Denver Divorce Lawyer

The Intricacies of the Divorce Process in Colorado

Though divorce may be uncharted territory and sometimes scary for you, our lawyers are familiar with the complexities of divorce in Colorado.

Similarly, the divorce laws in Colorado differ from those in other states, and getting help from lawyers who are grounded in local laws goes a long way. Some of the tenets you have to be familiar with are:

1. Residency

Can you and your spouse move to Colorado immediately dissolve your marriage? Well, unfortunately, no. Either of the spouses must meet residency requirements (lived in Colorado for 90 days) for the divorce to be legal. 

2. Grounds for Divorce

Colorado is a no-fault state. Hence, either party does not need to be at fault for the marriage to be dissolved. 

3. The Divorce Process

The divorce process in Colorado is known as dissolution of marriage (DOM). Unlike a legal separation, a divorce ends the union in the eyes of the law.

Fortunately, getting a divorce in Colorado isn’t long and winding; it’s even easier if you have a team of high-caliber lawyers by your side.

With the help of our lawyers to provide guidance and expedite it where possible, your divorce process will follow this course:

• Submission of a petition for the dissolution of marriage
• Serving the divorce papers to your spouse (this is only if the divorce is not joint/mutual)
• Come to an agreement, if possible
• Provision of financial disclosures
• Attending the initial status conference (usually after 42 days)
• Attending an optional temporary orders hearing
• Discovery
• 90-day mediation process
• Permanent orders hearing (the divorce trial)

Family law in Colorado tries to encourage settling issues outside the court as much as possible (or reconciliation). This is the reason for the 90-day waiting period after first filing the divorce papers.

Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all formula for property ownership post-divorce. Whoever gets the house after a divorce is complicated and calculated per each case.

For better or worse, the outcome of a divorce—custody, support, or property allocation—is often the product of lawyering. A good lawyer will fight for his or her client’s interests. That said, choosing the best attorney for your case can be staggeringly difficult, but it can be reduced to a few simple tips.

Experience matters. If you have a particularly unique divorce case, you will want to find an attorney who has the experience and success dealing with cases similar to yours.

Ask for referrals. As with any service, speaking with your friends, family, and colleagues is a great idea. There is a good chance they know a good lawyer in Douglas County or any surrounding counties.

Do some online research. Don’t stop at the referrals. Check the Colorado State Bar Association website to see if the lawyer has a formal discipline record. In addition, search for reviews on Yelp and Google. Although one bad review shouldn’t necessarily preclude you from working with an attorney, several bad reviews should be a red flag.

Choose an attorney passionate about what they do. You don’t want a divorce attorney who’s representing you for the sake of it. You need a lawyer that loves their job and is committed to seeing clients get into the next chapter of their lives with clarity, character, and confidence. Choose someone else if your prospective lawyer seems disinterested, withdrawn, or insensitive.

Choose someone you can trust. Since you’ll need to confide your most personal concerns, hiring an attorney you can trust and converse with freely is essential.

It’s not compulsory to hire an attorney to get divorced in Denver, but it’s almost always the wise thing to do.

The outcome of a divorce will mean some serious changes—to your finances, home, and relationship with your children—that can affect the rest of your life. Only a skilled and experienced Denver divorce lawyer can inform you of your rights and the opportunities and risks of getting divorced.

The general answer to this question is “No.” Whether in a Denver divorce, child support, or custody case, a court generally cannot order a parent to pay college fees for a child.

The state of Colorado requires divorced parents to notify the other parent where he/she is intending to relocate to after the divorce process. The court needs to then determine if the relocation is in the best interests of the child if the other parent does not agree to the relocation plan.

The parent intending on relocating needs to notify the other parent of:

• A proposed new parenting time plan
• The reason for the relocation
• The location of the new home
• The parent’s intent to relocate

In Colorado, the earliest possible time for a divorce to be granted is 91 days after a spouse has received their Dissolution of Marriage Petition. However, it is difficult to give an exact time for when a divorce can be granted for a variety of reasons, ranging from a court’s docket being full to a delay in the other spouse’s response, and so on.

After a spouse is served divorce papers, he/she has just 20 days to respond to the court. During these 20 days, the spouse filing for divorce is responsible for drafting a complete inventory of his/her assets to submit to the court. Once a spouse responds to the petition, the filing spouse has 20 days to submit his/her financial disclosures to the court. However, if the receiving spouse fails to respond to the petition within 20 days, the filing spouse is given 40 days from the date of the initial petition filing to submit his/her financial disclosures.

No. Just because you were served with divorce papers doesn’t mean you have to move out of your marital home. There’s nothing more to a service than getting personal jurisdiction over the other spouse.

While it’s possible to be divorced after the statutory 91-day waiting period, the reality is quite different. Most divorce cases take anywhere between 6 to 12 months to finish and close to 12 months if contested issues require a hearing from a Denver family law judge.

Separate property is typically not divided by the court after divorce because it is separate from the marriage. Generally, property that is bequeathed to a spouse via gift or inheritance or is acquired before the marriage is considered separate property. However, this is not always the case.

Some assets grow in value over the course of the marriage and, even though it may have been separate property beforehand, the increased value may make it marital property in the eyes of the court. The difference between these two property types is more difficult to identify than one might think. That’s why it is essential to retain an experienced family lawyer in Denver who can distinguish between the two.

The state of Colorado also recognizes common law marriages. While many people misunderstand what this type of marriage is, it’s relatively simple. A common law marriage is not one due to the time a couple resides together.

Instead, a marriage is a common law marriage if:

• The couple acts as if they are married
• The couple displays their relationship to others as a marriage

If two spouses are in a common law marriage, they still need to file a Petition for the Dissolution of Marriage in order to end their marriage.

If you are considering divorcing or legally separating from your spouse, your first instinct may be to do it alone. However, before you make such a decision, you may want to think about what’s at stake.

Important issues such as asset division, child support, child custody, alimony, and so on, will all be in your own hands. You should at least consult with an attorney about your divorce to ensure your rights are protected and that you are not taken advantage of.

Doing so could help you gain an essential understanding of what occurs during a legal separation or divorce and informs you how you can protect your assets. This knowledge can help you attain peace of mind and clarity, knowing that your future is in excellent hands.

If you are considering a divorce, speak with a Denver lawyer at Petrelli Previtera, LLC. Our divorce attorneys are committed to guiding you through this difficult process and helping you achieve the best possible outcome. We want to help.