Collaborative Divorce

A quick note before we begin: Everything here is for general informational purposes only — it is not legal advice. For advice about your specific situation, talk with a lawyer.

Your Situation

You're looking at ending your marriage, and you want to know whether there's a way to do it that avoids a courtroom fight. Collaborative divorce is one such option. It's a voluntary, agreement-based process where you and your spouse each hire your own attorney — but with a twist that makes it very different from a traditional contested case. Instead of preparing for battle, everyone at the table commits in writing to reaching a settlement without going to court, or even threatening to.

That commitment matters, both practically and legally. In collaborative divorce, you and your spouse keep control of the outcome rather than handing your future over to a judge. You negotiate privately, share information openly, and use shared experts instead of dueling hired guns. The stakes are real, though: the defining feature of this process is that if it falls apart, your collaborative attorneys are disqualified from taking your case to court, and you'll each have to start over with new counsel. This guide will help you understand how collaborative divorce works in Colorado, what the process asks of you, how it compares to other options, and whether it's a good fit for your circumstances.

What the Law Requires

Colorado has not adopted a dedicated statute governing collaborative law. A bill to adopt the Uniform Collaborative Law Act was introduced in early 2020 but did not pass, so there is no standalone "collaborative law act" on the books here.

What Colorado law does require is procedural. When you and your spouse enter a collaborative law agreement, a copy of that agreement must be attached to your case management plan filed with the court. Your collaborative attorneys do not formally enter an appearance in your court case — meaning they aren't on record as your litigation lawyers.

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Colorado law requires you to file a status report with the court within 90 days of the court's case management order, and each report must set the date for the next one, no more than 90 days later, until your matter is resolved.

Collaborative law is also treated as a form of limited-scope (sometimes called "unbundled") legal representation under Colorado's civil procedure rules. That means your collaborative attorney's job is defined and limited to the collaborative process itself — not the full span of a litigated case.

What Courts Typically Do

Collaborative law has been practiced in Colorado since 2001, and in practice it works as a structured, non-adversarial process. Here's how it typically unfolds:

Both you and your spouse retain your own collaborative attorney. At the outset, everyone — clients and attorneys alike — signs a participation agreement, and the attorneys sign fee agreements committing to focus on settlement without court involvement or the threat of it. The case usually isn't even filed with the court until a full settlement is reached, which can save time and cost.

The process is multidisciplinary. Beyond the two attorneys, collaborative cases typically use neutral professionals: a financial neutral to help with budgets and disclosures, a case facilitator or mediator (often a mental health professional or attorney) to keep negotiations on track, and joint neutral experts for things like property valuations or vocational evaluations. Instead of each side hiring competing experts, you share one.

In this process, your attorney acts as a settlement advisor and advocate — guiding, advising, educating, and supporting you — while you and your spouse make the actual decisions about finances and parenting. You agree to full transparency and voluntary disclosure of relevant information. Importantly, unlike a neutral mediator, your collaborative lawyer is a licensed advocate who can give you candid legal advice.

The honest downside: the disqualification rule. If the collaborative process breaks down and you must go to court, your collaborative attorney cannot continue to represent you. You and your spouse would each have to hire new counsel to litigate. That's a built-in feature, not a glitch — it's what keeps everyone focused on settlement — but it's also why collaborative divorce isn't the right fit for every situation.

Step by Step: What to Do

1. Decide whether collaborative divorce fits. It works best when both of you are willing to negotiate in good faith, disclose financial information honestly, and keep the matter out of court. If you anticipate needing a judge to decide contested issues, weigh the disqualification rule carefully before committing.

2. Each of you hires a collaborative attorney. This process requires both parties to be represented. You cannot do collaborative law with just one lawyer, or with no lawyers.

3. Sign the participation and fee agreements. At the start, you, your spouse, and both attorneys sign the collaborative participation agreement, and the attorneys enter fee agreements committing to settlement without court. This locks in the ground rules, including the disqualification commitment.

4. Assemble your neutral team. Bring in a financial neutral, a case facilitator or mediator, and any joint experts you'll need for valuations or evaluations. These professionals are shared, not hired by one side.

5. Negotiate with full disclosure. Work through parenting, support, maintenance, and property in facilitated sessions. You and your spouse make the decisions; your attorneys advise and advocate for your interests.

6. Reach and document your settlement. Once you have a full agreement, the case is typically filed with the court along with your collaborative law agreement attached to the case management plan. Rather than filling out court paperwork by hand, the guided wizard on this site can prepare and pre-fill the correct Colorado forms for your filing.

7. File your 90-day status reports. After the court's case management order, file a status report within 90 days and keep setting follow-up reports at least every 90 days until the matter is resolved. The guided wizard can prepare these filings for you as well.

What Research Shows Can Help

The items available here speak more to how the collaborative process is designed than to formal social-science outcome studies, so there's a limit to what I can tell you. What the professional literature does emphasize is that both collaborative law and mediation are designed to promote settlement through confidential, private negotiation — with the goals of reducing cost, preserving relationships, and giving you and your spouse a greater voice in the outcome (what's called self-determination) than you'd have in a judge-decided case.

The design of collaborative divorce — voluntary disclosure, fair dealing, shared experts, and a commitment to crafting agreements that meet both parties' needs — is built around keeping conflict low and keeping both people invested in the result. Because the case usually isn't filed until settlement is reached, it can also save time and expense compared to a drawn-out litigated case.

What to Do Today

• Have an honest conversation with yourself about whether you and your spouse can negotiate in good faith — the whole process depends on it.
• Research collaborative attorneys in Colorado; remember both of you will each need one.
• Start pulling together your financial documents now, since full voluntary disclosure is a cornerstone of the process.
• If you expect to file paperwork, begin the guided wizard so the correct Colorado forms can be prepared and pre-filled for you.
• Think through which neutral professionals you may need — a financial neutral, a facilitator, or joint valuation experts.

Related Issues to Be Aware Of

Do I need a lawyer? Collaborative divorce is unusual because it requires both of you to have an attorney — but one defined and limited to the collaborative process. If you're weighing whether and when to bring in counsel, it's worth understanding whether you need a lawyer for your particular situation, including the fact that you can involve one at any stage.

Mediation. Mediation is the closest cousin to collaborative law — both are private, confidential ways to settle outside court. The key difference is that mediation can be done without lawyers and uses a neutral facilitator, while collaborative law requires each of you to have your own attorney advocate. Colorado courts can also order mediation in various circumstances, so it's worth knowing how the two compare.

Attorney fees and court costs. Because collaborative divorce involves two attorneys plus shared neutrals, cost is a real consideration — and the disqualification rule means a failed process could mean paying for new lawyers. If there's a financial imbalance between you and your spouse, be aware that a court can order one spouse to contribute toward the other's attorney fees and costs based on each party's resources.

Understanding the divorce process. Even in a collaborative case, the underlying legal framework still applies — including Colorado's residency requirement, the finding that the marriage is irretrievably broken, and the 91-day waiting period before a decree can enter. Getting familiar with the overall divorce process will help you see how your collaborative settlement ultimately becomes a final court order.