Divorce in Adams County, Colorado

The court and the help

How the case runs in Adams County

1. File the petition (or a joint petition) and pay $260, or file JDF 205 for a waiver.
2. Serve your spouse, or have them sign a waiver. The automatic injunction now binds both of you: no selling, refinancing or borrowing against the house without consent or an order.
3. Respond within 21 days (35 if served out of state), fee $146.
4. Disclose within 42 days: sworn financial statement (JDF 1111) and three years of records. Put a written valuation, not a guess, in the house line.
5. Initial status conference within 42 days of filing; the court sets deadlines, and in most districts orders the parenting class and mediation before any contested hearing.
6. Settle or hearing. Most couples sign a Property and Financial Agreement (JDF 1115); the decree (JDF 1019) can enter after 91 days.

Adams County divorce forms

Adams County uses the standard statewide divorce forms from the Colorado Judicial Branch; there is no separate Adams County packet. You file them with the Adams County District Court (Adams County Justice Center), 1100 Judicial Center Dr., Brighton, CO 80601 (17th Judicial District), online through Colorado Courts E-Filing or in person at the clerk’s office. Each link below opens the form’s official page, where the current PDF and translations are posted.

• JDF 1010 Guide to Divorce or Legal Separation: The court’s step-by-step instructions for the whole case. Read it first.
• JDF 1000 Case Information Sheet: Filed with the petition to open the case.
• JDF 1011 Petition for Divorce or Legal Separation: The form that starts the case, filed alone or jointly with your spouse.
• JDF 1012 Summons (divorce/separation): Needed only if you file alone; it is served on your spouse with the petition.
• JDF 1013 Waiver of Service (divorce/separation): Your spouse signs it to accept the papers without formal service.
• JDF 1014 Return of Service (divorce/separation): Proof that your spouse was formally served.
• JDF 1015 Response to the Petition (divorce/separation): The served spouse’s answer to the petition.
• JDF 1111 Sworn Financial Statement: Each spouse’s income, expenses, assets and debts, including the house value and mortgage balance.
• JDF 1104 Certificate of Compliance with Mandatory Financial Disclosures: Confirms you exchanged the required financial documents.
• JDF 1115 Property and Financial Agreement: The written settlement on the house, other property, debts and maintenance.
• JDF 1113 Parenting Plan: Parenting time and decision-making, for couples with children.
• JDF 1117 Support Order: Sets child support and maintenance amounts when either is ordered.
• JDF 1018 Affidavit for Decree without Appearance: Asks the court to enter the decree on paper, without a hearing, when everything is agreed.
• JDF 1019 Final Decree (divorce/separation): The order that ends the marriage, signed by the court no sooner than 91 days after service or joint filing.

Not every case uses every form: the summons, service and response forms apply only when one spouse files alone, and the parenting plan only when there are children. The self-help center at the Adams County Justice Center can tell you which forms your case needs, for free.

The house in Adams County

Denver-metro median close price $594,495 (all residential) and $649,500 detached in August 2026 (DMAR). Adams County prices vary widely by city; get a written valuation. Colorado divides the marital home equitably, values it as of the decree, and treats a premarital home’s appreciation as marital. The four outcomes are the same everywhere: sell and split, one spouse buys the other out, a deferred sale for the kids, or an assumption of the existing loan. Which one fits is decided by three numbers: value, payoff, and what each spouse can carry alone at today’s rates.

Homes for sale nearby

If one of you will be buying or renting again in Adams County, the full MLS is on kennarealestate.com. Nobody has to know why you are looking.

Questions people in Adams County ask