Colorado Divorce Legal Questions

Whether you can convince the court to treat the down payment as premarital, separate property, not subject to division in you divorce will depend upon several factors, including the length of marriage and the extent of commingling. For example, if the down payment occurred 40 years ago and if your ex has been working and contributing to maintaining the home for that entire home, you probably wouldn't receive a credit for the down payment. If you've only been married 3 years, you can probably recoup your monies. With more thorough facts, a competent divorce attorney can give you a better idea.... Read More

If he has not signed the agreement, it should not be included with Petition for divorce or legal separation. The date for the marriage 9/12 does not sound correct if you have 3 children from the marriage. If true, the house is not an asset but if you were married earlier, it could be an asset although it sounds like it has no equity.... Read More

The fastest you can get divorced in Colorado is 91 days after he is served with the petition for dissolution of marriage. The fact that he is in Georgia does not make a difference. However, to be finished in 91 days will require his cooperation. If he does not cooperate to get his financials filed and sign a separation agreement and couple other steps, it can drag on (generally no more than 6 months though in a case like yours). A lawyer can be helpful in cases like this by knowing the process and keeping the process moving forward to get you done as soon as possible.... Read More

Anyone can ask for alimony (now called "spousal maintenance" in Colorado), but whether he gets in will depend on a number of factors including, among others, his reasonable needs (how much does he need to live), how much property he gets in the divorce, the length of the marriage, the standard of living during the marriage, if he can work and what he could earn (or does he get SSDI or the like), and if you can afford to give him maintenance and still meet your reasonable needs.... Read More

Annulment cases do not speak for themselves, unfortunately. There are specific statutory requirements you need to prove to be granted an annulment (incapacity at the time of the marriage, illegality (i.e., one party was already married), fraud, physically unable to consummate the marriage, etc. - see CRS 14-10-111). It actually is often easier and no more expensive to file for divorce, and you have to have a hearing for an annulment, while a divorce can be done on a non-appearance basis if there are no children. The forms for an annulment can be found at http://www.courts.state.co.us/Forms/Forms_List.cfm?Form_Type_ID=84. I help people with annulments and uncontested divorces on a flat fee basis if you would like further assistance. ... Read More

The 90 day waiting period is the mandatory period the court must wait before it is permitted to enter a Decree dissolving a divorce.  If you have submitted all of your paperwork by the 90th day, the court may enter the Decree.  If you have children, you will be required to appear before the court before it will enter a Decree.  The court's website has a lot of helpful information.  Go to:  www.courts.state.co.us for more information.  Click here to go directly to the domestic forms.  You should take a look at the instruction forms, paying attention to which form you needed depending on whether or not you have children.... Read More

Until there is a court order about parenting time, each parent has an equal right to parenting time and there is nothing to stop you from moving across the state. Venue (where you file) is proper where he resides or in whatever county he is served in. You can, however, file in any county and it would be up to him to object to that venue and try to have it moved. You probably are better off moving before filing, but I would need to know more about the facts of your case to give you a more definitive response as to whether that would benefit you legally and you also should consider the human factors and how it will affect your case and your relationship with him going forward as co-parents if you move the kids prior to filing for divorce and getting a court order regarding parenting time (given the age of the children, the facts you state and his involvement with the kids, it sounds like you have a pretty good case to be allowed to move across the state in any case). I offer a free 15 minute initial consultation if you have further questions. I hope this helps. ... Read More

It depends what you want enforced. Generally, you would file a motion to compel, though that is often a waste of time and you might as well file for contempt of court for failing to follow the agreement. If it is something like signing a document, the clerk of the court often can sign for the other spouse if they are refusing to cooperate. If you choose to hire a lawyer to help, courts often grant attorney fees for having to take action to enforce the agreement. I hope this helps.  ... Read More

Colorado doesn't have any "fault" grounds for divorce, so abandonment is irrelevant. All that is required under Colorado no-fault divorce is for one of the parties to say that the marriage is "irretrievably broken". If you have been a legal resident of Colorado for more than 90 days you can file for divorce in Colorado and accomplish service by publication in Colorado. Service by publication only permits the court to grant the divorce and deal with any property located in Colorado. Since you say there are no children and no property, that won't make a difference to you.... Read More

That question cannot be answered without knowing much more about the overall financial situation that will be decided in your divorce. The vehicle will go to whoever the two of you agree should get it; if you can't agree, the judge will have to decide what is fair under all the circumstances and there are no simple rules as to how the judge will make that decision.... Read More

I would need more info and I'd like to see the agreement, but if the agreement states that if she gets remarried, that you get your retirement back, then that would likely be enforceable and you could get a court order compelling the retirement plan administrator to return it to you. The tricky part will be enforcement. You might consider registering the case for enforcement in Colorado courts, since neither of you live in Nevada anymore, and then she will have to fight you here. I offer a free consultation if you would like to discuss this further. I hope this helps. ... Read More

You don't give enough information about what you mean by "Domestic Partner" or what state you live in. But, if you are not married, you can't get divorced because there is no "marriage" to dissolve. If you live in a state that has some sort of legally recognized "Domestic Partnership", you need to consult a lawyer in that state to determine the requirements for terminating the relationship.... Read More