Financial Preparation Before Filing

A quick note before we dive in: this guide is meant for general information only — it is not legal advice. For advice about your specific situation, talk to a Colorado family law attorney.

Your Situation

If you're preparing to file for divorce in Colorado — or you've just been served — one of the most important things you can do is get your financial house in order early. Divorce untangles two lives that may be deeply intertwined: bank accounts, debts, a home, retirement savings, maybe a business. The choices you make (and the records you keep) in these first weeks can shape how fairly everything gets divided and whether your own conduct holds up if it's ever questioned.

Here's what makes this moment especially important: the day a divorce petition is filed and the other party is served (or waives service), an automatic rule kicks in that limits what either of you can do with marital property. That means the window to simply "do whatever you want" with the money closes quickly. This guide will help you understand what that rule requires, how to gather and protect your financial information the right way, and what steps to take so you walk into your case organized rather than scrambling.

What the Law Requires

Once a divorce petition is filed and the other party has been personally served or has accepted service, Colorado law puts an automatic temporary injunction into effect that binds both of you. In plain terms, this is a built-in court order — printed right on the paperwork — that stays in place until the final decree, a dismissal, or another court order changes it.

Under that injunction, neither of you may transfer, sell, borrow against, hide, or give away marital property without the other's consent or the court's permission. There's an important exception: you can still use your income for the usual course of business and for the ordinary necessities of life. But anything beyond that — what the law calls an extraordinary expenditure — triggers two duties: you must notify the other party before you make it, and you must be able to account to the court for it afterward.

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From the moment the injunction takes effect, keep detailed records — receipts, bank statements, written notes — of every significant financial transaction, because you may have to account for extraordinary spending and failing to do so can be used against you.

Colorado law also requires each party to provide the court with their Social Security number and the Social Security number of each child named in the case. And when you attach financial documents to anything you file, the guidance is to redact — black out — account numbers and tax ID numbers first, and submit redacted copies rather than originals, to protect your sensitive information.

What Courts Typically Do

In practice, courts take the injunction seriously, and compliance cuts both ways. If you keep clean records and can show that your spending stayed within normal business and living expenses — or that you properly notified and accounted for anything unusual — you protect yourself. On the other hand, liquidating a joint account, moving property to a friend or relative, or running up debt can be treated as a violation and used against the party who did it.

Courts also look closely at the full financial picture during the divorce. A complete, honest accounting of what you own and owe is what makes an equitable division possible, so judges tend to be persuaded by organized, documented financial records and skeptical of gaps or last-minute movements of money. Outcomes vary with the facts — the point is that good documentation gives you credibility and protects you if your choices are questioned later.

Step by Step: What to Do

1. Understand when the injunction starts. It binds both of you once the petition is filed and the other party is served or waives service. From that moment, the restrictions and the duty to account for extraordinary spending apply.

2. Start a spending log immediately. From the day the petition is filed, keep a running record of every significant transaction — date, amount, purpose. Save receipts and bank statements. Normal business expenses and necessities are allowed, but document them anyway.

3. Notify before any extraordinary expenditure. If you need to make an unusual or large purchase or payment, tell the other party first and keep proof that you did. Then be prepared to account for it to the court.

4. Gather your account statements and asset values. Pull together recent statements and current values for savings, checking, cash on hand, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other investments. Also collect documentation of your monthly income (wages, commissions, tips, retirement distributions, support received) and your monthly expenses (housing, groceries, utilities, medical, transportation, loans, credit cards). Having these in hand up front makes everything that follows more accurate.

5. Don't overlook the less obvious assets. Things like frequent flyer miles, vacation club points, education savings accounts, stock options, and restricted stock can all be marital property subject to disclosure and division. Make a list so nothing gets missed.

6. Stop new joint debt from piling up. A recommended protective step is to eliminate joint credit cards and switch to individual cards only, so you aren't accumulating new shared obligations during or after the divorce.

7. Protect your privacy in any filings. Before attaching financial documents to court paperwork, black out account numbers and tax ID numbers and submit redacted copies.

8. Let the paperwork be handled for you. Rather than tracking down blank forms and filling them in by hand, use the guided wizard on this site — it interviews you about your situation and prepares and pre-fills the correct Colorado forms, including your financial disclosures, for you.

What Research Shows Can Help

The items available here focus on the legal and procedural side of financial preparation and don't include social science research findings on this specific topic. So rather than pad this out, I'll be honest: the strongest guidance here is practical — gather early, document everything, and keep your records clean. That discipline is what protects you throughout the case.

What to Do Today

• Start a dated spending log today and begin saving every receipt and bank statement from this point forward.
• Pull your most recent statements for all accounts and investments, plus recent pay stubs and your regular monthly bills, into one folder.
• Make a list of easy-to-forget assets — airline miles, club points, 529 or other education accounts, stock options or restricted stock.
• Cancel or stop using joint credit cards and set up individual credit to avoid new joint debt.
• Begin the guided wizard so your financial disclosures and other required forms are prepared and pre-filled correctly.

Related Issues to Be Aware Of

• Automatic temporary injunctions: This is the rule driving most of your financial do's and don'ts right now. It takes effect once the petition is filed and the other party is served or waives service, restrains both of you from disposing of marital property outside normal business and necessities, and requires you to notify and account for extraordinary spending — so understanding it fully is central to staying out of trouble.

• Financial disclosure: Both parties must complete a sworn financial statement fully disclosing their finances, and a complete financial affidavit is what allows the court to apply the child support guidelines. The records you gather now feed directly into these required disclosures.

• Property division: Colorado courts divide marital property equitably — not necessarily equally — without regard to marital misconduct, and property acquired during the marriage is generally presumed marital even if it's titled in one name. Knowing what counts as marital versus separate (gifts, inheritances, and pre-marital property can be separate) helps you document and categorize assets accurately.

• Debt allocation: Debt taken on during the marriage is generally marital debt, though the court can assign repayment to the spouse who ran it up. This is exactly why stopping new joint debt now matters, and why your records of who incurred what are worth keeping.

• Digital assets and cryptocurrency: Less tangible holdings — stock options, restricted stock, miles, points, and education accounts — are frequently overlooked but can be marital property subject to disclosure and division. Watch for these when you build your asset list so nothing slips through.