What Is A Preliminary Injunction?

A preliminary injunction is focused on protecting the “status quo” of either spouse before the divorce. It will go into effect automatically in all divorce cases in Colorado, once a divorce summons is served. A Preliminary Injunction is a type of temporary order that only lasts for the duration of a divorce case or when another order from the court states otherwise.

The Colorado Revised Statutes Section 14-10-107(b)(l) explains the language about a Preliminary Injunction.

The Colorado Law explains a Preliminary Injunction as follows:

” Restraining either party from encumbering, concealing, transferring, or disposing of in any way, without consent from either of the parties or a court order, any “marital property”, except when it involves usual courses of business or for one or more necessities of life. It also requires either party to give notice to the other party of extraordinary proposed expenditures and to also account to a court for every type of extraordinary expenditure made once the injunction has come into effect”.

In Colorado, you will most likely encounter a Preliminary Injunction once you have received a summons for a divorce. This is a legal and binding order that prohibits you from doing certain things as the divorce proceeds. This can include destroying property belonging to your soon-to-be ex-spouse or spending money in large sums from one of your joint accounts until your marriage is dissolved or an order from the court puts an end to the injunction.

What You Need To Know About Preliminary Injunctions

Unless the other party (spouse) has consented in writing or a judge grants permission, each party is not allowed to take unilateral action against their marital estate, along with other things. Below are some of the common examples of prohibited actions:

• Don’t hide community property or earnings from your spouse.
• You won’t be able to take out loans on any community property.
• You won’t be able to give away or sell any community assets without written consent from your spouse or when a court has authorized it.
• Do not threaten, physically abuse, or harass your children or your spouse.
• You will not be able to remove your children from the state of Colorado without a court order or obtaining an agreement in writing from your spouse.
• You are required to maintain all your insurance coverage and you won’t be allowed to take your children or spouse off any of these policies.

A Preliminary Injunction can be a very useful tool in a divorce case, protecting both parties and preventing many potentially bad decisions (and actions) from taking place.