Cost of divorce in Colorado

Both sides pay a docket fee

Docket fee paid by the petitioner in a proceeding for dissolution of marriage, legal separation or declaration of invalidity: $230; by the respondent: $116 (C.R.S. 13-32-101(1)(a) and (b)). The figures appear in the statute and in the Judicial Branch fee chart, so Denver, El Paso and a rural district charge the same. Unlike states where answering is free, the respondent's $116 is due with the response.

After the decree, the fee schedule keeps going: a motion to modify, amend or alter a decree or order filed more than 60 days after the decree costs $105, and a stand-alone petition for allocation of parental responsibilities costs $222.

The 91-day rules

One party must have been domiciled in Colorado for 91 days before the proceeding is commenced (C.R.S. 14-10-106(1)(a)(I)). The decree may be entered only when 91 days or more have elapsed since the court acquired jurisdiction over the respondent (service, joining as co-petitioner, or appearance) (C.R.S. 14-10-106(1)(a)(III)). When spouses file as co-petitioners, the court has jurisdiction over both of them on the day of filing, so the 91 days start immediately. When one spouse files and serves the other weeks later, the count starts at service.

Decree on affidavit

Decree upon affidavit without a hearing when there are no minor children (or both parties are represented and have a separation agreement on children), the respondent is served, there is no genuine issue of material fact, and there is no marital property or the parties agree on its division (C.R.S. 14-10-120.3). This is the closest Colorado comes to a summary divorce: the parties file sworn statements and their agreements, and the judge signs the decree without anyone appearing in court. It saves time and lawyer hours, not docket fees.

No statewide mandate in statute: a court may order a parent of a child under 18 to attend a parental education program on the impact of separation and divorce (C.R.S. 14-10-123.7(2)); judicial districts may require it by local practice.

Example for co-petitioners

Picture a Denver couple without minor children: one spouse petitions, the other responds, and they finish on the affidavit route. They pay $346 in docket fees, and if one of them has a lawyer review the separation agreement for 5 hours at $300 an hour (a made-up quote to replace with your own), the bill reaches $1,846. A spouse who cannot afford the docket fee can ask the court to waive it; the Judicial Branch publishes the forms with its self-help materials. Colorado maintenance has a statutory formula on the Colorado alimony page, child support a schedule on the Colorado child support page, and Arizona to the southwest prices its divorces county by county.