Colorado has adopted the Uniform Dissolution of Marriage Act, codified at 14-10-101, et seq. In order for Colorado to have subject matter jurisdiction to grant a dissolution, at least one spouse must have been domiciled in Colorado for the 90 day period prior to filing.

"Domicile" means more than merely living in the state of Colorado. It is the intent for Colorado to be that spouse's permanent residence. This most often affects military couples - a servicemember living in Colorado may not actually be domiciled here (look at the claimed home state on the LES as a starting point). Likewise, someone domiciled in Colorado who leaves the state strictly because of military service can still file in Colorado, even though he/she has not lived here for years.

Subject matter jurisdiction alone is not sufficient, however, to litigate all of the issues involving a Colorado divorce or legal separation. All that means is that the Colorado divorce court can (1) grant a divorce, (2) divide marital property located in Colorado, and (3) enter custody/parenting orders for children, if Colorado is their home state (six months residence).

Personal jurisdiction over the respondent spouse, and therefore the authority for the Colorado divorce court to divide property outside of Colorado and order the respondent spouse to pay maintenance or child support, requires one of the following:

1. Personal service on the respondent spouse within the state of Colorado (including a waiver of service),
2. Personal service anywhere, as long as the parties maintained their marital domicile in Colorado, and the petitioning spouse lived here continuously after the respondent spouse left the state (does NOT confer jurisdiction to divide property outside of Colorado, however), or
3. The respondent spouse consents to the Colorado divorce court exercising jurisdiction (requires affirmative consent, not simply the failure to object to jurisdiction).

So even though Colorado can grant a divorce with service outside of Colorado, or with service by publication, some of the issues will have to be reserved for later adjudication by a divorce court which has jurisdiction over the respondent spouse