| Dissolution of Marriage Terms and Resources |
|
|
Some Basic Concepts About Dissolution of Marriage and Legal Separation Cases This glossary is intended to give some assistance to parties who are in the dissolution of marriage or legal separation process. It is not a substitute for legal advice. Issues in these types of legal proceedings can be extremely complicated and you should confer with a lawyer if you have any questions. You can get more information at the Resource Center including information involving a private attorney search. Parties, Pleadings and Process Petitioner or Co-Petitioner refers to the party or parties that filed the case. Where one party brings the action the party that filed the case is referred to as the Petitioner. If the parties file jointly, they are referred to as Co-Petitioners. Respondent refers to the party other than the party that filed the case. Pleadings are documents filed with the court that explain what it is you want the judge or magistrate handling your case to do in your case. These can be the petition, the response or motions that you file with the court. Petition is the pleading filed by the Petitioner or Co-Petitioners that lets the court know what types of issues the court must deal with in the case. The petition will tell the court if there are children of the marriage, if there are property rights to be determined and divided, whether you are asking for child support or maintenance (what most people call alimony), and also tells the court, in general terms, how the Petitioner and Co-Petitioner would like these sort of issues resolved. Response is the pleading filed by the Respondent. Like the petition, the response lets the court know what the issues in the case are and generally lets the court knows which of those issues are in dispute by admitting or denying the assertions in the Petition. Return to Top↑ Service of Process is the method of giving the court jurisdiction to enter orders in your case.. Until the court has jurisdiction, the court cannot enter valid orders. This procedure is required by both the United States Constitution and the Colorado Constitution. The preferred and usual way of obtaining service of process is through personal service. Where you are seeking an order allocating of parental rights for your children, child support, maintenance or a division of property outside of Colorado, you must have personal jurisdiction through personal service over the other party to the action. Personal jurisdiction is obtained by having a person at least eighteen (18) years of age and not a party to the action personally serving the Summons, Petition and supporting documents upon a party in order for the court to get jurisdiction over the party being served. Where Co-Petitioners jointly file the court has jurisdiction over both parties and service of process is not necessary. If you are only seeking a divorce or division of property in Colorado and you cannot locate the other person after using reasonable diligence to find them, you can obtain in rem jurisdiction through published service over the status of your marriage or property within Colorado through service by publication. If you knew or should have known where the person could be found through the use of reasonable diligence, however, and proceed in this way, your property award could be set aside. If you know where a person is or can find them by using reasonable efforts, you must have them personally served. Service of process is necessary to provide the other party notice and an opportunity to be heard as required by our state and federal constitutions. These are concepts of constitutional law contained in the due process clause of both the state and federal constitution. You will always have to give the other party notice and an opportunity to be heard at hearings before the court because of this constitutional requirement. This requirement has also been made a part of the laws of the State of Colorado and rules of procedure adopted by the court. Return to Top↑ Temporary orders are orders entered to govern the parties access to their children, temporarily divide property and debt, establish child support and maintenance orders and otherwise regulate the parties conduct while the case is pending before the dissolution of marriage or legal separation becomes final. Decree is the court order that terminates the marriage or enters a legal separation for the parties. A Decree of Dissolution of Marriage is what is commonly referred to as a divorce. Once this decree is entered, the parties are no longer married. A Decree of Legal Separation does not end the marriage but resolves all other legal issues between the parties permitting them to acquire property or debt without creating rights or obligations in the other party after the date of its entry. A Decree of Legal Separation can be converted to a Decree of Dissolution of Marriage by one party without the other party's consent six months after the Decree of Legal Separation was entered. Permanent Orders are the final orders fully resolving all of the issues between the parties, allocating parental responsibilities, establishing child support and maintenance, dividing property and debt, and entering such other orders as the court believes to be necessary in the case. The Decree and Permanent Orders hearing is the hearing at which the court will hear the evidence, enter the appropriate decree and make a decision on the permanent orders. This hearing cannot occur until at least ninety (90) days have passed from the date that service of process was completed. These orders are final and cannot be changed except for those things that the court has continuing jurisdiction over. Continuing jurisdiction occurs for matters relating to children such as child support, parenting time and decision-making. The court also retains continuing jurisdiction where one party has been granted maintenance. The court retains this jurisdiction to modify or change orders in these areas because children's physical and emotional needs change as they get older, children emancipate, and people's financial circumstances change over the years requiring an adjustment to the existing orders to help keep the orders meaningful and appropriate to those changed circumstances. Return to Top↑ Special Issues Concerning Children Allocation of Parental Responsibilities refers to decision-making and parenting time with children. Colorado no longer uses the terms custody and visitation. Decision-making orders determine how the parents will make decisions regarding a child's medical care, educational needs, extracurricular activities, and other such matters with respect to a child's upbringing. Parenting time determines how much time the child will spend with each parent. Best Interests of the Child is the legal standard that the court must apply in making decisions regarding decision-making and parenting time. There are several considerations regarding the child's best interests. To review the statute which defines this term, visit the On-Line Law Library and click on the Colorado Revised Statutes link. The statute defining best interests is §14-10-124, C.R.S. which can be found in the Colorado Statutes, Title 14, Domestic Matters.
Parenting plans
can be agreed to by the parties and approved by the court. These plans
resolve who will make what decisions and how much time the child or children
spend with each parent. Each party may propose parenting plans to the
court. The court may accept, modify or reject a party's parenting plan in
whole or in part.
Child Support Guidelines are created by
Colorado law to determine how much support each parent will contribute to the
support of their children. The parent with whom the child or children
primarily reside are presumed to pay child support through the actual payment
for the living expenses of the child or children. The parent with whom the
child or children do not primarily reside must pay his or her portion of the
expenses associated with the living expenses of the child or children through
child support payments.
Family Support Registry is a state run
entity that collects, disburses and accounts for child support payments.
For more information visit
the
Colorado Family Support Registry Information Page of the Colorado Department
of Human Services Child Support website. More information directly related
to the Seventeenth Judicial District can be found at the Return to Top↑ Allocation of Parental Responsibilities Evaluations can be ordered by the court requiring the parties and their children. These evaluations require that a qualified evaluator investigate the family's circumstances, including the children's interaction with their parents, and then make a written report to the court and the parties with the evaluator's recommendations regarding the allocation of parental responsibilities no later than twenty (20) days prior to the hearing on allocation of parental responsibilities. If you request such an evaluation, you must pay for it. Child and Family Investigators are commonly utilized by the court to make recommendations regarding the allocation of parental responsibilities. Child and Family Investigators are regulated by Chief Justice Directive 04-08. Child and Family Investigators must have a demonstrated expertise and participate in ongoing training to insure that their recommendations serve the best interests of the child. You will be required to pay the Child and Family Investigator for his or her services unless you are indigent. A partial list of Child and Family Investigators who practice in the Seventeenth Judicial District can be found on the Child and Family Investigators Page. The Child and Family Investigator must submit a written report to the court, can be called as a witness by either party and usually will also make verbal recommendations to the judge or magistrate regarding the best interests of the child. Parenting Coordinator is a person with specific qualifications that can be appointed by the court or by agreement of the parties to resolve parenting disputes after your case has been concluded. You can agree to make the recommendations of a third person binding by jointly requesting the appointment of a decision-maker whose decisions can enforced by a court order. If you elect to request a parenting-coordinator, decision-maker or both, you will be responsible for paying them. Additionally, neither a parenting coordinator or decision-maker can be called to testify in the case in which the allocation of parental responsibilities is ordered. Marital property is the property which the court can divide between spouses in the permanent orders. In Colorado, marital property is any property acquired by either spouse after the date of their marriage unless that property is separate property as defined by §14-10-113(2), C.R.S. Increases in the value of separate property are marital property. Separate property is property owned by a spouse prior to the marriage of the parties, property acquired by gift, devise or bequest, or property excluded from marital property by a valid agreement of the parties. The court is required to set aside any separate property of a party to that party as part of the permanent orders. Return to Top↑ Property division must occur in the case based upon a balancing of the economic circumstances of the parties. The court must make an equitable division of property. This is not necessarily an equal division of property. The court does so by looking at a variety of statutory criteria found in §14-10-113, C.R.S which include the contribution of each spouse to the acquisition of the marital property, including the contribution of a spouse as homemaker, the value of the property set apart to each spouse, the economic circumstances of each spouse at the time the division of property is to become effective, including the desirability of awarding the family home or the right to live therein for reasonable periods to the spouse with whom any children reside the majority of the time, and any increases or decreases in the value of the separate property of the spouse during the marriage or the depletion of the separate property for marital purposes. Separation agreements can be entered into between the parties which resolve some or all of the issues in the case, including property division. Once these agreements are approved by the court, they become binding orders of court. Maintenance was formerly known as alimony or spousal support. Maintenance can be awarded to be paid by one spouse to another depending upon a number of circumstances which include the length of the marriage, the standard of living during the marriage, whether a spouse can meet his or her needs through appropriate employment, the age and physical condition of the parties and all other relevant circumstances. Return to Top↑ |