Approximately 40-50 days after starting the case, you and your spouse will be scheduled to attend the Initial Status Conference.

Note that this step is almost certainly different depending upon your judicial district.  In El Paso County, if there are no attorneys on the case, you will attend a mass Initial Status Conference in a room with either Michael Vigil, or Nicolle Rugh, the two domestic court facilitators at the courthouse, and approximately 20-25 other couples going through the divorce or separation process .  In other judicial districts, the Initial Status Conference may be conducted in a courtroom in front of a judge or magistrate.

Bring all of your paperwork and completed financial affidavit to the conference, which could last 2.5 hours.  The domestic court facilitators cannot give you legal advice, nor enter any orders, rather they will only indicate deadlines that need to be met and documentation that needs to be filed for your case to progress.  If you have completed all of your paperwork and brought it with you, they generally can review your paperwork, and the agreements, to make sure they are filled out properly.

A review of documents to ensure they are filled out properly is NOT legal advice. The domestic court facilitator cannot indicate whether your agreements are advisable, or whether you forgot to divide an asset, or tell you what a judge would do.  See Legal Advice vs. Procedural Information, from the Colorado Judicial Branch, for more information on what they can and cannot do.

If, after the Initial Status Conference, you need to modify any forms, you should do so before signing and filing them at court.

If you have no minor children, follow the instructions on the next page to finalize your case. If you have children, skip that step, and instead follow the instructions for setting and attending the final hearing.