Colorado Family Law Help: Divorce, Parenting & Support

When a relationship changes, the questions do not arrive one at a time. Where will the children live? How will decisions be made? What happens to support, a home, or a safety concern? Colorado family law gives those questions names and procedures, but the people living through them need a plan they can understand.

Novo Legal Group helps Colorado families address domestic-relations issues with direct information and Spanish-first service. Every attorney is bilingual. This page introduces the paths people commonly face, the people who may help, and practical resources for deciding what to ask in a consultation.

Colorado family-law services

These service paths are a starting point, not a substitute for advice about a particular case. The facts, court orders, safety concerns, and legal issues involved can shape the work.

Dissolution of marriage

A dissolution of marriage is Colorado’s legal term for divorce. It can involve property, debts, support, parenting arrangements, and the final decree. Our Colorado dissolution guide explains the process in more depth, including the questions that may need attention before an agreement is ready for the court.

Some dissolutions move through an agreement; others require the court to resolve issues the parties cannot settle. Neither path is a measure of how much a family cares about its children or its future. The useful question is what the case requires now.

Legal separation

Legal separation can address many of the same family and financial issues as divorce while leaving the marriage legally in place. For some families, that distinction matters for personal, financial, or immigration-related reasons. Leaving the marriage in place does not establish how a separation will affect an immigration application; that question requires separate immigration analysis. The right path depends on the individual circumstances.

The paperwork and court process can look similar in important ways, while the legal result is different. People comparing the two usually benefit from identifying the reason the distinction matters before they make a decision.

Parenting time and decision-making

Colorado uses allocation of parental responsibilities for the framework that covers parenting time and major decisions for a child. A workable plan should be clear enough for ordinary weeks and resilient enough for school changes, medical decisions, travel, and conflict. Parents who were never married may also need a parentage case before or alongside parenting orders.

The term can sound technical, but the goal is practical: a child needs a schedule and a way for adults to make important decisions. A plan written for real routines can reduce the need to guess later about exchanges, communication, or a change in a child’s needs.

For a closer look at the court’s terminology, read Novo’s Colorado APR and parental-responsibilities guide.

Parentage

Parentage cases can establish legal parent-child relationships and create a path for parenting time, decision-making, or support. Colorado’s LLP rules allow specified parentage work, while some disputed multi-parent questions have distinct limits. The legal question and the stage of the case matter more than a broad label.

People often arrive with family roles that are obvious at home but not yet reflected in a court order. Identifying that gap early can help frame the family-law question without assuming that every parentage case follows the same route.

Child support

Child support can be established in a divorce, parentage, or other family-law case. Income, parenting time, child-care costs, health insurance, and other facts may affect the calculation. A support order also needs to be usable after it is entered, especially when a family’s work or caregiving circumstances change.

Complete information matters. A support discussion is stronger when it begins with available financial documents and the current parenting arrangement rather than an estimate based on only one parent’s situation.

Novo’s Colorado child-support guide provides additional general information about this service path.

Spousal maintenance

Spousal maintenance, sometimes called alimony, may be part of a divorce or legal-separation case. It is separate from child support and can involve financial information, household needs, and the terms of an agreement or court order. This page gives an overview; the dissolution timeline offers additional context on the court process.

Maintenance questions can be difficult because they mix present needs with a family’s changing finances. The documents and facts relevant to one household may not answer the question for another.

Read more in Novo’s Colorado spousal-maintenance guide.

Modifying an existing order

Life does not stop when an order is entered. Changes in a family’s circumstances may prompt questions about an existing order. The legal standards differ for parenting time, decision-making, child support, and maintenance. The current order, the requested change, and any applicable deadlines all matter, so it helps to start with the existing paperwork.

Modification is not a second chance to relitigate every past disagreement. It is a request shaped by the order already in place and the change a person says now requires a different result.

Novo’s post-decree modification guide offers a fuller introduction to this path.

Protection orders in domestic cases

Protection-order issues can raise urgent safety and family-law questions. Colorado procedures distinguish among types of orders and hearings. A person facing a safety concern, an existing order, or an allegation should get information suited to the posture of the case rather than relying on general online advice.

Safety planning and court procedure are both important, but a general page cannot decide what immediate action is right for a particular person. The first conversation should identify the current order, hearing date, and family-law context.

Novo’s protection-orders resource explains this service area in more detail.

Name changes connected to family transitions

Some family transitions include a question about restoring or changing a name. Colorado LLP rules identify name-change work among the authorized domestic-relations services, subject to the rules and facts involved. A name question can be addressed alongside a family-law matter or as its own process, depending on the situation.

It can be useful to separate the emotional decision about a name from the procedural question of which court process applies. That keeps a practical request from being buried under a larger family-law dispute.

Questions about whether a relationship is a marriage can raise different issues; Novo’s common-law-marriage guide is a separate starting point.

People who can help in English or Spanish

Family law is personal. The people discussing a parenting schedule, financial records, or a protection order deserve clear communication in the language they use at home. Novo Legal Group is Spanish-first, and every attorney is bilingual.

Fernanda Soto Gonzalez is a Colorado Licensed Legal Paraprofessional who works in family law and provides service in English and Spanish; Spanish is her native language. Her role is defined by Colorado’s LLP rules, which authorize specified family-law services while setting limits for issues outside that license. Read Fernanda’s provider bio for more about her family-law role.

Aaron Elinoff is Novo Legal Group’s Managing Partner. Bryce Downer is a Partner and attorney at Novo Legal Group. A consultation can begin with the family-law issue that needs attention and the information available at that time.

A family can ask direct questions about role, scope, and the information needed for the next conversation. Clear answers about those questions matter when a family is making decisions that will shape daily life.

Fernanda Soto, Licensed Legal Paraprofessional at Novo Legal Group.

Aaron Elinoff, Managing Partner at Novo Legal Group.

Bryce Downer, Partner at Novo Legal Group.

What a consultation and family-law costs can involve

The first useful conversation starts with the real problem: the current orders, the children’s needs, the financial questions, and any deadline or safety concern. Consultation fees vary by case type and are explained before scheduling. Representation costs depend on the matter and should be discussed from the facts, not guessed from a general page.

Court charges are separate from representation costs. As checked on September 22, 2026, the Colorado Judicial Branch lists a $260 filing fee for a petition for divorce, legal separation, annulment/invalidity, or declaratory judgment; the court says fees may change. Review the current Judicial Branch fee list before relying on any amount.

Family-law matters can also involve expenses beyond a filing fee. Whether any apply depends on the case and should be discussed from the actual facts instead of estimated from a web page.

Bring available court papers, financial records, and existing orders when they are relevant. That preparation can help distinguish a court charge from an issue that may require more work, without turning a public web page into a quote or a promise.

Talk through the family-law question in front of you. Schedule a consultation or call (888) 746-5245.

When an LLP or an attorney may help

A Colorado Licensed Legal Paraprofessional is licensed to provide designated legal services in defined areas of family law. The license is different from a general Colorado attorney license. Colorado Rule 207.1 authorizes specified work in dissolution, parenting, support, maintenance, protection-order, and related matters, and it also identifies particular limits. The exact issue matters. Novo’s LLP guide provides a longer introduction to that role.

The scenarios below are informational. They describe questions a consultation can sort out; they do not decide the scope of an individual representation.

I am beginning a divorce or legal separation

An LLP may be able to provide authorized services in a dissolution or legal-separation matter. The paperwork, agreements, disputed issues, and any separate legal questions help determine what work is within scope. A label such as “uncontested” does not answer every question by itself.

I need a parenting-time or decision-making plan

APR work is among the family-law matters addressed in Rule 207.1. A parenting plan may involve schedules, major decisions, transportation, and communication. The governing facts and the kind of dispute determine how the matter should be assessed.

We were never married and need parentage orders

Parentage, parenting, and support questions often overlap. Colorado’s rules permit specified parentage work, including representation after parentage has been determined in a matter initially involving more than two parents or alleged parents. A disputed multi-parent phase has separate rule limits.

I need child support or maintenance addressed

The rules include child support and maintenance within authorized family-law services. Financial records and existing orders can be central to the discussion. The appropriate next step depends on whether the issue is establishment, enforcement, modification, or part of a larger family-law case.

An existing order no longer fits our family

Changes in work, housing, parenting schedules, or a child’s needs can lead to a request to modify an order. An LLP may provide authorized services in the relevant family-law matter, subject to the rule and the issues presented. Bringing the current order to a consultation helps focus the conversation.

There is a civil protection-order concern

Colorado’s LLP rules include civil protection orders among identified services. The safety concern, requested relief, court posture, and any related family case all matter. General information cannot tell a person how a particular court will rule.

I want to restore or change a name

Name-change matters are included in the Colorado LLP rule’s designated family-law services. The process can be connected to a dissolution or stand on its own. A consultation can identify whether there are other issues that need separate analysis.

Our property includes a business or commercial real estate

Property value alone does not decide whether an LLP may help, and the presence of an expert does not create a blanket rule. Rule 207.1 limits an LLP’s preparation of documents needed to carry out the sale or distribution of business-entity assets or commercial property, while excepting an agreement addressing the underlying property division. That is a reason to identify the exact property question early.

A non-parent request or immigration question is part of the case

Neither label creates an automatic answer. Subject to other applicable law, a narrow rule limit applies when a parent contests a non-parent request for decision-making authority or parenting time and the court determines that the Indian Child Welfare Act applies. An LLP also cannot give collateral immigration analysis or advice that falls outside the LLP license; that does not automatically end otherwise authorized family-law work. An immigration attorney can assess the immigration question separately.

Colorado county and immigration resources

Every Colorado county has its own court administration, local practices, and schedules. The Colorado Judicial Branch self-help resources and its Colorado trial courts by district are useful places to locate the court serving a county and current court forms. A county’s calendar is not a promise about how long any individual matter will take.

Novo also has starting-point resources for Denver, Adams County, Arapahoe County, and Jefferson County. Those resources do not replace the court’s current local instructions.

For divorce questions, the Judicial Branch’s JDF 1010 guide explains the basic filing process. For a deeper explanation of a Colorado divorce, start with Novo’s dissolution guide.

Practical Colorado family-law questions

What is the difference between an LLP and an attorney?

A Licensed Legal Paraprofessional is licensed by Colorado to provide designated legal services in defined practice areas. An attorney holds a general Colorado law license. The LLP rules authorize particular family-law work and identify particular exclusions, so the answer depends on the issues in the matter. The rule does not make every contested case, every parentage case, or every matter with substantial assets attorney-only.

Can an LLP represent someone in family court?

Rule 207.1 authorizes LLPs to provide specified client, filing, negotiation, court, and related services in the family-law matters covered by the rule. Scope is issue-specific. If an issue requires analysis or advice outside the LLP license, the LLP cannot provide that outside-scope service; the presence of that issue does not automatically require all authorized work to stop.

Can I discuss my family-law concern in Spanish?

Yes. Novo Legal Group is Spanish-first, and every attorney is bilingual. Fernanda Soto Gonzalez provides family-law service in English and Spanish, with Spanish as her native language. Language access can make it easier to understand the questions and options at stake.

What does a Colorado family-law matter cost?

There is no responsible one-number answer. Representation costs depend on the matter, and consultation fees vary by case type and are explained before scheduling. A conversation about the actual orders, disputes, and financial questions is more useful than a generic price comparison.

What is the court filing fee for divorce or legal separation?

The Colorado Judicial Branch listed a $260 filing fee for a petition for divorce, legal separation, annulment/invalidity, or declaratory judgment when checked September 22, 2026. The court warns that fees may change. That is a court charge, not a Novo Legal Group representation rate, and other expenses may depend on the case.

Do I need to live in Colorado for 91 days before filing?

For a Colorado divorce, one spouse generally must have been domiciled in Colorado for at least 91 days before the case begins. This domicile requirement comes from C.R.S. § 14-10-106. It is separate from questions about the court’s jurisdiction over the other spouse and from the court’s timing to enter a decree.

Does a divorce decree automatically enter on day 91?

No. A separate 91-day minimum runs from the court’s acquisition of jurisdiction over the other spouse. JDF 1010 describes frequently used routes including a jointly filed petition, service, or a signed waiver; the statute also uses broader jurisdiction language. Reaching a 91-day mark does not guarantee that a decree will enter then. JDF 1010 is a useful starting point for the filing sequence.

What if the case is complex or includes an immigration concern?

Complexity is not a legal bright line. The relevant question is the actual issue: for example, a particular property document, a scope-limited parentage dispute, or a collateral matter requiring legal analysis outside an LLP license. An immigration attorney can assess immigration-related questions separately, while authorized family-law work may continue within the LLP’s proper scope. A consultation can identify the questions without promising an outcome or a particular staffing arrangement.

Colorado family-law help when your family is changing

Family-law services for the decisions in front of you