What do Courts need in a divorce matter to have jurisdiction?

This can be a complicated area and we suggest that you contact a Colorado family law attorney for more information in this area. The Court must have both subject matter and personal jurisdiction.

Subject Matter Jurisdiction: In order for Colorado family law courts to have subject matter jurisdiction to grant a Colorado divorce or legal separation, at least one spouse must have been “domiciled” in Colorado for at least a 90 day period prior to filing. For an annulment in Colorado, there is a 30-day domicile period if the marriage was not entered into in Colorado – there is no waiting period if the spouses were married in Colorado.

Subject matter jurisdiction alone is not enough, however, to resolve all of the issues involving a Colorado divorce or legal separation. That simply gives the Colorado family law courts the authority to (1) terminate the marriage, (2) divide marital property located in Colorado, and (3) enter custody/parenting orders for children, if Colorado is their home state (six months residence). For the court to have the power to enter other orders, the Court also needs “personal jurisdiction.”

Personal jurisdiction over the responding spouse gives the Colorado divorce court the authority to divide property outside of Colorado and order the responding spouse to pay maintenance or child support, requires one of the following:

1. Personal service on the respondent spouse within the state of Colorado (including a waiver of service),
2. For the purposes of maintenance and child support ONLY, personal service anywhere, as long as the parties maintained a marital domicile in Colorado, and the petitioning spouse lived here continuously after the respondent spouse left the state. C.R.S. 13-1-124(e), or
3. The respondent spouse consents to the Colorado divorce court exercising jurisdiction (requires affirmative consent, not just a failure to object to jurisdiction).

Although Colorado can grant a divorce with service outside of Colorado, or with service by “publication” the Court would have to reserve some of the issues for later decision by a divorce court which has jurisdiction over the respondent spouse.

Lynn Landis-Brown is a Family Lawyer in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she founded Lynn Landis-Brown P.C. She listens compassionately and understands your legal, emotional and financial concerns due to her own experiences of divorce from her parents divorcing, her own divorce and now as a step-grandmother. With her background in litigations, she has great experiences with fighting for your rights in the courtroom.