Denver Divorce & Family Law Attorneys

How to File for Divorce in Denver

Understanding how the divorce process unfolds is essential as we prepare to navigate your divorce proceedings. You can file for divorce in Denver as long as you have been a resident for at least 91 days or six months if you share children, ensuring you meet the residency requirements. Then, you can file your petition for the dissolution of your marriage by visiting the City and County Building in Denver at 1437 Bannock Street. 

Once you have filed for divorce or been served divorce papers, it will be time to go through your financial disclosures. This is where both spouses disclose their financial state, including information regarding assets, taxes, debts, income, expenses, and other necessary financial information. Your divorce lawyer will need to go through paystubs, bank statements, tax returns, and other financial records to ensure the information provided matches the official records. This will help us determine how marital assets and property should be divided, whether spousal maintenance should be awarded, and how much child support should be in your case.

Mediation

Next, your divorce attorneys will sit down with your soon-to-be ex-spouse and their divorce lawyers during mediation. At this time, you will work with your spouse to solve the elements of your divorce settlement. Generally, mediation proceedings involve a mediator who attempts to negotiate for both sides and offers and help you and your former spouse come to an equitable resolution. 

It is not unusual for divorce cases to require multiple mediation sessions before a divorce settlement can be reached. If you and your spouse can work through these terms together, your divorce can be resolved and finalized more quickly. If you are unable to reach a resolution, these decisions can be taken out of your hands and made by the judge presiding over your divorce proceedings.

Protecting Your Rights in Your Divorce  

Although some marriages come to an end and both parties can mutually agree to part ways without malice, many divorces become incredibly contentious. Spouses continue to focus on who wronged who and argue over how their marital estate will be dissolved. Working with a skilled divorce attorney may be the best way to protect your rights. It is not uncommon for one spouse to attempt to take advantage of the other. 

Some spouses do everything they can to increase the amount they are awarded in spousal maintenance. Other spouses will attempt to hide marital assets and property to prevent their ex from being awarded these assets in the divorce settlement. Working with a trial-proven Denver divorce attorney is one of the best ways to assert your rights and get your divorce finalized in a timely manner. 

Our team at Griffiths Law has considerable experience navigating every element of the divorce process, including determining child custody and parenting time, establishing child support orders, dividing marital property and assets, and implementing spousal maintenance and alimony orders.

Determining Child Custody and Parenting Time

One of the issues parents have the most trouble agreeing on is child custody and parenting time when their marriage ends. Under Colorado law, there is no child custody. Instead, the court system uses the term “parental responsibility” to describe what is commonly known as physical and legal custody. Physical and legal custody are now referred to as “parenting time” and “decision-making,” respectively.

The court system will always make decisions in the “best interests of the child.” Under C.R.S. § 14–10–124(1.5)(a), the court system considers the best interests of the child in regard to their emotional, cognitive, and physical safety, needs, and well-being. When working out your child custody and parenting time agreement, our Denver divorce lawyers can help ensure decisions are made with your child’s best interests in mind. 

Many families come to shared parenting time and decision-making agreements. However, under limited circumstances, one parent may be given more parenting time or decision-making responsibilities than the other. Some of the factors that will be taken into account when parenting time and custody are being determined as part of your divorce settlement include:

• What your child wants
• What each spouse wants for the children
• Whether your child has step or half-siblings
• The child’s relationship with other relevant family members
• The parent’s physical and mental health
• The child’s physical and mental health
• How well children will adjust to their school or home
• Whether parents are capable of prioritizing their child’s needs above their own
• Whether there is a history of physical or emotional abuse
• Whether there is a history of substance abuse
• The parent’s history of involvement in the child’s upbringing
• Where both parents live
• How well parents will continue to support the other parent’s relationship with the child

While working out your parenting time and custody issues, your divorce attorney will also be working to come to a child support agreement. The number of overnights each parent has with the child, the parent’s total income, the number of children, and other factors all play a part in which parent will be required to pay child support and how much child support should be awarded. Child support is often required until the child reaches 19 years of age but may continue until they reach the age of 21 if they are still attending high school or a similar education program.

Division of Marital Property and Assets

One of the most important elements of your Denver divorce proceedings will be the division of your marital assets, debts, and property. In community property states, these assets and debts will be divided 50/50. Each spouse would be responsible for half of the debts and be awarded half of the marital assets. However, Colorado is not a community property state. 

Equitable Distribution in Colorado

Colorado follows equitable distribution laws. This means marital assets and property are divided equitably when a marriage dissolves. Marital assets and debts will be divided fairly as opposed to equally to ensure both parties obtain their fair share of the marital estate.

What is “fair” when dividing up marital property can be entirely subjective. Some of the factors a judge may take into account could include:

• What each spouse brought into the marriage
• Each spouse’s contribution to the marriage, including the contributions of homemakers
• Each spouse’s contributions to the marital property and assets obtained throughout the marriage
• The decreases or increases in the value of separate property
• Decreases in the value of separate property during the course of the marriage
• How each spouse will be affected financially by the property division

Marital Assets and Separate Property

Your Denver divorce attorney will be responsible for reviewing all financial disclosures to ensure all marital property and assets have been classified as such. This is because only marital property and assets can be included as part of the division of your marital estate. Any property or assets that are considered “separate property” will not be taken into account. This can have a significant impact on the distribution of finances and assets when your marriage dissolves. 

In most cases, any property acquired throughout the marriage will be considered marital property. Any property brought into the marriage may be considered separate property. This does not include assets or property gifted to either spouse during the marriage. Colorado law does not include property or assets inherited as marital property either. It is more common than you might think for spouses to attempt to classify certain assets and property as separate property when they should have been considered marital property. According to C.R.S. § 14–10–113, separate property includes:

• Real estate or other property owned prior to the marriage
• Any property or assets inherited during or prior to the marriage

Marital property will not include:

• Any real estate or assets acquired after a legal separation
• Any assets or property gifted to one spouse
• Property or assets acquired during an exchange prior to the marriage
• Any assets or property excluded through a valid agreement signed by both spouses

Alimony & Spousal Maintenance

In Colorado, alimony is known as spousal maintenance. While many assume alimony and spousal maintenance are awarded in every divorce case, this could not be further from the truth. Your Denver divorce lawyer will be responsible for helping you obtain spousal maintenance or protect yourself when your spouse is seeking astronomical spousal maintenance. Typically, when one spouse earns substantially more than the other, temporary or permanent spousal maintenance orders can be issued. The amount of spousal maintenance awarded will vary widely depending on each spouse’s income, ability to obtain gainful employment, expenses, and the terms of your parenting time and marital property division. 

Under C.R.S. § 14–10–114(3)(b)(II)(B), maintenance can be ordered based on the length of your marriage. Generally, you will be expected to pay or can continue collecting maintenance payments for approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the length of your marriage. For example, if you were married for three years, you may be expected to pay spousal maintenance for approximately one year. However, if you were married for more than 12 years, you might be expected to pay spousal support for half the length of your marriage. In some cases, the court system has the authority to award maintenance permanently. This occurs most often in multi-decade marriages and instances where the spouse requiring maintenance is physically or mentally incapacitated.

Our Denver Divorce Attorneys Can Help You Rebuild a Brighter Future

It can feel as though the world is ending when your marriage falls apart. After all, no one gets married thinking it will end in divorce. However, with a compassionate and driven Denver divorce attorney at Griffiths Law working for you, you can assert your rights and come to a reasonable settlement so you can finalize your divorce without being taken advantage of by your ex-spouse. 

Are ready to discuss your legal options and start working towards resolving the points of contention in your divorce? Complete our secure contact form or call our office to schedule your confidential consultation as soon as today to initiate or respond to impending divorce proceedings.