I was a resident in Colorado for 5 years, I moved from Colorado to
Texas on 1/1/03, I engaged a Colorado Attorney to file for a divorce
in Colorado on my behalf on 2/05/03. My spouse was served on 2/24/03,
the petition was filed with the Colorado court on 2/26/03.

My question is, since I moved to Texas in January, signed a lease
effective 1/1/03 in Texas, therefore establishing residency in Texas,
would my petition for divorce filed in Colorado be null and void.

If it is null and void, what does Colorado law say about how long
before I can refile in another state?

Dear teamup-ga;

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question. I cannot give you legal advice but I can direct you to the
law and summarize what it says:

My research indicates that you shouldn’t need to re-file because your
divorce does indeed appear to be valid. In spite of how the situation
might appear on its face, you were apparently still a Colorado
resident at the time your petition was filed . Here’s why:

According to “DIVORCE DIRECT”, a site that provides US divorce law and
state requirements, the residence requirements in Texas are as
follows:

“One spouse must have lived in Texas for at least six months prior to
a divorce being initiated. Additionally, the filing party must have
been a resident of his or her county for at least ninety days prior to
the filing.”
http://www.divorcedirect.com/process_State_tx.htm

With regard Colorado, the following is an excerpt of that state’s
minimum residency requirements before one can qualify for a divorce in
that state:

“The filing spouse must have lived in the state for at least 90 days
before initiating a divorce. After the responding spouse is served,
there is a 90 day waiting period before a divorce can be finalized.”
http://www.divorcedirect.com/process_State_co.htm

Specifically, under “Colorado Revised Statutes; Article 10, Section
14-10-106 and Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 98” the law
reads this way:

“One spouse must have been a resident of Colorado for 90 days prior to
filing for dissolution of marriage. The dissolution of marriage may be
filed for in: (1) the county where the respondent resides or (2) the
county in which the petitioner resides if the respondent has been
served in the same county or is a non-resident of Colorado.”
DIVORCE SOURCE
http://www.divorcesource.com/info/divorcelaws/colorado.shtml


The dilemma is not what the state of Colorado requires as residency
because that is never in question here. It’s basically what Texas
requires that would make the difference, since you now live there. A
physical move from Colorado to Texas in, and of itself does not
automatically make you a legal resident of Texas. The bottom line here
is that TEXAS requires you to have been a domiciliary of that state
for at least six months (which you haven’t been) before you can be
considered a legal resident (which you were not at the time of the
Colorado filing). In addition, one’s legal Texas residency can even be
questioned if he doesn’t obtain a Texas driver’s license or
identification, Texas vehicle registration and/or gainful employment.
If you hadn’t done this at the time of your filing, this would serve
as further proof that you were still a resident of Colorado at the
time of the petition. During the interim, you had not completely
fulfilled your minimum requirements to become a legal resident of
Texas, so you essentially remained a legal resident of your last state
of residence until such time as these minimum requirements could have
been met; in this case COLORADO. So you see, having said that,
provided everything else about your Colorado divorce was legal, the
fact that you had moved and established a “pending” residency
elsewhere is an irrelevant and therefore moot point in considering
whether your Colorado divorce is valid or not. The way the laws are
written, you appear to have a valid (and frankly, quite believable)
argument to support the position that you were a legal Colorado
resident at the time of the filing and that your Colorado divorce is
indeed valid.

I hope you find that that my research exceeds your expectations. If
you have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga



INFORMATION SOURCES

DIVORCE DIRECT
http://www.divorcedirect.com/process_State_tx.htm
http://www.divorcedirect.com/process_State_co.htm

DIVORCE SOURCE
http://www.divorcesource.com/info/divorcelaws/colorado.shtml



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SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

DIVORCE LAWS “BY STATE”

DIVORCE LAW COLORADO

DIVORCE LAW TEXAS

RESIDENCY LAW COLORADO

RESIDENCY LAW TEXAS

Dear teamup,

It is possible for a spouse to obtain a divorce in a state where he or
she is domiciled, even though the other spouse lives in a different
state. Given your example of Colorado and Texas, let's assume a
situation where a couple has resided in Colorado, and one spouse
relocates to Texas and files for divorce in that state. Once the
residency requirements have been met, Texas would have jurisdiction to
grant a divorce. However, if the spouse who is petitioning for divorce
wishes to seek spousal support (alimony), the division of marital
assets accumulated in Colorado, or custody or support orders relating
to children who continue to be domiciled in Colorado, the Texas court
may well be without jurisdiction to decide those issues. While it is
possible for the respondent spouse to consent to jurisdiction in
Texas, it is also possible that litigation would become necessary in
both Colorado and Texas to resolve all of the issues arising from the
divorce.

In your case, as tutuzdad pointed out, the Colorado courts have
jurisdiction over the case due to your spouse's continued residency.
They also have personal jurisdiction over you despite your present
domicile in Texas, as they obtained that when you filed the divorce.
Presumably, they also have jurisdiction over any marital assets, and
can resolve any issues of support and property division. Should you
attempt to dismiss your action in Texas, assuming your spouse has not
filed a counter-complaint, your spouse may be inspired to do so in
order to keep the case in Colorado. Furter, as outlined above, even
after you become eligible to file for divorce in Texas, you may not be
able to get certain key issues resolved within the Texas court system.

Incidentally, it is possible to lose your residency in one state long
before you have met a residency requirement necessary to file divorce
in another state. Once you act on an intention to permanently abandon
your residency of a state, that state's courts will typically respect
your abandomnent of residency. However, under the law as outlined by
tutuzdad, even if your move to Texas has destroyed your Colorado
residency the divorce may nonetheless proceed in Colorado on the basis
of your spouse's continued residency in that state.

- expertlaw