Colorado Divorce and Family Lawyer
Divorce can be the most traumatic and painful experience of one’s adult life. Psychologists compare the trauma from separation and divorce to a death or serious physical injury. It is estimated that half of all American marriages end in divorce.
The court system can be a completely foreign experience for most people, and it isn’t a stretch to say it –scares- most ordinary people. The reasons are apparent; you turn over the most important parts of your life, your property, children, and future happiness, to total strangers. Everyone hopes that solid decisions will come out of such a process, but there are no guarantees. Only proper, thorough preparation will successfully bring your case to the result you seek.
Hiring a lawyer to shepherd your case and issues through a court system is the last thing most people think about, until it is absolutely a necessity. There are self-help resources available on the Colorado State Judicial Web Site, however, many of the forms involve complicated legal questions that may require some professional review. If your case involves difficult questions of parental responsibility, child support, division of substantial property or debt, or domestic violence, a lawyer may be of particular assistance.
This firm has twenty years total experience in all types of civil litigation, including the varied forms of domestic relations cases. In that time, and as recently as 2015, we've been hired by clients who were so dismayed by the divorce process they failed to hire anyone during the case initially; only to be taken advantage of by their ex-spouse. Hiring a lawyer after the fact creates a true uphill battle, as your lawyer must attempt to unwind a default or total loss during the first hearings on your case. If you fail to address your case up front, or don't attend initial hearings on your case, your spouse can be awarded nearly everything; parental responsibilities, assets, and debt awards against you, with very little recourse. An ounce of prevention in divorce situations, is worth a pound of cure.
This firm pursues background investigation and parental responsibilities in a thorough and professional manner; but you need complete facts on your family and circumstances to present a global picture to a judge or magistrate. Courts may hire outside experts and order independent evaluations, although professionals hired by the court must be carefully screened and approved. A thorough review of assets and income in contested divorces is sometimes very necessary to accomplish reasonable goals.
It’s also important to point out that lawyers are not psychologists; although to some extent we provide some counsel, it is this firm’s policy to refer matters out to professional psychologists if the stress of the divorce process begins to wear on any client. One of the resources available in Colorado for highly conflicted families is the Shared Parenting Support Program, a course of therapy for families suffering from issues related to divorce and parental conflict.
In the Court of Appeals, this firm has litigated domestic matters repeatedly; published cases are not common, however, the link below is one such case chosen for publication.