Denver metro family courts.
Six district courts hear the divorce and custody cases of the Denver metro, and which one hears yours depends on where you or your spouse lives — not on where your lawyer sits. Here is each courthouse, verified against the Colorado Judicial Branch in September 2026, and the things that are the same in all of them.
- 01District court, not county court, and the…
- 02Where your case will be heard
- 03The same in every courthouse
- →Questions people ask first
Talk to us about your case.
303-507-5529One call. A real person picks up, hears you out, and tells you how we would handle what you are facing and what to do first. No phone tree, no sales pitch, no obligation. Your first conversation is with our intake paralegal, who will get you to Aaron fast.
Rather write? Send a short note and during business hours we call you back within the hour.
District court, not county court, and the districts just changed.
Divorce, legal separation and parental-responsibilities cases are filed in the district court for the county where a party lives. Judges enter final orders; magistrates, in my experience, run most initial status conferences and temporary-orders hearings, and may preside over a contested permanent-orders hearing only if both sides consent (C.R.M. 6(b)). The biggest recent change is on the map: in January 2025 Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln Counties left the 18th Judicial District and became the 23rd, so a Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree or Castle Pines case is now heard in a district that did not exist two years ago, while Arapahoe keeps the 18th.
Where your case will be heard.
7325 S. Potomac Street, Centennial, CO 80112
(303) 645-6600
Monday–Friday, 7:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Serves: Greenwood Village, Cherry Hills Village, Centennial, Englewood, Littleton (Arapahoe side), Aurora (most of it), Glendale.
A dedicated domestic bench: three district judges who hear only domestic relations cases, four domestic magistrates and a child-support magistrate; four family court facilitators run the initial status conferences by Webex, and attorneys must e-file in every case type.
Family court facilitators and a self-help center (Courthouse II, Room 131) serve the domestic docket.
Weapons and tools are screened out at the door; food and drink may be inspected.
4000 Justice Way, Castle Rock, CO 80109
(720) 437-6200
Monday–Friday, 7:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; protection orders must be filed before 4:00 p.m.
Serves: Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Castle Pines, Parker, Castle Rock, Roxborough, Larkspur.
New on January 14, 2025: Douglas, Elbert, and Lincoln Counties left the 18th District to form the 23rd; a district judgeship was added in July 2025 and a county-court seat in July 2026.
Nine district judges and six magistrates district-wide, with two judges and two magistrates on the domestic docket and a separate family court facilitator division that runs initial status conferences; family court facilitators and a self-help center (Suite 2546).
1437 Bannock Street, Denver, CO 80202 · Clerk’s Office, Room 256
(303) 606-2300
Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Serves: Denver proper — Cherry Creek, Washington Park, Hilltop, Country Club, Observatory Park, LoDo, Highlands.
Domestic relations and civil cases are heard here; criminal cases are across the street at the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse.
The initial status conference is set with a court facilitator or a judge, in person or by phone, and the court has no family waiting area — do not bring the children.
Self-help center in Room 281.
100 Jefferson County Parkway, Golden, CO 80401
(720) 772-2500 · domestic relations (720) 772-2510
Front counter Monday–Thursday, 7:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.; Friday, 7:30 a.m.–noon
Serves: Lakewood, Golden, Evergreen, Morrison, Ken Caryl, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Littleton (Jefferson side), Conifer.
A dedicated domestic-relations line and two family court facilitators, but no separate family bench: every district judge carries domestic cases with civil and criminal, and magistrates handle preliminary domestic matters. By standing order, relocation motions, challenges to a prenuptial agreement and motions to reopen for nondisclosure go to a district judge, and post-decree motions stay with the decree division for eighteen months.
Note the Friday noon counter closing; the atrium drop box stays open until 5:30 p.m.
1777 6th Street, Boulder, CO 80302
(303) 441-3750
Clerk Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Serves: Boulder, Louisville, Lafayette, Superior, Niwot, Longmont (secondary courthouse at 1035 Kimbark Street).
How a case moves through this court, from the initial status conference to the hearing, is on the Boulder divorce page.
After 4:00 p.m., emergency filings — a temporary protection order or a motion to restrict parenting time — are taken by ringing the bell at window 1.
1100 Judicial Center Drive, Brighton, CO 80601
(303) 659-1161
Clerk Monday–Friday, 7:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; closed to the public noon–1:00 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of each month
Serves: Thornton, Westminster (Adams side), Northglenn, Brighton, Commerce City.
Every party with minor children must complete a court-approved parenting class; the district runs a Family Friendly Court program with free child care during hearings.
Broomfield cases are heard at the Broomfield Combined Courts, 17 DesCombes Drive, Broomfield, CO 80020 · (303) 464-5020, by two district judges and a magistrate, under the district’s domestic case-management order: mediation certificate 49 days before permanent orders, exhibits exchanged 10 days out, joint trial management certificate 7 days out.
Addresses, phone numbers, and hours are from the Colorado Judicial Branch’s court pages as of September 2026; confirm before a filing deadline, and expect security screening at every entrance.
The same in every courthouse.
- The clocks. A Response is due 21 days after service, 35 if you were served outside Colorado. Mandatory financial disclosures under C.R.C.P. 16.2 are due within 42 days of service, and the initial status conference must be held no later than 42 days after the petition is filed. A decree cannot enter until 91 days after the court acquires jurisdiction over the respondent (C.R.S. § 14-10-106).
- The automatic injunction. From service, both spouses are barred from transferring or encumbering marital property outside the ordinary course of business, taking the children out of state without consent or an order, changing or cancelling insurance without fourteen days’ notice, and disturbing the other’s peace (C.R.S. § 14-10-107).
- Filing. Attorneys file electronically through Colorado Courts E-Filing in every metro district; a self-represented party may e-file in a domestic relations case for a small per-filing fee, or file in person at the clerk’s counter. Filings are not accepted by email or fax.
- Mediation. Every district can order it and most do before a contested hearing. The court’s Office of Dispute Resolution charges $75 per party per hour with a two-hour deposit, and the parties schedule directly with a mediator on the district’s list; private mediators, including retired judges, are the better choice in a complex case. My approach: Mediation vs. Litigation.
- Parenting class. If there are minor children, expect an order to complete a court-approved parenting class before the decree enters; do it in the first month.
- Review of a magistrate’s order. A magistrate’s final order is challenged by a petition for review to a district judge — within 28 days for cases filed on or after January 2, 2026 (21 days for older cases) — and no appeal lies until that review is decided (C.R.M. 7).
Recent writing.
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Whichever courthouse it is, start with a confidential conversation.
A consultation is a working session, in person in Greenwood Village or by video: we go through your situation and I tell you what I would do. Your note reaches my office directly; during business hours we call you back within the hour, run the conflicts check, and set the meeting.
Talk to us about your case.
303-507-5529One call. A real person picks up, hears you out, and tells you how we would handle what you are facing and what to do first. No phone tree, no sales pitch, no obligation. Your first conversation is with our intake paralegal, who will get you to Aaron fast.
Rather write? Send a short note and during business hours we call you back within the hour.