Just served

You were served. Here is this week.

Take a breath. Nothing is decided yet. You have 21 days to respond, the same rules now bind both of you, and the house is going nowhere without your signature or a judge. Here is what to do first, in order.

The Colorado process Who gets the house Help lines

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

Deadline

21 days to respond

35 if you were served outside Colorado. File JDF 1015, fee $146. Missing it can mean a default.

The injunction

It binds both of you now

No selling, transferring, hiding or borrowing against marital property. No cancelling insurance. No taking the kids out of state.

The house

Nobody has to move out

Filing does not decide who stays. Only a court order for exclusive possession does.

The mortgage

Keep paying, or get an order

A missed payment during the case lands on both credit reports.

The short answer

Read every page you were handed and write down the date you received it. File your Response (JDF 1015) within 21 days. Do not move money, sell anything, cancel insurance, or change the locks: the automatic temporary injunction under C.R.S. 14-10-107 now restrains both of you. Keep paying the mortgage and the bills that keep the lights on. Open a checking account in your own name for your own pay. Gather documents. Then decide whether you need a lawyer, a mediator or both. If you are not safe at home, call 800-799-7233 or text START to 88788 before you do anything else.

What the automatic temporary injunction actually says

It took effect on your spouse when the petition was filed and on you when you were served. It lasts until the decree. Both of you are restrained from:

“Transferring, encumbering, concealing, or in any way disposing of” marital property without the other’s consent or a court order, except in the usual course of business or for the necessities of life. That includes listing the house, refinancing it, or opening a HELOC. Extraordinary expenses have to be disclosed.
Molesting or disturbing the peace of the other party.
Removing the minor children from Colorado without consent or an order.
Cancelling or changing health, homeowner’s, renter’s, auto or life insurance without 14 days’ notice and the other party’s written consent or an order.

Violating it can mean contempt of court. It also protects you: your spouse cannot empty the joint account, sell the house or drop you from the health plan.

This week, in order

Day 1: read and date it

Note the date of service; the 21 days run from it. Check whether it is a divorce or a legal separation petition, and whether temporary orders or a hearing date are attached.

Days 1 to 3: money and safety

Open a checking account in your own name for your pay. Do not drain joint accounts; document balances instead. Freeze your credit at the three bureaus. If you are unsafe, call the hotline and ask about a protection order.

Days 2 to 7: documents

Tax returns (3 years), pay stubs, bank, retirement and credit statements, the deed and mortgage statement, insurance policies. You will need them for the sworn financial statement within 42 days anyway. The checklist.

Days 3 to 10: get advice

A consultation with a family-law attorney (many offer flat-fee first meetings), the court self-help center for forms, and, if you want one process for everything, a mediator. Your options.

Before day 21: respond

File JDF 1015 with the $146 fee (or a fee waiver). You can agree with everything, some of it, or none of it. A response keeps your seat at the table.

Any time: the house

Get a written valuation so the sworn financial statement is not a guess, and find out what you could qualify for alone. That is the number that decides whether keeping the house is realistic. The four options.

Questions people ask in the first week

Do I have to move out?

No. Nothing about being served requires either spouse to leave. If living together is unworkable or unsafe, either of you can ask the court for exclusive possession under temporary orders; the court weighs whether physical or emotional harm would otherwise result. Talk to an attorney before you leave voluntarily; it can affect who stays during the case and it means paying for two homes.

Can my spouse change the locks or kick me out?

Not without a court order. The injunction bars disturbing the peace of the other party, and both of you have the right to be in the marital home until a judge says otherwise.

Can my spouse take money out of the joint account?

Ordinary living expenses, yes. Emptying it, hiding it, or moving it to a new account is exactly what the injunction forbids, and the sworn financial statements will show it. Document the balances the day you are served.

Who pays the mortgage now?

Whoever has been paying, until temporary orders say otherwise. If you cannot cover it, ask for temporary orders early; do not just stop. A 30-day late lands on both reports and stays seven years.

What if I do nothing?

The court can enter a default and grant what the petition asks for. Twenty-one days goes fast. File the response even if you plan to agree to everything.

My spouse filed. Does that mean they get the house?

No. Filing first has almost no legal advantage in Colorado. The house is divided under the same equitable rules regardless of who filed. How the house is decided.

Can I search for information without my spouse seeing?

Use a private or incognito window and your own phone or a device your spouse cannot access. Nothing on this site requires an email address to read. Browsing safely.

We are not lawyers. This page summarizes Colorado statutes and court forms as they read on the date shown at the bottom of the site. It is not legal advice. The Colorado Judicial Branch self-help centers can help you with forms at no cost, and a licensed Colorado family-law attorney can tell you what the rules mean for your case.

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.

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