Denver County · 2nd Judicial District
Family Law in Denver
Denver is the only place in Colorado where family matters are split across separate courts in separate buildings. Knowing which one hears your case is the first practical question, and it is not obvious.
Denver is a consolidated city and county of roughly 719,000 people, and its court system works unlike anywhere else in the state. Every other Colorado county runs a combined court, where a single district court absorbs civil, domestic, probate, and juvenile matters. Denver instead has four constitutionally separate courts, and family matters are divided among three of them.
That structure is not trivia. It decides where you file, which clerk holds your record, which self-help center can help you, and which forms you are allowed to use. Denver District Court alone handled roughly 3,900 domestic relations cases in 2024, so the building knows the work. It just has to be the right building.
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year estimates, retrieved 2026-08-24.
Which Denver court hears your case
Divorce, legal separation, and parenting matters filed as part of a dissolution go to Denver District Court in the City and County Building at 1437 Bannock Street. The clerk's office is Room 256, and a domestic relations self-help center operates in Room 281 for people without a lawyer.
Parentage cases go somewhere else entirely. In Denver, paternity and related matters are handled by Denver Juvenile Court in the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse at 520 West Colfax Avenue, which has its own self-help resource center. Guardianships and conservatorships go to Denver Probate Court, the only standalone probate court in Colorado, back at 1437 Bannock in Room 230. Two buildings, three courts, one family.
Denver also publishes its own local forms, marked with a DEN prefix, which the Judicial Branch states were created for Denver District Court only and cannot be used in any other court. DEN 1 opens a divorce without children; DEN 5 is the simplified parenting plan. Bringing a statewide form where Denver expects a DEN form is a common and entirely avoidable delay.
The statewide requirements still apply: one spouse domiciled in Colorado for 91 days before filing under C.R.S. 14-10-106, a second 91 day period after service before a decree can enter, venue under C.R.C.P. 98(c), and a court approved parenting class routinely ordered for parents of minor children under C.R.S. 14-10-123.7.
The guideline math at Denver's median income
Every Colorado support case starts from the same statutory formulas, and a nearly equal parenting schedule changes what they produce. The illustrative facts: a 7 year marriage, a 60/40 earning split of Denver's median household income of $94,718, two children, and 183 overnights a year with the lower earning parent.
Two things drive that result. The example splits parenting time nearly evenly, which under the law in effect since March 2026 earns a credit from the very first overnight and grows as the schedule approaches equal, and the two incomes sit close enough together that the maintenance formula nets to nothing. Move either variable and both numbers move with it.
Both figures come from the engines behind our free maintenance and child support calculators. They are illustrations, not predictions (how these examples are computed). For the full walkthrough of the 2026 child support law, read our attorneys' worked examples.
What a Denver marital estate usually holds
A Denver estate is typically a home bought at a very different price than today's, retirement accounts from two working careers, and sometimes equity compensation from the city's technology, energy, or healthcare employers. Colorado divides marital property equitably under C.R.S. 14-10-113, and the recurring Denver question is the house: whether either spouse can carry it alone at current interest rates, and what happens to the value it gained during the marriage.
That last point deserves care, because so many Denver owners bought before the last decade of price growth. Property one spouse owned before the marriage generally stays separate, while the increase in its value during the marriage is usually marital. Those are two different numbers, and settling one without calculating the other is how people give away more than they meant to.
For condominium and townhome owners, the monthly obligation belongs in the analysis too. Association dues, special assessments, and reserve health all affect what keeping the home actually costs and what it will sell for.
The enrollment deadline that can outrun a parenting plan
Denver Public Schools places most students through SchoolChoice, a single centralized application where families rank up to twelve schools and a lottery matches students by priority and available seats. For the 2026-27 school year, the first round opened in early December and closed January 20, with placements announced in late February. A second round opens in spring and fills first come, first served rather than by lottery.
That calendar matters more than most separating parents expect. A parenting plan settled in February can land after the round that decides where the children go to school in the fall. The plan should name the enrolling address and say who submits the application and by when, rather than leaving a December deadline to whichever parent remembers it first.
Questions we hear
Denver family law FAQ
Where do I file for divorce in Denver?
Denver District Court, in the City and County Building at 1437 Bannock Street, with the clerk’s office in Room 256. Not the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse, which handles Denver’s criminal and juvenile matters.
We were never married. Is that the same court?
Usually not, and Denver is the only Colorado county where this split exists. Parentage cases are generally filed in Denver Juvenile Court at the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse rather than in District Court downtown. Confirming the right court before filing saves weeks.
Can I use the standard Colorado forms?
Not for everything. Denver publishes its own DEN forms for Denver District Court, and the Judicial Branch states plainly that they cannot be used in any other court. The reverse is also true: a statewide form is sometimes the wrong paper in Denver.
Who handles a guardianship for a child or an aging parent?
Denver Probate Court, which is the only standalone probate court in Colorado. It sits at 1437 Bannock Street in Room 230. Everywhere else in the state, a district court handles the same matters.
Can the self-help center handle my case instead of a lawyer?
It can help you with forms and process, and it is genuinely useful. It is available only to people who are not represented by an attorney, and the staff cannot give legal advice or tell you what to ask for. That distinction matters most in exactly the cases where the stakes are highest.
These answers are general information about Colorado law, not legal advice about your situation. For advice you can rely on, talk with an attorney about the specifics of your case.
Filing in the court your matter belongs to
Fortress Family Law is a Denver metro firm, and Denver cases are heard downtown at 1437 Bannock Street, with parentage matters at Lindsey-Flanigan. We file in the court that belongs to your matter the first time, on the forms that court accepts.
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