Loveland Divorce Lawyer

A divorce is an emotional and stressful process that can be overwhelming for the whole family. Although getting divorced is never easy, hiring the right Loveland divorce lawyer can remove the legal burden from your shoulders. The Law Office of Stephen Vertucci, LLC can do what is best for you and your family while you look toward your new future. Find out how our Colorado divorce attorneys can help you with your case today.

Why Choose Stephen Vertucci, LLC

• We are experienced trial attorneys who know how to guide you through any situation that may arise during your Colorado divorce case.
• Our divorce attorneys provide child-focused representation for families with children. We will put your family first in everything that we do.
• Your family law attorney will communicate with you often and effectively throughout every stage of your divorce. We focus on the small details as well as the big picture.

Do I Need to Hire a Loveland Divorce Attorney?

Whether or not to hire a lawyer during your divorce case is entirely up to you. Carefully weigh the pros and cons of hiring an attorney versus handling a divorce on your own. In general, if you have little to no assets and no small children, you can handle a divorce in Colorado without legal representation. For a divorce case with any complications, big or small, however, it is best to hire a lawyer. A Loveland divorce lawyer can help you by providing:

• Answers to your legal questions and concerns
• Strategies to achieve your short-term and long-term goals
• Advice about your divorce that you can trust
• Methods of protecting your rights and best interests
• Negotiations and mediations with your ex-spouse
• Divorce trial litigation, if necessary

An experienced divorce lawyer will know how to protect your assets, business, family home and more by carefully navigating Colorado’s property division laws for you. Then, your lawyer can pursue the child custody, child support and spousal support arrangements that you desire using tailored legal strategies. A Loveland divorce attorney can handle the legal side of your divorce case while you focus on healing and moving forward.

Understanding Divorce in Loveland, CO

If you wish to file for divorce in Loveland, Colorado, you must first make sure that you meet the residency requirement. State law says that either you or your spouse must have lived in Colorado for at least six months prior to filing, and in the county where you are filing for at least three months. Once you file the divorce papers with the family courts, there is also a mandatory waiting period. This period is 91 days in Colorado, meaning the courts will not finalize your divorce until at least 91 days have passed after you file your petition.

How to File for Divorce in Colorado

Filing for divorce in Colorado requires printing out the required paperwork online or going to your local family courthouse and requesting a divorce petition. You can also get the papers from an attorney. Then, you and your lawyer will need to accurately fill out the paperwork and submit it to the courts, along with the filing fee.

The divorce papers will be served on your spouse. From there, your spouse can respond to the petition and divorce negotiations will ensue. Colorado is a no-fault divorce state, meaning you do not have to give a reason for your divorce on the paperwork. It also does not matter which spouse files; filing for divorce will not give that party an advantage.

Property Division in Colorado

Colorado is an equitable division state. This means that marital property is to be divided as fairly as possible between spouses. Marital property is property acquired by either spouse after the marriage.

The court may take any relevant factors into account when dividing marital property or approving a marital property settlement. These include but are not limited to:

• Each spouse’s contribution to the acquisition of marital property
• Each spouse’s economic circumstances at the time of marital property division
• Any depletion of a spouse’s separate property for marital purposes

However, Colorado does not consider marital misconduct or fault when allocating property between spouses. Each spouse’s separate property is excluded from the marital property division.

Separate Property in Colorado

Separate property is property held by one spouse alone. Separate property is property acquired:

• Before the marriage
• Using only separate property and held apart from the marital property
• Inherited by one spouse during the marriage
• Set apart by a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement

Separate property can easily mix with marital property to become indistinguishable. 

Child Custody in Colorado

As with property, divorcing spouses can create their custody plan for court approval or have the court decide parenting arrangements on their behalf. Ultimately, any Colorado parenting plan must be in the best interest of the child.

Colorado does not use the term child custody. Instead, the state uses the term allocation of parental responsibilities or APR.

Parental responsibilities are broken down into parenting time and decision-making. Parents may or may not share these responsibilities jointly.

Parents who share parenting time responsibilities have an approximately equal share of overnight visits with their children. When one parent has the majority of overnights with their child, that parent has primary parenting-time responsibility. 

Parents who hold joint decision-making responsibility share the authority to make fundamental decisions regarding their child’s health, welfare, and education. Parents who cannot cooperate and make joint decisions are not appropriate candidates for joint decision-making responsibility.

Child Support in Colorado

Colorado has child support guidelines to determine each parent’s monthly support obligation for their child. These guidelines take several factors into account when calculating an appropriate support amount including but not limited to:

• Each parent’s income or assignable income
• Each parent’s parenting time (overnights) with the child
• The number of children
• Any childcare costs (daycare)
• Medical insurance for the child

Judges are required to use the child support guidelines when doing so would create an unjust result. Any child support agreement prepared by divorcing spouses must meet judicial approval.

Spousal Maintenance in Colorado

Spousal maintenance or alimony in Colorado must be requested by a spouse. There are statutory guidelines to assist the court in making spousal maintenance determinations. However, the court has wide discretion when awarding spousal maintenance, for what timeframe, and at what amount.

Spousal maintenance awards may be temporary or long-term. Temporary spousal maintenance is only awarded for the pendency of the divorce. Once the divorce is finalized, temporary spousal maintenance ends.

Long-term spousal maintenance starts when the divorce is finalized. Marital misconduct is not a factor in spousal maintenance awards. 

The court’s primary consideration is the requesting spouse’s need for support and the paying spouse’s ability to pay for that support.

Contact a Loveland Divorce Attorney Today

At The Law Office of Stephen Vertucci, LLC, our divorce attorneys are just as compassionate and sympathetic as we are aggressive litigators. We have what you need to get through your divorce case while protecting your rights and seeking the best possible resolution. A divorce does not have to be an enormous strain on you and your family. Let us handle the headache for you. Contact our Loveland divorce lawyers for an efficient divorce process. Call (970) 900-1800 or contact us online today to schedule a consultation.