As for legal custody, decision-making responsibilities refer to day-to-day decisions and significant decisions on health care, religion, education, residence, etc.
Before the court determines legal custody, it looks into whether a parent is willing to have it and whether a parent is physically and mentally able to have it. Typically, Colorado courts prefer to divide decision-making responsibilities equally between both parents provided that it is in the best interests of the child. When deciding, the court will consider:.
Although sole legal custody of the child is rare in Colorado family courts, it can happen in case of a history of domestic violence or child abuse.
After the court issues an order regarding custody, each spouse submits a parental agreement to detail how they plan to split their parenting time and decision-making responsibilities. If the spouses fail to do so or if the court does not approve their parenting plan, the judge drafts a parenting plan for the parents see Colo.
If the court discovers that a parent has had a history of domestic violence, child abuse, or neglect, only supervised visitation is possible or no visitation at all.
The court always takes a gender-neutral approach in a custody determination. A judge will not automatically assume that the child is better off with the mother. Join thousands who have already gotten divorce documents online in an affordable way. When determining a monthly amount in child support, the court ensures that a dissolution of marriage will have the least impact on the child in terms of financial aid.
According to Colo. When filing for divorce with children in Colorado, divorcing spouses also complete a Child Support Worksheet where they specify their income and other financial aspects of their lives. The disclosure of financial information allows the court to make an informed decision as to child support. Using the Income Shares Model , Colorado courts calculate child support by considering the financial resources and needs of both the child and each parent and the standard of living the family has had.
Typically, it is the non-custodial parent who shall pay child support, but it is calculated proportionate to his or her financial resources. In Colorado, child support continues until the child turns 19, graduates from high school, or enrolls in the army.
If the child drops out of high school and then re-enrolls, child support continues until the child graduates or reaches 21 years of age.
In the case of disability, the court may order child support beyond the age of Colorado Family Law does not provide an automatic right to alimony or spousal maintenance.
However, if the requesting spouse specifies a lack of employment to support themselves, an intensive schedule of childcare, or any other reason for spousal maintenance, the court may award it.
Spousal maintenance provides guidelines for the percentage of support awarded to spouses based on the duration of the marriage. Calculate approximate spousal maintenance in Colorado here. Uncontested El Paso County divorce with children. Save more time for your children - complete your divorce papers online. Disposition of Property , the court considers how much each spouse contributed to the acquisition of marital property. Belonging to the equitable distribution states, Colorado distinguishes between separate property and marital property.
Colorado courts typically accept a fair and equal distribution of marital assets memorialized in a marital settlement agreement. However, if the spouses are unable to agree on property division, the court uses the dual classification model to categorize separate and marital property then distributes the property between the spouses.
Mediation can be of great help in a divorce done by yourself, even if the spouses cannot achieve consensus on one or more issues. In a DIY divorce, you and your spouse may stumble on some obstacles, but a skillful mediator is there to help you out without compromising your interests. Mediation can be used at any stage of divorce proceedings by choice of the couple or by order of the court to guide the spouses in resolving their contested issues more efficiently.
Mediators are skilled specialists who assist spouses in verbalizing their concerns while keeping unnecessary emotions and complications out of the picture. Although mediators usually charge for their services, unless the court-mandated mediation within legal aid programs, the price you pay will significantly reduce the overall cost of divorce because you will avoid going to a lengthy and expensive trial.
Check out whether you meet the residency requirements. In Colorado, either spouse must have lived in the state for at least 91 days before filing the paperwork for divorce.
Obtain and fill out the court forms. In all other cases, start your divorcing process in Colorado by filing the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage and other required divorce forms with a district court in your area. After you obtain and complete the court forms, sign them and any other legal documents in the presence of a notary.
Make two copies of each document. You will file the original with the court; one copy goes to you and one for your spouse. File the court forms. The clerk will stamp your divorce documents and give your divorce case a number. Learn in advance how much your local district court charges for filing paperwork to ensure you can pay a filing fee for your divorce papers. Serve the spouse. If you and your spouse are co-petitioners and filed the paperwork jointly, you can skip this step.
If your spouse is willing to sign a waiver of service, that form must be filed together with the other divorce papers. In all other cases, you should hire a sheriff or a process server to deliver the divorce papers to your spouse.
You can also mail the documents by certified mail with notification. A final option is to ask your friend or a relative to serve your spouse. Note that your children cannot be the servers of divorce documents.
If you cannot locate your spouse, you have the option of serving through publication. Ask the court clerk how to request court permission for this type of service from the judge. Whatever method of serving you choose, you must provide proof of service to the court. After the spouse is served with the divorce paperwork, he or she has 21 days to file a response.
In case of service by publication, the waiting period is longer as the court allows 90 days for discovery. Attend court hearings. The judge will decide whether a hearing is required based on the circumstances of your case. If, upon reviewing the case, everything looks satisfactory, the judge will sign a decree of dissolution of marriage, and the couple is officially divorced. Offline and inconvenient process with attorney representation for each spouse.
Costly attorney fees resulting in unforeseen expenditures. Lengthy and expensive option. Fully-guided, fast and affordable process. Thus, referring to Texas Family Code, Sec.
If the obligor must support other children as well, the calculation should be made according to the simple chart below. It determines the percentages of net resources based on the number of children before the court and any other children biological or adopted which are also being supported. According to the Texas Family Code, Chapter 8, Sec , the court may order alimony for either party, but only if the spouse seeking spousal maintenance lacks sufficient property including separate property to provide for their minimum reasonable needs.
Additionally, the paying party must have the financial capacity to pay alimony. The criteria used in determining the right to receive alimony for a spouse seeking maintenance are as follows:. These factors include each spouse's financial resources and earning capacity, their education and employment skills, as well as their age, health, any history of family violence, adultery or cruel treatment.
Also taken into consideration is the length of the marriage, whether either spouse is paying child support, and whether either spouse spent community property excessively or fraudulently disposed of joint property.
Thus, each alimony request in Texas is considered separately based on the unique circumstances of each couple. Uncontested El Paso County divorce with children. Save more time for your children - complete your divorce papers online.
The Final Decree of Divorce in Texas includes an Order concerning how property is divided the real estate, assets, and other property jointly held by the spouses.
According to Sec. However, Texas courts have broad discretion when it comes to defining a just and right division. There are different options for the division of joint assets. In contested cases, the judges take into account a long list of factors when determining what kind of property distribution would be equitable. In an uncontested divorce, the spouses are eligible to allocate property the way they want. The court will approve any Settlement Agreement if it is fair. Mediation is an alternative dispute resolution option aimed to help spouses to negotiate constructively.
Divorce mediation assists the spouses in jointly drafting a Marital Settlement Agreement that will be approved by the court. Negotiating is not easy. So the mediator works with the couple, helping them to engage in a productive dialog and come up with mutually beneficial solutions faster. In El Paso County, divorce mediation is not a mandatory stage of marriage dissolution.
However, courts may order mediation in some cases, or the parties may participate in mediation voluntarily. One of the few restrictions for divorce mediation is a history of family violence, according to Sec. First of all, the couple has to meet residency requirements to obtain a divorce in El Paso County, Texas. Which court should be used to file for divorce is based on the place of residence. The filing spouse plaintiff should collect the required divorce forms for their divorce in Texas, fill out these divorce papers, and file a Petition for Divorce through the District Clerk's office.
According to the Texas Constitution, Article V, Section 9 , the District Clerk acts as registrar of all court papers that are part of any legal cause of action in the District Courts. The plaintiff has to submit two copies of the Petition For Divorce to the Clerk. The original will be stamped with a case number, and both copies will be dated.
This date is considered the official start of the divorce procedure. One copy will be returned to the plaintiff, and the other has to be given to the second spouse to notify him or her of the divorce proceeding. This process is called serving divorce papers in Texas.
You can learn how to serve your spouse with divorce documents in the Clerk's Office or at the Texas courts' website. The procedure for serving varies, but the copy cannot be delivered personally by the plaintiff. Offline and inconvenient process with attorney representation for each spouse.
Costly attorney fees resulting in unforeseen expenditures. Lengthy and expensive option. Fully-guided, fast and affordable process. Experienced and reliable online divorce service using top-notch technology. Other websites for filling out divorce documents use flawed software technologies to complete your divorce documentation. The exact amount of the filing fee, as well as other court costs, will depend on the case.
Although the cost of divorce varies based on numerous factors, the court filing fee is mandatory for all. Litigants who cannot afford to pay the filing fee may apply for assistance by filling out and signing an Affidavit of Inability to Pay Court Costs in the presence of a public notary.
Following the Family Code, Sec. In El Paso County, a divorce cannot be finalized before the 60th day after the date the suit was filed. Exactly how long it will take to get divorced in Texas is impossible to predict. There are too many factors that can affect the length of the divorce process. Contested divorces usually take much longer than uncontested divorces. Hiring an attorney and going through a trial usually takes much longer than a do-it-yourself divorce.
Even a simple, uncontested DIY-divorce can be a pretty complicated task for a person without a legal background. There is no single fastest way to get divorced. Nevertheless, on average, dissolution is usually much quicker if both parties can reach an agreement, and the divorce is no-fault and uncontested.
The cost of divorce in Texas mainly depends on whether the case is contested or not, as well as whether you are going to seek legal assistance or proceed on your own. At a very minimum, the cost of a DIY divorce will consist of the court filing fee. If an attorney is hired, they typically charge an hourly fee which can significantly increase the total cost of divorce. Other additional costs may include mediation, parenting classes, appraiser's fees, as well as any other service fees that may be required.
Despite its benefits, DIY divorce doesn't fit every couple. There may be some difficulties with the bureaucracy, especially if the spouses have children or any major assets or debts.
A DIY divorce is not always as fast as it seems. For couples that want to get divorced without a lawyer, but need some help, OnlineDivorce. This service will complete all the divorce paperwork for you at a reasonable cost and provide all the information you need for the filing process. I wanted to be a lawyer because I am interested in politics and how the law helps or hinders justice in our society. Family law became my focus fairly early on in my career just because there were a lot of people who came to my office with those kind of cases.
I learned that I liked this area of the law because I could help people through the most heart-wrenching situation and watch them come out the other side with more peace in their lives. I also enjoy the business of figuring out incomes, discovering the values of assets and Ken Caryl Ave.
Litteton, CO Joe moved to Colorado from Texas in He is the oldest of 10 siblings. He finished 3rd nationally at the National Student Congress in Joe then returned to Texas and obtained a B. After two years selling computers and computer services, he attended law school in Boulder at the University of Colorado, receiving a J.
Joe was married to Jan O'Mary in Progress Pl. Suite Greenwood Village, CO Jeff focuses on family law and divorce issues and handles every aspect of his clients' cases. He is part of a larger network of select family law and divorce attorneys that share strategies and analysis in more difficult and complex cases.
He is a mentor to new family law attorneys and is tough and aggressive when needed and conciliatory when such an approach benefits his clients. He enjoys chess, music voice and piano ; working out gym ; hiking; bicycling; reading; word games e. Lizza-Irwin is an experienced trial attorney who handles mediations and other ADR options for resolution in business, personal injury law, family, property damage including soils and mold issues, HOA, premises liability, ski law, wrongful death, construction and building design defects, as well as commercial litigation.
She is a professional mediator and arbitrator. A summa cum laude graduate of Colorado College, member of the University of California Davis law review and a judicial law clerk for the Colorado Court of Appeals, Larry toured through public law serving as a Chief Deputy District Attorney, and Municipal Court Judge before founding his private family law practice and ultimately his mediation practice. I was born in in Iwakuni, Japan and grew up in rural Kansas. I attended college at the Colorado College and graduated with his Bachelor of Arts degree in I then attended law school at the Washburn University of Topeka in Kansas where he obtained his Juris Doctorate degree, with honors, in I was also a member and research editor of the Washburn Law Journal from — I was admitted to the bar in
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