Akron, CO Divorce Law Firms & Lawyers

In Colorado a Decree of Legal Separation can only be entered by the Court if both parties agree to do that instead of a dissolution of marriage (i.e. divorce). If you want to end the marriage rather than simply have a Legal Separation all you have to do is say so. The Decree, whichever it is, is entered by the Court at the end of the proceedings when all financial issues and parenting issues have been decided (either by mutual agreement or by judicial rulings). Once entered, a Decree of Legal Separation lasts indefinitely unless one party after six months decides to have it converted to a Decree of Dissolution. There are situations where a Legal Separation is an advantage if the parties are not interested in remarriage. One example is the ability to continue health insurance coverage for both spouses when only one of them has an employer health plan.

The primary reason anyone is ever asked to leave the home is physical or emotional domestic violence. It may be that your husband thinks it would be better for all concerned if he left the house. You should probably talk to a family law attorney in your county to protect your rights.

Missing spouse cases are complicated because you have to petition the court to allow you to serve him by publication. Part of the petition is proving to the court that you have tried to locate him, but could not (we usually have a private investigator do an electronic search for the missing spouse and submit the PI's report to the court with the motion as evidence of trying to locate him). You then have to publish notice of the divorce in your local newspaper for 5 weeks. Once that is done, you follow all the other procedures and file all the required "normal" divorce paperwork. None of this is cheap or fast (I'd expect it to take 5-6 months). We do these cases regularly on a flat fee basis if you would like assistance. For $795, we do all the paperwork and assist/coach you through the whole process, including all of the missing spouse procedures (you are responsible for filing the documents, and court costs and fees). Our goal is to help you get though the process faster than you could on your own, make sure all the procedures and documents are done correctly. Please feel free to call me if you would like to discuss your case further. I hope this helps.