Every Colorado divorce form is available as a free fillable PDF on the Colorado Judicial Branch website, filed under Self-Help in the Divorce and Separation category. Each document carries a JDF number (Judicial Department Form), and downloading the Colorado divorce papers PDF set directly from the court’s site is the only way to be sure you have the current version a clerk will accept. The core packet runs to a handful of forms; which ones you need depends on whether you have minor children and whether you and your spouse are filing together.
Where to Download the Forms
Go to the Colorado Judicial Branch Self-Help section and open the Divorce and Separation category. The fillable PDFs are grouped by situation: divorce without children, divorce with children, and legal separation. There is no charge.
Skip third-party legal form sites. Some charge for documents the state gives away, and others host outdated versions that courts reject. If the header on a PDF doesn’t show the Colorado Judicial Branch name and a JDF number, it didn’t come from the right place.
The Forms Every Colorado Divorce Needs
Three PDFs show up in every case, agreed or contested:
- JDF 1000, Case Information Sheet. Identifying details for both spouses: names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, and contact information. If you have minor children, it also asks for each child’s name, sex, date of birth, and Social Security number.
- JDF 1101, Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. The document that formally asks the court for the divorce and lays out what you want decided: property division, debts, spousal maintenance, and, if applicable, parenting responsibilities and child support.
- JDF 1111, Sworn Financial Statement. Both spouses complete a separate copy. It details monthly income from every source, payroll deductions, monthly expenses by category, and all assets and debts. Both copies are filed with the court.
Filing Together vs. One Spouse Filing
If both spouses agree to file together as co-petitioners, you submit the petition jointly and skip the summons entirely. When only one spouse initiates the case, two more forms come in:
- JDF 1102, Summons. Formally notifies the other spouse that a divorce has been filed and instructs them to respond. The summons also prints the full text of the automatic temporary injunction that takes effect on service.
- Waiver and Acceptance of Service. If the respondent is willing to cooperate, signing this form acknowledges they received the petition and summons, which avoids hiring a process server or sheriff.
Extra Forms if You Have Minor Children
Cases with children require two additional documents. Missing or incomplete parenting paperwork is one of the most common reasons a case stalls.
- JDF 1113, Parenting Plan. Spells out who makes decisions about education, medical care, religious activities, extracurricular activities, and passport applications, and lays out parenting-time schedules for the school year, summer, holidays, and special occasions down to specific days and transfer times. It requires an overnight count showing how 365 nights per year are split between parents.
- Affidavit Regarding Children. Required by the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. You list every person each child has lived with and every address where each child has resided during the past five years. You can request to omit addresses if disclosure would endanger the children.
Extra Form for Uncontested Cases
When you and your spouse agree on every term, one more PDF turns that agreement into something the court can sign off on:
- JDF 1115, Separation Agreement. Documents the agreed division of every asset and debt by type (real estate, bank accounts, retirement accounts, vehicles, personal property). It specifies which spouse gets each item and, for financed assets, sets a deadline for the keeping spouse to refinance and remove the other spouse’s name. It also addresses spousal maintenance, including whether either party will carry life insurance to protect the other’s support interest.
What to Have in Front of You Before You Open the PDFs
These forms ask for a level of detail that will send you back to your filing cabinet repeatedly unless you pull your records first. Gathering everything up front cuts completion time dramatically.
For the Case Information Sheet and Petition, you need Social Security numbers for both spouses and all minor children, the date at least one spouse established Colorado residency, and the date of the marriage. The petition asks you to list all marital property, including real estate, bank accounts, investment accounts, and retirement funds, with current values, and to itemize debts: mortgages, car loans, credit cards, and anything else. If children are involved, gather their full names, dates of birth, current addresses, and a five-year address history covering everyone they have lived with.
For the Sworn Financial Statement, pull your most recent pay stubs, details on every income source (including self-employment, rental income, benefits, and investment returns), and a realistic monthly breakdown across housing, utilities, food, healthcare, transportation, children’s costs, and personal spending. You also need current balances and account numbers for all financial accounts and the monthly payment amount for each debt.
Separately from what you file with the court, Colorado Rule of Civil Procedure 16.2(e) requires both spouses to exchange a broader set of financial documents directly with each other within 42 days after the petition is served: three years of tax returns, three years of personal financial statements, bank and investment records, pay stubs, retirement statements, real estate documents, debt records, insurance documentation, and employment benefits information. These are exchanged between the parties, not filed. What gets filed is JDF 1104, a Certificate of Compliance confirming the exchange happened.
Filing the Completed PDFs
You file the originals with the District Court clerk in the county where you or your spouse lives. The filing fee for a divorce petition is $260.
If you cannot afford the fee, submit JDF 205, Motion to Waive Fees. To qualify, your household income generally must fall below 125 percent of the federal poverty line, or you must be enrolled in certain public benefits programs.
Self-represented parties can also file electronically through the Colorado Courts E-Filing system, which handles domestic relations cases; you register for an E-Filing User ID first. One limit worth knowing before you start: if you received a fee waiver, you currently cannot use e-filing and must file in person. You may only e-file into your own case.
Getting the Papers to Your Spouse
If you did not file as co-petitioners, the respondent must receive formal notice of the case. The easiest route, when the other spouse is cooperative, is a signed Waiver and Acceptance of Service confirming they received the petition, summons, and case management order. Otherwise, you hire a private process server or arrange for the county sheriff to hand-deliver the documents. You cannot serve the papers yourself. Proof of service must then be filed with the court.
What Signing the Forms Sets in Motion
Two things start the moment the petition is filed and the other spouse is served (or a co-petition is filed). Read both before you sign anything.
The first is the automatic temporary injunction under C.R.S. 14-10-107. No one has to ask for it and no judge has to issue it; it takes effect by operation of law and runs until the final decree is entered or the case is dismissed. It prohibits both spouses from transferring, hiding, or disposing of marital property without the other’s written consent or a court order. Normal spending on daily necessities and routine business transactions is allowed, but any extraordinary expenditure requires advance notice and must be accounted for to the court. Neither spouse can cancel, modify, or let lapse any health, homeowner’s, renter’s, auto, or life insurance policy covering either spouse or the children; changes require at least 14 days’ written notice and the other party’s consent or a court order. Neither parent can remove children from the state without consent or a court order. The full text is printed on the JDF 1102 Summons.
The second is the 91-day clock. Under C.R.S. 14-10-106, the court cannot enter a final decree until 91 days after it has jurisdiction over the respondent, which is the date of service, the date the respondent signs a waiver, or the date of a joint co-petition filing. That is separate from the residency requirement: at least one spouse must have lived in Colorado for 91 days before the petition is filed. Finishing at exactly 91 days is realistic only in a fully agreed case where every document, including the proposed Decree of Dissolution, is complete and submitted on time.