Hard times

How to afford a divorce in Colorado

The fear that you cannot afford to leave keeps people in marriages for years. The actual cost of a Colorado divorce runs from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands, and most of the difference is how much the two of you fight. Here is the real menu.

Call the divorce team 303-955-4220 What a divorce costs Help lines and legal aid

Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree.

Court

$260 to file, waivable

Response $146. JDF 205 waives fees under 125 percent of the poverty guideline. Forms are free.

Help

Free to a few hundred

Self-help centers in every district; Colorado Legal Services for qualifying households; mediation through the Office of Dispute Resolution at $75 per party per hour.

Attorneys

Unbundled or full

Unbundled help by the task at a few hundred dollars each; full representation commonly $5,000 to $25,000 and up in a contested case.

The house

The usual source of the cash

A sale before the decree with proceeds held at title funds both fresh starts. The decree can allocate fees from it.

The short answer

An agreed Colorado divorce with the forms from the self-help center, one mediation session and no attorney can cost under $1,000, and the filing fee can be waived. A contested divorce with a house, retirement and children commonly costs each spouse $10,000 to $25,000 or more. The single biggest cost control is deciding the house on the numbers early, because the house is what people litigate.

The real menu

Filing$260 petition, $146 response, plus service. Waived on JDF 205 if you qualify (roughly under $19,500 a year for one person, more per household member).

Forms and the self-help centerFree. Every judicial district has one; Denver’s is at 1437 Bannock St, Room 281. They cannot give legal advice, but they will make sure the packet is complete.

MediationUsually required before a contested hearing. The Office of Dispute Resolution charges $75 per party per hour; private mediators $150 to $400 an hour split two ways. Two to four hours settles most cases.

Unbundled attorneyA limited-scope lawyer for one hearing, one review or one document, typically $200 to $400 an hour for a few hours. Colorado permits it (C.R.C.P. 11(b)).

Full representationRetainers commonly $3,000 to $10,000; contested cases with experts run far beyond. The court can order the higher earner to contribute to the other’s fees (C.R.S. 14-10-119).

Legal aidColorado Legal Services, 303-837-1313, for qualifying households, especially where safety, children or housing are at stake.

The houseA free written valuation from us, to both spouses. If it sells, the proceeds held at title are where fees, deposits and moving money come from.

Ways to cut the cost in half

Decide the house first, on a written number both of you accept. It is the thing people litigate.
Use the sworn financial statement as the inventory; do not pay an attorney to discover what you can list yourself.
Mediate before you file motions.
Use one neutral real estate team, not one agent each.
Ask for temporary orders on the forms rather than fighting informally for months.

Questions people ask

Can my spouse be ordered to pay my attorney?

Colorado courts can order one spouse to pay part of the other’s fees when incomes are unequal. Ask in the petition or response; it is not automatic.

Do I need a lawyer at all?

Most Colorado divorces are filed without one. If there is a business, a pension, safety concerns, or a spouse who will not disclose, get at least unbundled help.

Can we use one lawyer for both of us?

No; a lawyer represents one party. A mediator is neutral for both, and either of you can consult an unbundled attorney about the agreement.

How do people pay for it with no savings?

Temporary support, the fee waiver, legal aid, the house proceeds held at title, a fee award in the decree, and sometimes family. Not the 401(k) before the decree. Divorce with no savings.

Hard times, handled quietly

We have sold underwater houses, negotiated short sales and stopped foreclosure clocks for divorcing owners. Quietly.

A divorce with no equity, two incomes that just became one, and a lender who does not care about the decree is the file we see most in a down year. The Kenna divorce real estate team, led by Damon L. Chavez, Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist, runs the numbers first and tells you the truth: sell, short sale, hold, or fight the foreclosure.

Your information stays with us. We will not contact you without your permission, and nothing here is logged to an account.

A written net sheet with the house sold, short-sold and kept

The Colorado foreclosure timeline against your court dates

A lender who will tell you the truth about a refinance on one income

The hotline, legal aid and fee-waiver numbers, free

Talk to the team, free

Where to go next

Plain-language education, not advice. Divorce Decisions is published by The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC, a real estate team. Nothing here is legal, tax, lending or financial advice, and reading it does not create any professional relationship. Colorado law and lender rules change; confirm anything that matters to your case with a licensed Colorado attorney, a tax professional, and your lender. See our full disclaimer.

Call your Colorado divorce agent

Questions about the house, the deed or the decree?

Call us today to talk through your situation and how we can help. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree.

Call today 303-955-4220 Download the free divorce-home guide

Ask what the house can do

Tell us where the case is and what you are trying to afford. We will send the free valuation and the resource list, and we will not contact you without your permission.

Call or text 303-955-4220

A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. Prefer email? homes@kennarealestate.com