HOW A DIVORCE ATTORNEY CAN HELP YOUR CASE
How can a divorce attorney help? A divorce attorney explains how Colorado law applies to each issue in your case, prepares the paperwork, negotiates with your spouse or your spouse's lawyer, and presents your case in court if you cannot agree. The issues that come up most often are spousal maintenance, parental responsibilities, child support, the division of property and, where there is one, a premarital agreement.
When you are seeking a divorce, one of the first questions to ask a divorce attorney is how they can help with your situation. Divorce lawyers practice family law, which reaches every part of ending a marriage, so there are many examples of how a divorce attorney can help, and this guide walks through them issue by issue.
A divorce lawyer can explain the laws and procedures that apply where you file and help you work toward a fair resolution without unnecessary delay. Colorado Springs divorce attorneys can walk you through local family court procedures, help you fill out the appropriate forms, and help you weigh legal separation vs. divorce in Colorado. If you are still deciding whether to hire one at all, see our guide to whether you need a lawyer for a divorce.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- How a Divorce Attorney Can Help You With Spousal Support
- How a Divorce Attorney Can Help You With Child Custody and Parenting Time
- How a Divorce Attorney Can Help You With Prenuptial Agreements
- How a Divorce Attorney Can Help You With Alimony and Child Support Payments
- How a Divorce Attorney Can Help You With Property Division
- How a Divorce Attorney Can Help You With Child Support
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Talking With a Colorado Springs Family Law Attorney
- Sources
HOW A DIVORCE ATTORNEY CAN HELP YOU WITH SPOUSAL SUPPORT
Spousal support, which Colorado law calls maintenance and many people call alimony, is money one spouse pays the other to help meet reasonable needs, such as paying rent, buying groceries and keeping the home and finances running.
Maintenance usually ends when the recipient remarries. Under C.R.S. 14-10-122, unless the spouses agreed otherwise in writing or the decree expressly says otherwise, it ends on the death of either spouse, the end of the term (unless a motion to modify is filed first), the recipient's remarriage or civil union, or a court order ending it.
What an agreement must say to keep maintenance going after remarriage is unsettled. On May 18, 2026, the Colorado Supreme Court agreed to review In re Marriage of Clark on that question, so until it rules, an agreement should say plainly what happens to maintenance on remarriage.
A competent divorce and family lawyer can help you decide whether your spouse is capable of paying spousal support, and whether it should be awarded, based on each spouse's income, property and ability to earn. Under C.R.S. 14-10-114, the court may award maintenance only if the spouse asking for it lacks enough property, including the marital property awarded to that spouse, to meet reasonable needs and cannot support themselves through appropriate employment, or is caring for a child whose circumstances make outside employment inappropriate.
Maintenance is decided without regard to marital misconduct. Since August 6, 2025, under SB25-116, the factors the court weighs include whether a spouse engaged in domestic violence, coercive control, economic abuse, litigation abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse or unlawful sexual behavior against the other.
What the Attorney Does on Maintenance
- Gathers income records for both spouses and checks whether the advisory guidelines apply: they cover marriages of at least three years with combined annual adjusted gross income of $240,000 or less.
- Runs the guideline amount and term, then applies the statutory factors that can move the result, because the guidelines "do not create a presumptive amount or term."
- Asks for temporary maintenance while the case is pending, which either spouse may request under C.R.S. 14-10-108.
- Negotiates terms such as whether maintenance can be modified, what happens on remarriage, and security such as life insurance.
Our guide to alimony in Colorado walks through the formula and the term table in detail.
HOW A DIVORCE ATTORNEY CAN HELP YOU WITH CHILD CUSTODY AND PARENTING TIME
Colorado law calls what most people know as custody the allocation of parental responsibilities, which has two parts: decision-making responsibility and parenting time. Like child support, it is governed by state law, and your Colorado Springs family lawyer can help you fill out the proper forms, including the parenting plan (JDF 1113), and present your proposal for how those responsibilities should be shared.
Some older articles say custody depends on whether a state is "no-fault" or "fault-based." Colorado is a no-fault state, where under C.R.S. 14-10-106 the only ground for divorce is that the marriage is irretrievably broken, and that has nothing to do with how parenting is decided.
If the parents cannot agree, the court decides, based on the best interests of the child. Under C.R.S. 14-10-124, the court gives paramount consideration to the child's safety and the child's physical, mental and emotional conditions and needs, and it may not presume that either parent is better able to serve the child's best interests because of that parent's sex.
The factors include each parent's wishes, the wishes of a child mature enough to express reasoned and independent preferences, and each parent's ability to encourage the child's love, affection and contact with the other parent.
Under HB26-1309 (approved May 27, 2026, and not yet in the 2025 online statutes), if the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that a party committed domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, or a sexual assault that resulted in a child's conception, mutual decision-making over the other party's objection is not in the child's best interests unless the court makes specific findings that it can work without coercion, intimidation, retaliation or risk of harm.
What the Attorney Does on Parenting Issues
- Drafts a parenting plan and gathers the evidence that bears on the best interests factors.
- Prepares you for mediation, which the Fourth Judicial District's mediation order requires before a court hearing in El Paso and Teller counties, with a waiver available by motion where abuse is claimed.
- Asks for temporary orders on parental responsibilities when the parents cannot agree on a schedule while the case is pending.
- Tracks local requirements, such as El Paso County's Level 1 parenting class within 42 days of filing under its case management order.
Our child custody page explains how parental responsibilities cases work in Colorado Springs.
HOW A DIVORCE ATTORNEY CAN HELP YOU WITH PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENTS
Most people enter into marriage believing that they will be able to live together happily ever after. Unfortunately, sometimes things do not turn out that way, and couples need to come to an agreement about how to divide their assets and how to support each other.
A premarital agreement, often called a prenup, lets a couple make some of those decisions in advance. Colorado agreements signed on or after July 1, 2014 are governed by the Uniform Premarital and Marital Agreements Act, C.R.S. 14-2-301 to 14-2-313, and under C.R.S. 14-2-306 the agreement "must be in a record and signed by both parties."
A prenup can affirm, change or waive marital rights such as spousal maintenance, property rights and responsibility for debts, as C.R.S. 14-2-302 defines them. It cannot do everything, though. Under C.R.S. 14-2-310, a term is unenforceable to the extent it adversely affects a child's right to support, and a term about custodial responsibility for a child is not binding on the court.
When a Prenup Will Not Be Enforced
Under C.R.S. 14-2-309, a premarital agreement is unenforceable if the spouse challenging it proves any of these:
- Consent was involuntary or the result of duress.
- The spouse did not have access to independent legal representation, including a reasonable time before signing to find and consult a lawyer.
- The spouse had no lawyer and the agreement lacked the statutory notice of waiver of rights or a plain-language explanation of the rights being changed or waived.
- The spouse did not receive adequate financial disclosure before signing.
Even when the agreement as a whole is enforceable, terms about maintenance or attorney fees are unenforceable if they are unconscionable at the time enforcement is sought, a question the court decides as a matter of law. Because a court asks whether each person had a reasonable time to get legal advice, the sooner you start, the better off you will be, and talking about money before the wedding can be a chance to plan your financial future together.
Agreements at the Time of Divorce
The Act does not cover an agreement signed when a divorce or legal separation is pending or anticipated. Such an agreement is usually a separation agreement under C.R.S. 14-10-112, whose terms bind the court unless it finds them unconscionable, except terms about the children's parental responsibilities, support and parenting time.
In a divorce, an attorney can review any existing prenup for these defects and drafts the separation agreement. Our guide to the Colorado prenuptial agreement covers the Act in more depth.
HOW A DIVORCE ATTORNEY CAN HELP YOU WITH ALIMONY AND CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS
Maintenance and child support are each calculated with a formula, but they are two different formulas with different inputs. The length of the marriage, for example, matters to maintenance but is not part of the child support calculation.
| Question | Maintenance | Child support |
|---|---|---|
| Statute | C.R.S. 14-10-114 | C.R.S. 14-10-115 |
| Main inputs | Both spouses' adjusted gross incomes; the guideline amount is 40% of combined monthly income minus the lower earner's income, reduced to 80% or 75% when maintenance is not tax deductible, which is the rule for divorce instruments signed after 2018 | Both parents' combined incomes and the number of children, adjusted for overnights, child care, the children's health insurance and extraordinary medical expenses |
| Length of marriage | Guidelines apply after at least 3 years of marriage; the table sets the advisory term up to 20 years, and a longer marriage may support an indefinite term | Not an input |
| How binding is the result? | Advisory; the guidelines do not create a presumptive amount or term | A rebuttable presumption; the court may deviate if the guideline amount would be inequitable, unjust or inappropriate, with findings |
| When it usually ends | On a terminating event under C.R.S. 14-10-122 | When the youngest child on the order turns 19, with exceptions |
Each spouse's age and health and the property each receives matter as factors the court weighs in setting maintenance, not as numbers in a formula. On child support, the Colorado Supreme Court restated the rule in In re Marriage of Boettcher, 2019 CO 81, a case about parents whose combined income was above the schedule: the schedule amount is a rebuttable presumption, and a court that deviates from it must state the presumptive amount and its reasons.
The formula is only as good as its inputs. An attorney can help you determine whether a calculation is fair to you by checking the income figures, the overnight count and the expenses on the worksheet. The Judicial Branch's calculate support payments page links to a calculator that can produce printable worksheets.
HOW A DIVORCE ATTORNEY CAN HELP YOU WITH PROPERTY DIVISION
The court divides marital property between the spouses in the proportions it finds just under C.R.S. 14-10-113, which may or may not mean an equal split, depending on the circumstances. Colorado is not a community property state, and the division is made without regard to marital misconduct.
If one spouse wasted or dissipated marital property in anticipation of divorce, Colorado's appellate courts have held that, in extreme cases, a court may consider that economic fault when it divides what remains; see our guide to marital waste in Colorado. In some cases, the court may also award one spouse a larger share because of that spouse's economic circumstances, or award extra property instead of, or to reduce, maintenance.
Marital and Separate Property
Property either spouse acquires during the marriage is presumed marital, however it is titled. The main exceptions are property received by gift or inheritance, property acquired in exchange for premarital or gifted property, property acquired after a decree of legal separation, and property excluded by a valid agreement. Any increase in the value of separate property during the marriage is marital.
The court also weighs each spouse's contributions, including as a homemaker, and the desirability of awarding the family home, or the right to live there for a reasonable time, to the spouse with whom the children live most of the time. Debts incurred during the marriage are generally treated as marital and divided too.
What the Attorney Does on Property
- Identifies separate property and traces it through accounts and purchases, because the spouse claiming an exception has to show it applies.
- Reviews both spouses' Sworn Financial Statements and disclosures, due within 42 days of service under El Paso County's case management order; see our guide to what to do if your spouse is hiding money.
- Arranges valuations of a home, a business or a pension, and the orders needed to divide retirement accounts. Colorado public employee plans can divide benefits directly only under a written agreement that meets C.R.S. 14-10-113(6), submitted within 90 days after the decree and permanent orders.
- Explains the automatic temporary injunction under C.R.S. 14-10-107, and asks the court to enforce it if it is violated. It bars both spouses from transferring, concealing or 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.
HOW A DIVORCE ATTORNEY CAN HELP YOU WITH CHILD SUPPORT
Child support is designed to help pay the expenses of raising a child, such as food, clothing and housing. Work-related and education-related child care, the children's health insurance and extraordinary medical expenses are added to the basic amount, and the court considers the child's educational needs.
In most cases, support ends automatically when the youngest child on the order turns 19, not 18. According to the Judicial Branch's page on modifying child support, it can continue past 19 if the child is still in high school or an equivalent program (until the end of the month after graduation, but not past age 21), if the child is disabled and continued support is ordered, or if both parents agree in writing.
If a parent is unemployed by choice or working below their ability, support is calculated on potential income rather than actual income. Under C.R.S. 14-10-115, that rule does not apply to a parent who is physically or mentally incapacitated, caring for a joint child under 24 months old, or incarcerated on a sentence of 180 days or more.
A parent is also not treated as underemployed in some situations the statute lists, such as temporary work reasonably expected to raise income, a good faith career choice that does not unreasonably reduce support, or qualifying enrollment in an educational or vocational program.
The 2026 Changes
Under HB25-1159, signed May 31, 2025, the guidelines now give each parent credit for every overnight the children spend with that parent. The Judicial Branch's current support worksheet (JDF 1821) carries a March 1, 2026 revision date, when those changes took effect, and requires each parent's overnights for the year, which must total 365.
What the Attorney Does on Child Support
- Documents both parents' incomes and checks the overnight count against the parenting plan, since every overnight now affects the result.
- Argues for or against a deviation from the guideline amount when the facts support it.
- Advises on later changes: under C.R.S. 14-10-122, a recalculation that changes support by less than 10% is deemed not to be a substantial and continuing change.
Our guide to child support in Colorado explains the worksheet in more detail, and our Colorado Springs child support lawyer page explains how we help with support orders.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What Does a Divorce Attorney Do in Colorado?
A divorce attorney advises you on how Colorado law applies to maintenance, parental responsibilities, child support and property, prepares the paperwork, negotiates, and presents your case at hearings. No attorney can promise a particular result.
Can a Prenup Waive Child Support in Colorado?
No. Under C.R.S. 14-2-310, a premarital agreement term is unenforceable to the extent it adversely affects a child's right to support, and terms about custodial responsibility do not bind the court. A prenup can limit or waive spousal maintenance, subject to review for unconscionability at the time of enforcement.
Does Alimony End When the Recipient Remarries in Colorado?
Usually. Under C.R.S. 14-10-122, maintenance ends on the recipient's remarriage or civil union unless the spouses agreed otherwise in writing or the decree expressly provides otherwise. What an agreement must say to keep maintenance going after remarriage is unsettled: the Colorado Supreme Court agreed on May 18, 2026 to review that question in In re Marriage of Clark, so the agreement should say plainly what happens on remarriage.
Is Marital Property Split 50/50 in Colorado?
Not necessarily. Colorado divides marital property in the proportions the court finds just, considering factors such as each spouse's contributions and economic circumstances, so the result may or may not be equal.
Can the Court Order a Different Amount Than the Child Support Guidelines?
Yes, but only with findings. The guideline amount is a rebuttable presumption, and a court that deviates because the guideline amount would be inequitable, unjust or inappropriate must state the presumptive amount and its reasons.
TALKING WITH A COLORADO SPRINGS FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY
The issues in a divorce are connected: the property division affects maintenance, and the parenting schedule affects child support. Moran, Allen & Associates Family Law Attorneys can talk through how they fit together in your case, including divorce, legal separation, parental responsibilities, parenting time, maintenance, child support, property division and grandparents' rights.
Call (719) 447-0762 in Colorado Springs or (719) 686-7554 in Woodland Park, or schedule a free consultation. For a fuller look at when a lawyer matters most and the options between full representation and none, see our guides to choosing a divorce advocate and to divorce lawyer costs.
This article is general information about Colorado law as of October 2026 and is not legal advice. Laws, court rules and local procedures change, so speak with a licensed Colorado attorney about your own situation.
SOURCES
- C.R.S. 14-10-106, Dissolution of Marriage
- C.R.S. 14-10-107, Commencement and Automatic Temporary Injunction
- C.R.S. 14-10-108, Temporary Orders
- C.R.S. 14-10-112, Separation Agreements
- C.R.S. 14-10-113, Disposition of Property
- C.R.S. 14-10-114, Spousal Maintenance
- C.R.S. 14-10-115, Child Support Guidelines
- C.R.S. 14-10-122, Modification and Termination of Maintenance and Support
- C.R.S. 14-10-124, Best Interests of the Child
- C.R.S. 14-2-301 to 14-2-313, Uniform Premarital and Marital Agreements Act
- C.R.S. 14-2-302, Definitions
- C.R.S. 14-2-306, Formation Requirements
- C.R.S. 14-2-309, Enforcement
- C.R.S. 14-2-310, Unenforceable Terms
- SB25-116, Spousal Maintenance Guidelines (Colorado General Assembly, signed May 19, 2025)
- HB25-1159, Child Support Commission Recommendations (signed May 31, 2025)
- HB26-1309, Session Laws 2026, Chapter 163 (approved May 27, 2026)
- Colorado Supreme Court Case Announcements, May 18, 2026 (certiorari granted in In re Marriage of Clark, No. 25SC634)
- In re Marriage of Boettcher, 2019 CO 81, Colorado Supreme Court Opinion
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Modifying Child Support Order
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Support Worksheet for Child and Spousal Support (JDF 1821, rev. March 1, 2026)
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Calculate Child Support and Maintenance
- El Paso County District Court, Domestic Relations Case Management Order (FCF 400, rev. August 2026)
- Fourth Judicial District, Blanket Order to Alternative Dispute Resolution/Mediation in Domestic Cases (FCF 300A)