can make all the difference. We handle all family law matters including:

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Law Practice Areas

Divorce and Legal Separation