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How much does it cost to file for divorce in Colorado?

Colorado charges one statewide price: $260 to file a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage and $146 to file a response, the same in Denver as in the smallest rural judicial district. The fees are set by C.R.S. §13-32-101 and collected through the Judicial Branch's JDF fee structure — there are no county surcharges to comparison-shop.

Colorado divorce fees at a glance

The $146 response figure is printed on the Judicial Branch's own summons, form JDF 1012 (revised February 3, 2025), which tells every respondent to include the $146 fee or request a waiver on forms JDF 205 and JDF 206; the $260 petition fee is the current §13-32-101 domestic-relations amount in the Branch's fee schedule (form JDF 1). The smaller charges — the $20 certification fee and the per-page copy rates — come from the fee block printed in the Judicial Branch's dissolution instructions (JDF 1099/JDF 1100), and they matter because almost every filer ends up buying at least one certified copy of the decree to change a name, a bank account or a benefits record. Spouses who file together as petitioner and co-petitioner pay the single $260 petition fee and no response fee, which makes the joint filing the cheapest clean route through a Colorado divorce. The state-by-state comparison is on the divorce filing costs hub and the Colorado court costs guide.

Residency and the 91-day rule

Colorado is a pure no-fault state: the only ground is that the marriage is irretrievably broken (C.R.S. §14-10-106). One spouse must have been domiciled in Colorado for at least 182 days before the petition is filed (§14-10-97), and Colorado courts can only decide parenting issues for children who have lived in the state for at least 182 days, subject to the usual jurisdictional exceptions. The second clock is the waiting period: a decree cannot enter until at least 91 days after the court acquires jurisdiction over the respondent — by service of the summons, a signed waiver and acceptance of service, or the co-petition filing date. That 91-day floor applies even when everything is agreed, so the fastest possible Colorado divorce is roughly three months from filing, and contested cases run far longer. Both spouses must exchange mandatory financial disclosures and file sworn financial statements (JDF 1111); incomplete disclosures are the most common self-inflicted delay, and therefore the most common avoidable cost, in an otherwise simple case.

How the case runs

1. File the Case Information Sheet (JDF 1000), Petition (JDF 1101) and Summons (JDF 1012) in the district court of the county where either spouse lives $260
2. Serve the respondent personally, or have them sign a Waiver and Acceptance of Service (JDF 1102(a)); the 91-day clock runs from service or waiver
3. Respondent files a Response (JDF 1015) if they want their own positions on the record $146
4. Exchange mandatory financial disclosures and sworn financial statements; attend any initial status conference the district schedules
5. Submit the decree paperwork (JDF 1116) with your separation agreement and parenting plan, or try the disputed issues; buy certified copies of the signed decree $20 certification

What divorce really costs beyond the clerk

Beyond the $260, the predictable court-adjacent costs are service and copies. Process servers set their own rates and the Judicial Branch does not publish them, so this page does not price service. Districts can require mediation or a parenting class in cases with children, priced by the provider or the district's programme rather than by §13-32-101. Post-decree life has its own fee line: a motion to modify the decree later — support, parenting time, maintenance — is a $105 filing under the same schedule, which is why getting the original decree's terms right matters more than any single filing fee. Attorney fees are market-priced, unpublished by any official schedule, and normally the dominant cost in a contested case; this page deliberately does not estimate them. For contrast with neighbouring fee structures, see Texas divorce costs and Arizona divorce costs.

Can't afford the fee?

Colorado's waiver is forms JDF 205 (Motion to File Without Payment and Supporting Financial Affidavit) and JDF 206 (the order). Under the Judicial Branch's indigency guidelines, filers who receive means-tested public benefits qualify automatically, and others are assessed against household income; the judge can waive the fee in full, reduce it, or set up payment. One practical catch from the Branch's own instructions: a case filed with a granted waiver is filed on paper at the clerk's office — the e-filing route assumes a payable fee. See the fee waiver guide for how waivers work generally.

Sources: Colorado Judicial Branch — JDF 1012 Summons (rev. Feb 3, 2025; response fee $146, waiver on JDF 205/206) · JDF 1, Filing Fees, Surcharges and Costs in Colorado State Courts (domestic relations schedule under C.R.S. §13-32-101; petition $260) · JDF 1099/JDF 1100 dissolution instructions fee block (certification $20; copies $0.75/page on file, $0.25/page not on file) · C.R.S. §§14-10-97 (182-day domicile), 14-10-106 (irretrievably broken; 91-day waiting period). Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with the clerk of the district court.