Explanation: When someone files for divorce, an injunction automatically goes into effect that restrains parties from keeping the other spouse from “necessities of life” such as clothes, medications and other daily requirements. If you kick your spouse out of the house or change the locks, the spouse may simply call a locksmith to open the door, and may ask the Court to charge the locksmith’s bill to you (which can run over $300.00). Additionally, you could face sanctions by the Court for violating the mandatory injunction because you are essentially keeping your soon-to-be-ex (“STBE”) from his or her clothes, medications and other personal effects.
If you do not want to be around your STBE, you have the option to move out yourself, stay with a friend, or if you believe your STBE poses an imminent danger to your life or health, file for a Protection Order and ask the Court to order your STBE be restrained from coming within 100 yards of your house, your workplace, and anywhere else you may be found.
If you decide to move yourself out of the house, BEWARE! Make sure you take everything with you that you will want access to later. Once you move out of the house, during the pendency of the divorce, many Courts will consider you to have “abandoned” the marital home and will order that you may not return without the permission of the spouse who remained. This means that if you leave voluntarily, your STBE may change the locks with no repercussions, and if you break in, you could face sanctions. This also means that if your STBE abandons the marital home, you are free to have the locks and garage code changed. But again, BEWARE: If your STBE moves out voluntarily, he or she may not be obligated to contribute to the marital home expenses anymore, which could put you in a bind depending on your situation.
To determine what your rights are, you should talk to a lawyer about your individual situation. No two cases are alike and depending on the facts of your case, you may have options not addressed here. To discuss your individual case, contact me through www.taibolaw.com or via telephone at (303) 653-2509.
For your convenience, below is the text of the Mandatory Injunction:
Notice: Colorado Revised Statutes §14-10-107, provides that upon the filing of a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage or Legal Separation by the Petitioner and Co-Petitioner, or upon personal service of the Petition and Summons on the Respondent, or upon waiver and acceptance of service by the Respondent, an automatic temporary injunction shall be in effect against both parties until the Final Decree is entered, or the Petition is dismissed, or until further Order of the Court. Either party may apply to the Court for further temporary orders, an expanded automatic temporary injunction, or modification or revocation under §14-10-108, C.R.S. or any other appropriate statute.
1. Both parties are restrained from transferring, encumbering, concealing, or in any way disposing of, without the consent of the other party, or an Order of the Court, any marital property, except in the usual course of business or for the necessities of life. Each party is required to notify the other party of any proposed extraordinary expenditures and to account for all extraordinary expenditures made after the injunction is in effect; and
2. Both parties are enjoined from molesting or disturbing the peace of the other party or the minor child(ren); and
3. Both parties are restrained from removing the minor child(ren) of the parties, if any, from the state without the consent of the other party or an Order of the Court; and
4. Both parties are restrained, without at least 14 days advance notification and the written consent of the other party or an Order of the Court, from canceling, modifying, terminating, or allowing to lapse for nonpayment of premiums, any policy of health insurance, homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, or automobile insurance that provides coverage to either of the parties or the minor child(ren) or any policy of life insurance that names either of the parties or the minor child(ren) as a beneficiary.
Nothing in this automatic injunction shall prohibit either party from applying to the Court for further orders, an expanded automatic temporary injunction, or orders modifying or revoking this injunction.
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