In Colorado, a divorce is begun with the filing of two documents with
the Court: the Summons and the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. A
number of additional documents are filed with these documents as you
can see from the Colorado Court’s website, www.courts.state.co.us (Go
to self-help center, forms.) Next, the Summons and Petition are served
on the Responding party. This begins a 90 day waiting period, during
which no Final Decree can be issued.
Within
40 days from the filing of the Petition, the parties are to attend an
Initial Status Conference with their attorneys. If both parties are
represented by lawyers, they may avoid coming to Court for this
conference and may file another document, called a Case Management
Plan. Both the Initial Status Conference and the Case Management Plan
are methods of providing information to the Colorado Court of what the
parties intend to do to complete the divorce.
Within 40 days
from the Service of the Petition, both parties are expected to provide
Disclosures of their financial status, i.e. any fact that is material
to the resolution of the case. In addition to the Sworn Financial
Statement, required disclosures are income documentation -- pay
statements or other documentation, most recent 3 years of income tax
returns, any business or personal financial statements, real estate
documents, debt documents (including the documents creating the debt
and most recent statement showing balance and payment terms) employment
benefits, retirement statements, bank accounts (most recent) child care
documentation, insurance documentation, and any extraordinary expenses
for the children, such as for orthodontia.
After this
exchange, the parties are to meet to settle immediate issues, such as
temporary support and payment of debts, and parenting time, residence
of the children, and any other issues that need to be decided
immediately. If the parties cannot agree they can have a Colorado
District Court Magistrate decide the issue at a hearing.
The
parties are expected to attend the Parenting Class, attend mediation,
and conduct a final four way meeting before final orders. If the
Mediation or the four way settlement conference results in a complete
agreement, the terms are memorialized in a Separation Agreement which
is submitted to the Court with the Decree of Dissolution and Affidavit
of Non Appearance and typical no hearing is needed. If there are
children, and one or both parties do not have attorneys, there is a
short hearing before the Magistrate to review and approve the
Separation Agreement. If there are no children or if there are children
and both parties are represented by attorneys, no hearing is necessary.
If
there is no agreement, there is a final orders hearing before the
District Court Judge assigned to the case. This hearing cannot occur
until after the 90 day waiting period has expired.