For the Sworn Financial Statement, the Certificate of Compliance and the document exchange. Weekends and court holidays roll it forward.

Financial disclosures in a Colorado divorce: what you have to hand over, and when.
Every Colorado divorce starts the same way: within 42 days, each spouse gives the other a set of financial documents and files a sworn statement of everything they earn, spend, owe and own. This page explains it in plain English: the deadline, the documents, the Sworn Financial Statement page by page, the small-case waiver, what happens if you leave something out, and links to every official form.
- 01What disclosure is, and why
- 02The 42-day deadline, and how to count it
- 03What is filed, what is exchanged
- 04The Sworn Financial Statement, page by page
- 05The document list
- 06The small-case waiver
- 07Mistakes, and the five-year rule
- 08The official forms
- →What people ask first
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Colorado does not let spouses hide the ball. Both of you put the money on the table at the start, without being asked.
In most lawsuits each side has to pry documents out of the other with formal requests. Divorce in Colorado runs the other way: the court’s rule for family cases, Rule 16.2, says each spouse must hand over the financial documents and file a sworn statement of their finances on their own, early, and keep them current. The list of documents is written down, the form is a court form, and the deadline is forty-two days. The rule calls it a duty of full and honest disclosure, and it applies to divorces, legal separations, parenting cases between unmarried parents, and later motions about money.
For most people this is the first piece of real work in the case, and the first time the judge forms a view of them. A complete, accurate statement filed on time is worth more than any argument a lawyer can make later. An incomplete one follows you: the court can exclude what you did not disclose, make you pay the other side’s fees, and, for five years after the decree, reopen the property division to fix what was left out. What follows is what the rule requires, in plain words. The rule and form citations are in one paragraph at the end for anyone who wants them.

The document list reaches back three years for returns, credit applications and business statements; everything else is the latest statement.
Income, deductions, expenses, debts, assets, signed under penalty of perjury. No notary since 2018.
After the decree, a misstated or omitted asset or debt can be reallocated on a motion, deliberate or not.
What disclosure is, and why the court insists on it.
Two things, on one deadline: a list of documents you give the other side, and a sworn statement you file with the court.
A written list, Form 35.1, of the financial documents each spouse must give the other: tax returns, pay stubs, account statements, loan applications, the deed, the debts. You give them to your spouse or your spouse’s lawyer. They are not filed with the court.
A seven-page court form, JDF 1111, where you write down your income, the deductions from your pay, your monthly expenses, your unsecured debts and everything you own, and sign it under penalty of perjury. This one is filed with the court and given to the other side.
A short form, JDF 1104, that you file to tell the court which documents you handed over, which ones do not apply to you, and which you could not get and why. It is your record that you did what the rule requires.

Why it works this way.
Both spouses disclose everything at the start. The case is then argued on real numbers, and a spouse who hides something loses the benefit of it.
Property is divided, maintenance is set and child support is calculated from numbers. If each spouse had to drag those numbers out of the other with discovery requests, every case would take a year and cost a fortune before anyone knew what there was to divide. So the rule front-loads it: both sides disclose, early and completely, and the court treats the statements as the starting point for temporary orders, mediation and the final hearing.
The rule also gives the honest spouse leverage. Once you have complied, you are entitled to hold the other side to the same standard, and a spouse who hides an account or understates a business does not get to keep the benefit of it: the court can exclude what was hidden, shift fees, draw its own conclusions about credibility, and reopen the division for five years after the decree.
Who it applies to.
Every divorce and legal separation, every parenting and child support case between parents who were never married, and every later motion that involves money: modifying support, enforcing an order, dividing something that was missed. A motion that is only about parenting time carries no financial disclosures unless the judge orders them.
The 42-day deadline, and how to count it.
The clock starts when the petition is served on the other spouse, or on the filing date if you filed together. Count 42 days from the day after that; if the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or court holiday, the deadline moves to the next court day.
The other dates around it.
The initial status conference. An informal first meeting, usually with a family court facilitator, that the court sets within 42 days of the filing date, whether or not the other spouse has been served yet. It can fall before your disclosures are due. The rule asks you to exchange what you have by then, and to bring the rest as soon as you can.
The response. A spouse who was served has 21 days to file a response (35 days if served outside Colorado). That is a separate deadline from the disclosures, and missing it is worse.
The earliest decree. No divorce can be final until 91 days after the court has both spouses in the case. The disclosures are due long before that, which is the point: the numbers are on the table before anything can be decided.
Later in the case. Witness lists 63 days before a contested hearing, expert reports 56 days before, discovery finished 28 days before, and an updated Sworn Financial Statement with the trial management certificate 7 days before. Your case management order controls if it says something different.
How the court counts.
- The day you were served does not count; the next day is day one
- Weekends and holidays count in between
- A last day on a Saturday, Sunday or court holiday moves to the next court day
- No extra days for mail; filing by 11:59 p.m. counts that day
Two weeks before the date.
- Old tax returns and business statements take time to get
- The status conference may come first
- A late statement is the first thing the judge learns about you
What is filed with the court, and what is only exchanged.
Most people assume everything goes into the court file. Almost none of it does.
Two piles.
| Filed with the court | Given to the other side only | |
|---|---|---|
| What | The Sworn Financial Statement (JDF 1111), its Supporting Schedules (JDF 1111SS) if you have them, the child support worksheet (JDF 1821) if there are children, and the Certificate of Compliance (JDF 1104) | Everything on the document list: tax returns, pay stubs, account statements, loan applications, deeds, debt statements, business records |
| Who can see it | The judge, court staff, your spouse and the lawyers. Financial statements in family cases are suppressed records: not available to the public | Your spouse and your spouse’s lawyer. Nothing goes into the file |
| How | E-filed by your lawyer, or filed at the clerk’s window or through the court’s e-filing system if you represent yourself | Copies, a shared folder or a flash drive, with a note of what was sent and when; the Certificate of Compliance records it |
| Keep | A file-stamped copy of each | Your own copy of everything you sent, and of everything you received |
Account numbers appear on the statement as the last four digits only. A motion or brief that quotes your figures is public unless the court orders otherwise, so numbers you want kept private do not get pasted into pleadings. See Privacy & Discretion.
The Sworn Financial Statement, page by page.
Seven pages, five sections and a summary. It is the one document every judge in your case will read, usually before you walk into the courtroom.
Where you work, then your gross monthly income from every source, including rent, trust income, support you receive and money other people contribute. Every pay period gets converted to a monthly figure: weekly pay times 52, divided by 12.
Taxes, Social Security, Medicare, retirement contributions, the health premium and how many people it covers, child care through payroll. Copy the pay stub exactly; the court will compare them.
Housing, utilities, food, health care, transportation, the children, your education, support you pay, everything else. Real, regular expenses as they are today, not the budget you hope for after the divorce. This page is what temporary orders and maintenance are decided on.
Credit cards, student loans, family loans, back taxes: the balance, the minimum payment, whose name, and why. Not the mortgage or the car loan; those belong with the house and the car on the asset pages. Then the summary: income, minus deductions, minus expenses and minimum payments.
Real estate, vehicles, cash and accounts, life insurance, household goods, then investments, retirement, business interests and other assets, and separate property, the last four on the one-page supporting schedule. Each item is marked yours, your spouse’s or joint. Where a category is empty you tick None; a blank line looks like something left out.
You acknowledge the duty to update the statement and that an omission, intentional or not, lets the court fix the result later. Then you sign under penalty of perjury, and certify that you sent a copy to the other side.

How to fill it in without help.
The statement is read by a judge who has read a thousand of them. A blank looks like an omission; a number that does not match the pay stub looks like a choice.
Work from documents, not memory. Pull the last pay stub, the last statement for every account, the mortgage statement and the credit card statements before you start. Every number on the form should trace to a piece of paper you could hand the judge.
Convert everything to monthly. Weekly pay times 52 divided by 12; every two weeks times 26 divided by 12; twice a month times 2. Yearly bills like insurance and car registration divided by 12.
Do not double-count. The health premium taken out of your pay goes on page 2, not page 3. The mortgage payment goes in expenses and the balance next to the house, never in the debt section.
Tick None where it applies. Every asset category is a question. Answer each one.
Attach the schedule. If you have investments, retirement accounts, a business, stock options, money owed to you or separate property, the one-page supporting schedule goes with the statement.
Then read it as the other side will. Does the income match the pay stub? Do the expenses add up to more than the income, and if so, how are you paying them? Is there an account you forgot? The other side’s lawyer will ask.
The document list, in plain categories.
The official list, Form 35.1, has fourteen lettered items. In practice they come down to eight kinds of paper.
| What | Which documents | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Tax returns | Your last three years of personal returns with every schedule, W-2, 1099 and K-1, and the returns of any business you own or can get copies from. If this year’s return is not filed yet, the documents you would use to prepare it. | Everyone |
| Loan and credit applications | Any personal financial statement or application for a mortgage, refinance, car loan, business loan or credit line from the last three years. Judges read these closely: they state your income and assets in your own words. | Everyone |
| Business records | Financial statements for the last three fiscal years and the current year to date, if you own a business or have access to its books. | Business owners |
| Real estate | The deed, the latest mortgage statement, and anything that says what the property is worth: an appraisal, a broker’s opinion, a refinance valuation, a tax assessment. | Everyone who owns real estate |
| Debts | The paperwork that created each debt and the latest statement for it: credit cards, student loans, car loans, family loans, back taxes. | Everyone |
| Accounts | The latest statement for every bank account, investment account, retirement plan (with the plan summary) and employment benefit: stock options, RSUs, deferred compensation, pensions. | Everyone |
| Income | Pay stubs and other proof of income for this year and last year, from every source. Self-employed: a sworn statement of the last three months’ income and expenses as well. | Everyone |
| The children’s costs | Work-related child care costs, the health, life and property insurance policies with who is covered and what they cost, and any recurring extraordinary expenses for the children. | Only when child support is at issue |
Three-year items reach back three years from the filing, or to the decree if there was one within the last three years. When you cannot get a document, say so on the Certificate of Compliance and say why; when it does not apply to you, say that too.
The fast items.
- Your last three pay stubs and last year’s W-2 or 1099s
- The latest statement for every bank, credit card, investment and retirement account
- The mortgage statement and the deed
- Car loan statements and the vehicle titles
- Insurance policies: health, life, home, auto
The slow items.
- Tax returns you do not have copies of (the IRS transcript takes days; the accountant, a phone call)
- Business financial statements from the bookkeeper or accountant
- Loan and refinance applications from the lender or the mortgage broker
- The retirement plan summary from the plan administrator
- Statements for accounts you closed during the marriage
Form 35.1 is the floor, not the ceiling. After the status conference either side can ask for more: three years of monthly bank statements, credit card statements, the trust documents. If a category on your list is thin, assume it will be asked about.
The small-case waiver, since 2024.
Two spouses with a simple estate and no children can agree to skip the document exchange. The Sworn Financial Statement is never waived.
The conditions.
- No children of the marriage, and no one pregnant
- Neither spouse asking for maintenance
- Marital equity under $100,000, not counting the home
- Marital debt under $50,000, not counting the mortgage
- No separate property worth more than $10,000, no pension or retirement plan, no trust interest
- No hardship to either spouse from skipping the exchange
The forms and the catch.
- Both spouses sign the affidavit, JDF 1372, within the same 42 days
- Each still files a complete Sworn Financial Statement
- Either spouse can withdraw with JDF 1373; full disclosures are then due within 28 days
- The court can refuse the waiver or order disclosures anyway
Use it when both of you already know the finances and there is little to divide. Do not use it because it is faster; a spouse who signs the waiver and later discovers an account has given up the easiest way of finding it.
The mistakes judges see most, and the five-year rule.
Most of these come from Colorado family-court judges surveyed by the bar in 2020; the rest from the form itself and the cases.
The most common failure, according to the judges. The statement from month one is still the statement at the hearing in month nine. Update it when things change, and file a fresh one seven days before the final hearing.
Every mortgage, refinance and credit application from the last three years is on the list. They show what you told a lender about your income and assets, which is why their absence reopened a settlement in a leading Colorado case.
The statement is your finances today. Writing in the rent you expect to pay after the divorce, or the income you fear, turns a true statement into a false one.
Ticking None is a sworn statement that there is nothing in that category. A blank line reads as an omission, or as hiding something.
The mortgage payment goes in expenses and the balance goes next to the house. Listing it again as a debt double-counts it and makes the whole statement look careless.
The inheritance, the account from before the marriage, the gift from your parents: all of it goes on the statement, in the separate-property section, and the argument that it is separate is made from the documents. This is the omission the five-year rule was written for.

What happens if you do not disclose.
Disclosure done early is a strategy. Done late, it is a sanction.
During the case. The court can exclude documents and witnesses that were not disclosed, order you to pay the other side’s attorney fees, order production and enforce that order by contempt, and decide that you are not credible, which colors every other issue. If the other spouse is the one who did not comply, those are the tools you have; see Hidden Assets.
After the decree: the five-year rule. If a disclosure misstated or left out an asset or debt and that affected how the property was divided, either spouse can ask the court to redo that part of the division on a motion filed within five years of the decree. It does not matter whether the omission was deliberate; the form itself says “intentionally or not.” It covers property and debts, not maintenance or child support. The motion has to say specifically what was missed, and the courts call the remedy narrow: it is not a license to investigate a former spouse’s finances for five years. See Reopening the Property Division.
The other way to read it. A complete disclosure is what makes your settlement final. A spouse who put everything on the table has a decree the other side cannot reopen for non-disclosure.
The official forms, with links.
All from the Colorado Judicial Branch. The court revises them from time to time; if a link opens an older version, the Branch’s forms search has the current one.
| Form | What it is | Get it |
|---|---|---|
| JDF 1111 · Sworn Financial Statement (Form 35.2) | The seven-page statement of your income, deductions, expenses, debts and assets. Filed with the court and given to the other side. Current revision October 2025. | Form (PDF) · Spanish |
| JDF 1111SS · Supporting Schedules (Form 35.3) | One page you attach to the statement if you have investments, retirement accounts, a business interest, stock options, money owed to you, or separate property. | Form (PDF) |
| JDF 1125 · Mandatory Disclosure (Form 35.1) | The official list of documents each side must give the other. It is a list, not a form you fill in; keep it as your checklist. | List (PDF) |
| JDF 1104 · Certificate of Compliance | The form you file to tell the court which documents you gave the other side, and which you could not. Three pages. | Form (PDF) · Spanish |
| JDF 1372 · Affidavit to waive the document exchange | For the small, childless, no-maintenance cases described below. Both spouses sign. The Sworn Financial Statement is still required. | Form (PDF) |
| JDF 1373 · Notice of withdrawal of the waiver | Either spouse can change their mind; full disclosures are then due within 28 days. | Form (PDF) |
| JDF 1821 · Child Support Worksheet | Filed whenever child support is at issue. The child support calculator on this site follows the same lines. | Form (Word) |
| JDF 1010 · How to File for Divorce or Legal Separation | The court’s own instruction sheet, with the same 42-day warning. | Instructions (PDF) |
Judicial Branch forms search: coloradojudicial.gov/self-help-forms (filter by Divorce, Family Matters). Self-help guide to the first steps: Divorce and separation and the initial status conference. Denver District Court has its own local notice for the status conference and a simplified statement for some cases; the clerk’s self-help center has them.
What I tell every client about disclosure.
Six things, in the order they come up. Not legal advice for your case; the mistakes I have watched for thirty years.

- Start the day the case starts.
The deadline is the last day, not the target. Old returns, business statements and plan documents are the slow items; request them first.
- Every number traces to a document.
Fill in the statement from the pay stub and the statements, not from memory, and keep the documents in the order of the form.
- List the property you believe is yours.
Separate property goes on the statement, in its section, and the claim is made from the documents. Leaving it off is how a good claim becomes a credibility problem.
- Tick None; never leave a blank.
Every empty category is a sworn answer, not a skipped question.
- Update it before the hearing.
A fresh statement seven days before the final hearing, and a supplement whenever something material changes. Most people never do; the judges notice.
- Read the other side’s statement like a lawyer.
Compare it to the tax returns and the loan applications. The gap between what a spouse told the bank and what they told the court is where cases turn.
Six things people get wrong.
I have 40 days.
Forty-two, counted from service, and rolled forward from a weekend or court holiday. The court’s own instruction sheet says 42.
The statement has to be notarized.
Not since 2018. It is signed under penalty of perjury, which is stronger.
My tax returns go into the court file.
They go to the other side only. What is filed is the sworn statement, its schedules, the child support worksheet and the certificate.
If I do not list it, they have to find it.
Everything you own goes on the statement. Leaving something off can exclude it as evidence, cost you fees, and reopen the property division for five years.
We can skip all of this if we agree.
Only the document exchange, only in small cases with no children and no maintenance, and only with both signatures. The sworn statement is always required.
I filed it once; I am done.
It has to be updated when things change and refiled seven days before the final hearing. Property is valued as of the hearing, not the filing.
What to bring, and the rules behind this page.
Bring what you have.
- The petition and anything the court has sent, including the status-conference notice
- Your last three pay stubs and last year’s W-2s or 1099s
- The latest statement for every account, and the mortgage statement
- Last year’s tax return, or the name of who prepared it
- A list of every debt with its balance
- Anything you received from the other side, and the date you received it
Five questions.
- What your deadline is, and whether the status conference comes before it
- Which documents you cannot get, and how the certificate will say so
- How the separate-property items will be listed and proved
- Whether the small-case waiver fits, and whether it should be used even if it does
- What the other side’s statement is missing
For the lawyers, the rules. The duty of disclosure and the 42-day deadline, C.R.C.P. 16.2(e)(1)–(2); what is filed, C.R.C.P. 16.2(e)(6)–(7); the document list, C.R.C.P. Form 35.1 (JDF 1125); the statement, Form 35.2 (JDF 1111) and its schedules, Form 35.3 (JDF 1111SS); the duty to supplement, C.R.C.P. 16.2(e)(4); the small-case waiver, C.R.C.P. 16.2(e)(11); the initial status conference, C.R.C.P. 16.2(c)(1)(E); sanctions, C.R.C.P. 16.2(j); the five-year rule, C.R.C.P. 16.2(e)(10); the pre-hearing deadlines, C.R.C.P. 16.2(e)(3), (f)(5), (g)(5), (h); counting, C.R.C.P. 6(a); the response, C.R.C.P. 12(a) and C.R.S. § 14-10-107(4)(a); the 91-day floor, C.R.S. § 14-10-106(1)(a)(III); valuation as of the hearing, C.R.S. § 14-10-113(5); suppressed records, Chief Justice Directive 05-01. The cases on the five-year rule are In re Marriage of Hunt, 2015 COA 58 (the loan applications), In re Marriage of Durie, 2020 CO 7 (what the motion must say), In re Marriage of Runge, 2018 COA 23M (no post-decree fishing), and In re Marriage of Dadiotis, 2014 COA 28 and In re Marriage of Roddy, 2014 COA 96 (property and debts only, not maintenance or support).
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The disclosure questions that fill my inbox.
What are financial disclosures in a Colorado divorce?
A set of documents each spouse must give the other, and a sworn statement each must file with the court, at the start of every divorce, legal separation and parenting case. The court’s rule is C.R.C.P. 16.2. The idea is that both sides put all of the money on the table without being asked, so the case can be settled or decided on real numbers.
When are the disclosures due?
Forty-two days after the petition is served on the other spouse, or forty-two days after filing if you filed together. That is the deadline for the Sworn Financial Statement, the Certificate of Compliance and the document exchange. Weekends and court holidays roll the deadline to the next court day: count 42 days from the day after service, and if the last day lands on a weekend or a court holiday, the deadline is the next court day.
What is the Sworn Financial Statement?
Form JDF 1111: a seven-page statement of your monthly income, the deductions from your pay, your monthly expenses, your unsecured debts and everything you own, signed under penalty of perjury. No notary has been required since 2018. It is the document the judge reads first, and it is used for temporary orders, maintenance, child support and dividing the property.
What documents do I have to give my spouse?
Three years of tax returns with every schedule and W-2, 1099 and K-1; any loan or credit application from the last three years; business financial statements if you own or can get them; the deed, mortgage statement and anything showing what real estate is worth; the latest statement for every bank, investment, retirement and employment-benefit account; the documents for each debt; pay stubs and this year’s and last year’s income records; and, when child support is at issue, child care costs, insurance policies and the children’s extraordinary expenses. The official list is Form 35.1.
Which papers are filed with the court, and which are only exchanged?
Filed: the Sworn Financial Statement, its supporting schedules, the child support worksheet if there are children, and the Certificate of Compliance. Exchanged only: everything on the document list. Tax returns and bank statements do not go into the court file. The financial statement in the court file is a suppressed record, which means the public cannot see it.
Do I have to list property that was mine before the marriage?
Yes. Everything you own goes on the statement, and property you say is separate goes in its own section (H) with the supporting schedule. Listing it is not giving it up: whether it is separate is argued from the documents that prove it. Leaving it off is the mistake that turns a good separate-property claim into a credibility problem, and it is exactly what the five-year rule was written for.
What happens if I miss the deadline or leave something out?
The court can refuse to let you use documents or witnesses you did not disclose, make you pay the other side’s attorney fees, and treat you as less credible for the rest of the case. If a misstated or omitted asset or debt affected the property division, your spouse can ask the court to redo that part for five years after the decree, whether the omission was deliberate or not. A knowingly false sworn statement is a felony.
Can we skip the disclosures if our case is simple?
Only the document exchange, and only in narrow cases: no children and no pregnancy, no one asking for maintenance, marital equity under $100,000 not counting the house, debts under $50,000 not counting the mortgage, no separate property over $10,000, no pension and no trust, and no hardship to either of you from skipping it. Both of you sign JDF 1372 within the 42 days. The Sworn Financial Statement is still required, and either spouse can withdraw the waiver later.
Do I have to update the statement later?
Yes, twice over. If anything on it becomes materially wrong or incomplete while the case is pending, you must supplement it. And an updated statement is due with the trial management certificate seven days before the final hearing, because property is valued as of the hearing or the decree, not the day you filed.
Can anyone see my financial statement?
The judge, court staff, your spouse and the lawyers. Financial statements in divorce cases are suppressed records under the court’s public-access rules, so the public and the press cannot pull them. A motion or brief that quotes your numbers is public unless the court orders otherwise, and account numbers go on the form as the last four digits only.
Do the rules apply if we were never married?
Yes. The same rule covers parentage and parenting cases and post-decree motions about money. The statement tells unmarried parties to list assets in their own names rather than as joint. A post-decree motion that is only about parenting time carries no financial disclosures unless the court orders them.
How long does it take to put together?
A weekend if your records are organized and a few weeks if they are not. The slow items are usually old tax returns, the business statements and loan applications, and the retirement plan documents. Start with the document list on this page the day the case begins; the deadline is the last day, not the target.
Where to go next.
The next page in this chapter, the pages that belong with it, and the blog posts on the same question.
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Disclosure is the first credibility test in the case. Pass it on purpose.
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Rather write? Send a short note and during business hours we call you back within the hour.