Residency Requirements and Grounds for Divorce
Dividing the Property
Alimony
Child Custody and Visitation
Child Support
Residency Requirements and Grounds for Divorce
Divorce is a court process to legally end a marriage. In Colorado divorce is called "dissolution of marriage" and court papers use the term dissolution of marriage instead of divorce. Colorado uses a no-fault divorce standard that does not require that one of the spouses prove blame or responsibility in order to end the marriage. The only question for the court when a "standard" marriage is involved is whether the marriage is "irretrievably broken," meaning that there is no reasonable chance that the spouses want to keep the marriage together.
Either you or your spouse must be a resident of Colorado for at least 90 days before you may file for a divorce. The legal divorce process begins when one spouse files a dissolution of marriage in the county where the other spouse resides or in the county where the filing spouse resides if the other spouse has been served in the same county or is a non-resident of Colorado.
Under Colorado law, a divorce may be obtained by affidavit of either or both of the spouses if the following are true:
- There are no minor children and the wife is not pregnant or both spouses are represented by counsel and have entered into a separation agreement granting custody and child support
- There are no disputes
- There is no marital property or the spouses have agreed on the division of the marital property
- The non-filing spouse has been served with the dissolution of marriage papers
Dividing the Property
In Colorado, assets and debts acquired during your marriage called - "marital property" - will be divided "equitably" when you divorce. An equitable division means that the division of property and debts between the divorcing parties should be fair and equitable, but not necessarily equal.
"Marital property" means all property acquired by either spouse subsequent to marriage except:
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- Property acquired by gift or inheritance
- Property acquired in exchange for property acquired prior to the marriage or in exchange for property acquired by gift or inheritance
- Property acquired by a spouse after a decree of legal separation
- Property excluded by a valid agreement
The court will consider various factors when making its equitable distribution, including the following:
- Contribution of each spouse to the acquisition of the marital property, including the contribution of a spouse as homemaker
- Value of each spouse's separate property
- Economic circumstances of each spouse at time division of property is to become effective
- Any increase or decrease in value of separate property during the marriage or depletion of separate property for marital purposes
Colorado law provides that property owned before marriage can remain the "separate property" of that spouse. Also items that a spouse receives by gift or inheritance during the marriage are the separate property of that spouse. Separate property is retained by the owner of the property.
It is important to collect all the information you can about all your property, including when you purchased it, approximately how much it is worth, and details such as account numbers, serial numbers and so forth. Collecting this information before you see a Colorado divorce lawyer can save you a lot of time and money.
Alimony
The fault of a spouse in causing a divorce may not be a complete bar to obtaining spousal support, but the cause of separation will be a factor that the court will consider in determining whether or not to award spousal support. Spousal support, when awarded, may be periodic or in a lump sum. Spouse support is not awarded to punish a guilty spouse but rather to lessen the financial impact of divorce on the other spouse.
A court can order alimony, as it deems reasonable, to either party in Colorado, but only if it finds that alimony is necessary. Such awards typically are not permanent. In deciding whether to award alimony, a court will generally consider such factors as:
- The respective ages of the spouses
- Assets
- Earning potential
- Duration of marriage
- History during marriage
A court can order temporary maintenance while the divorce is pending. Most maintenance is ordered for a specific length of time. Awards of spousal maintenance are subject to later modification and enforcement proceedings.
Child Custody and Visitation
In Colorado, child custody is referred to as "allocation of decision-making responsibility" and "allocation of parental responsibility." The allocation of responsibility is awarded by the court based upon what is in the best interests of the child. Parental responsibility is not given as a reward to one parent or as punishment to the other parent. The various types of parental responsibility arrangements that are available in Colorado include sole responsibility, joint responsibility or a combination of sole and joint responsibility.
In making a custody decision, the court will consider several factors:
- Age of the parent and child
- Physical and mental condition of the parent and child
- Relationship between each parent and each child
- Needs of the child
- Role played by each parent in the upbringing and caring for the child
- Home where child will live
- Child's wishes if the child is of sufficient age, intelligence and maturity to make a decision
Custody may be changed if there is a substantial change in circumstances and a change would be in the best interests of the child.
When one parent is awarded custody of a child, the other parent is granted visitation rights. The court will set visitation rights if the parents are unable to agree upon arrangements because a child has a right to maintain an ongoing relationship with both parents. Visits are generally unsupervised and take place at the non-custodial parent's residence.
Child Support
In Colorado, generally the parent that does not have custody of the child is required to contribute to the support of the minor child. The court looks at the needs of the child and the ability of the supporting parent to pay. There are state Child Support Guidelines that provide an amount of child support that is presumed to be correct. The support award may be increased or decreased if a material change occurs in the circumstances of either parent or the child.
A Colorado child support order can be modified if there has been a substantial change in circumstances, such as a big increase or decrease in either parent's income or the child reaching the legal age of majority and graduating from high school.
Related Web Links:
- Colorado Judicial Branch
- Colorado Judicial Branch Domestic Forms
- Colorado Domestic Matters
- Colorado Child Support Worksheets
- Colorado Child Support Enforcement
- Colorado State Profile
- Family Law: Selecting a Good Lawyer
- Divorce - General message board for more help