Colorado's No-Fault Foundation: "Irretrievably Broken"
Colorado has been a pure no-fault state since 1972. A judge only needs to find that one spouse has lived in Colorado for at least ninety-one days, that another ninety-one days have passed since the court obtained jurisdiction, and that the marriage is "irretrievably broken." C.R.S. § 14-10-106. If one spouse swears the relationship cannot be repaired and the other spouse does not credibly deny it, the court presumes the marriage is over and moves forward without litigating the affair itself. C.R.S. § 14-10-110.
That structure is meant to cool tempers and keep cases moving. Even when someone pleads for more time, the court simply continues the hearing for thirty-five to sixty-three days, encourages counseling, and then revisits the same "irretrievably broken" test. C.R.S. § 14-10-110. There is no legal advantage to proving moral fault, because defenses like adultery, condonation, or collusion were abolished decades ago. C.R.S. § 14-10-107.
The practical takeaway is that infidelity alone will not stop (or fast-track) your divorce. Focus instead on the financial and parenting facts the judge must address while the case is pending.
Economic Fault: When Cheating Costs Marital Money
Colorado courts divide marital property "without regard to marital misconduct," but they can weigh each spouse's contribution, economic circumstances, and any depletion of property. C.R.S. § 14-10-113. Appellate courts call this "economic fault"—a narrow doctrine that lets judges fix unfair outcomes when one spouse wastes assets, such as spending marital funds on an affair, emptying accounts to impress a new partner, or hiding cash before filing. In re Jorgenson, 143 P.3d 1169 (Colo. App. 2006).
You do not have to prove that every dinner date was scandalous. You do need documentation that marital money was used for non-marital purposes. Think travel receipts, jewelry invoices, Venmo histories, or sudden ATM withdrawals that line up with the timeline of the affair. The automatic temporary injunction that springs into effect once a petition is filed also blocks both spouses from transferring, concealing, or disposing of marital assets outside the ordinary course of business, which means post-filing spending sprees can trigger contempt. C.R.S. § 14-10-107(4)(b)(I)(A).
Colorado judges often restore the depleted funds to the innocent spouse's side of the ledger or award a larger share of the remaining estate. In extreme dissipation cases, courts can even assign the entire wasted amount back to the spouse who did the spending before calculating the final split. C.R.S. § 14-10-113.
Cheating and Spousal Maintenance (Alimony)
Maintenance is also calculated "without regard to marital misconduct," so proof of an affair will not automatically increase or wipe out support. C.R.S. § 14-10-114. Courts still look at gross income, property awarded, reasonable needs, education or retraining time, and tax treatment. But the legislature added a new twist in 2025: Senate Bill 25-116 requires judges to find out whether either spouse engaged in domestic violence, coercive control, economic abuse, litigation abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, or unlawful sexual behavior when weighing maintenance factors. SB 25-116 (2025 Reg. Sess.).
The statute does not demand a criminal case. Documented patterns—screenshots, threatening messages, financial lockouts, or testimony—can be enough for a judge to treat the abusive spouse's behavior as a reason to adjust maintenance. Colorado family law practitioners are already coaching clients to describe coercive control and emotional abuse in maintenance hearings because the new law makes those facts legally relevant. Graham.Law, "Domestic Violence Now Affects Alimony in a Colorado Divorce" (Sept. 10, 2025).
Financial fallout from an affair can still matter indirectly. If one spouse emptied college savings or took on hidden debt to fund the relationship, the court can offset that through property division or consider the debt when deciding what each spouse can realistically pay.
Parenting Time: The Child's Best Interests Control
Cheating, by itself, is not a parenting-time factor. Colorado law expressly prohibits judges from considering conduct that does not affect a parent's relationship with the child. C.R.S. § 14-10-124(2). Courts look for concrete impacts on the child's safety, stability, and emotional needs—how each parent handled caretaking, whether both can cooperate on decisions, and how the child is adjusting to their home, school, and community environment. C.R.S. § 14-10-124(1.5)(a)-(b).
Infidelity only enters the conversation when it overlaps with best-interest factors. Examples include introducing the child to unsafe individuals, repeatedly missing parenting time to pursue the affair, exposing the child to adult situations, or using intimidation, stalking, or coercive control. Colorado statutes require courts to prioritize the child's safety and to restrict joint decision-making if domestic violence or sexual assault is proven by a preponderance of the evidence. C.R.S. § 14-10-124(4).
If the children recently moved to Colorado, remember that the court only has authority to enter initial custody orders when Colorado has been the child's home state for at least 182 days (or since birth for infants). C.R.S. § 14-13-201. Plan ahead if you expect a multi-state parenting dispute.
Procedural Guardrails After an Affair
Several automatic rules kick in the moment the divorce petition is filed and served:
- Automatic temporary injunction. Both spouses must stop transferring, hiding, or wasting marital property except for ordinary living costs, and they must avoid harassing each other or moving children out of state without consent. C.R.S. § 14-10-107(4)(b).
- Cooling-off period. Judges cannot finalize the divorce until at least ninety-one days after service or acceptance of service, no matter how strong the evidence of infidelity may be. C.R.S. § 14-10-106(1)(a)(III).
- Mandatory financial disclosures. Both spouses must exchange sworn financial statements, bank records, income documents, and sworn parenting disclosures, which often surface the very transactions that prove dissipation.
Violating the injunction or hiding information can lead to sanctions, fee awards, or even a referral to the district attorney. Treat the process like a business audit rather than a moral trial.
Building the Evidence File
Emotional testimony rarely moves the needle. Detailed evidence does. Consider organizing the following before mediation or trial:
- Financial breadcrumbs: account statements, credit-card exports, loyalty points, and travel itineraries that show the timing and amount of affair-related spending.
- Parenting proof: calendars, childcare logs, report cards, or messages that show who covered school pickups, medical appointments, or extracurriculars when the affair was unfolding.
- Safety documentation: screenshots, recordings, or police reports that reflect threats, stalking, coercive control, or emotional abuse relevant to the new maintenance and parenting-time standards.
When you have that documentation in place, calculators like the Colorado Divorce Financial Portrait make it easier to model settlement proposals and show how reimbursing dissipated assets affects the final spreadsheet.
Key Takeaways for Coloradans Dealing with Infidelity
Cheating is a deeply personal betrayal, but Colorado law translates it into practical questions: Did someone waste money? Did the misconduct create safety risks for the children? Is there evidence of coercive control or domestic violence? Keeping your focus on those questions helps you present a clear story to the judge, pursue reimbursement for dissipated assets, and protect your parenting time.
When in doubt, talk with a Colorado family-law attorney about how to document economic fault, comply with the injunction, and leverage the new maintenance factors. The legal system cannot erase the emotional harm, but it can rebalance finances and parenting plans once you show the measurable impact of the affair.