Divorce Overview

A divorce is an ending of a legally enforceable marriage. The law and legal aspects of a divorce are governed by state law, and therefore, if you live in Colorado you should be looking into getting a Colorado divorce attorney. We deal with all types of potential marriages and divorces. That is, we can help you if you believe you have a common law marriage, if you would rather have a legal separation than a divorce, or if you are merely desiring an attorney as an impartial mediator between you and your spouse. At Peter Loyd Weber & Associates, we are experienced in almost all aspects of a divorce. Please contact us today for a free phone consultation about your divorce at (720) 863-7755.

Legal Separation Overview

A legal separation is not that much different than a divorce. The one major difference between a legal separation and a divorce is that if the parties are legally separated, they cannot remarry until there is an actual divorce. In a legal separation action, a judge can help separate the parties’ assets and rule on child custody/parenting time issues. Married couples could choose to have a legal separation for a variety of reasons, including religious ones. A few other reasons to choose a legal separation, rather than a divorce, is for the ability to keep certain benefits such as social security or various insurance benefits.

Legal Issues in Divorces

Maintenance

Traditionally called alimony, maintenance is Colorado’s legal term for “alimony” or “spousal support.” When petitioning for a divorce in Colorado, a judge may award temporary maintenance. This maintenance may be given for only the time throughout the divorce process, or may be awarded much further beyond when a divorce is granted. A judge considers many factors into whether s/he will grant maintenance to a spouse who relies on the other spouse. Further, a judge may look at Colorado’s new maintenance guidelines for help in deciding how much and how long a spouse may have to help support the other spouse.

Property Division

One main aspect of a divorce is dividing property. When petitioning for a divorce, the spouses must disclose all assets to each other in what are called financial disclosures. At times, there can be multiple types of assets with potentially debatable or ambiguous valuations. At Peter Loyd Weber & Associates, we are here to help with these disclosures and determine asset valuations. Further, some property will be determined to be marital property to be divided and some property will be determined as separate property. Separate property is usually property a spouse inherited from a family member.

Child Custody / Parenting Time

In a divorce that involves children, a judge can rule on child custody and parenting time issues. Sometimes in a divorce the parents agree to this issue and do not request interference from a judge. However, a lot of the times the parents are not agreeing to anything and, unfortunately, the children get caught up in the mix. Please see our page on child custody for further reading.

Visit Our Family Law Blog

The laws in Colorado are constantly changing. Our Family Law Blog attempts to highlight these changing laws. Visit our blog here.