Over the course of a marriage, spouses purchase and acquire everything from real estate and cars to household items and investment and retirement accounts. One of the most challenging aspects of a divorce is dividing marital property.
Some states require divorcing spouses to divide the assets they accumulated during their marriage in a 50/50 division. Colorado’s division of marital property law is more nuanced, requiring a fair and equitable division of marital assets and debts during divorce proceedings. Reach out to our experienced property division lawyers in Denver for a free consultation.
In Colorado, divorcing spouses may reach a settlement agreement dividing their marital property with the help of their attorneys and a professional mediator. Then, their proven family law attorneys present the settlement agreement to a judge who typically signs it into binding divorce orders.
If they are unable to resolve one or more disputes over the terms of their property division, they present their arguments in court in a contested divorce process. Either way, the judge must find that the division of marital assets in the case meets the standard of fair and equitable division.
Equitable division of marital property means that all assets and debts accumulated during the marriage are divided in a way that’s fair for both spouses, depending on the unique circumstances of the marriage, and each spouse’s earning ability and resources. The division of their property does not have to be exactly 50/50 as long as the terms are fair under each spouse’s circumstances and allow them both to move forward after the divorce in equitable financial circumstances.
While spouses must equitably divide their marital assets so that all property is fairly distributed between them, each spouse may retain their separate property. A spouse’s separate property is any property they alone owned before the marriage, or assets that were gifted solely to one spouse or inherited by a spouse during the marriage. However, one spouse may have a claim to a fair share of the increased value of the other spouse’s separate property if the asset became commingled.
For instance, if one spouse owned a vacation home before the marriage, but the other spouse invested their money, time, or talent into improving the value of the home, they may claim a fair share of the property’s increased value. Granting a spouse access to a separate financial account owned before the marriage may also give them a claim to half of the account’s increased value.
Because determining which assets are separate, which are joint marital assets, and which are commingled assets can quickly become complex, it’s imperative for each spouse to have an experienced Colorado divorce lawyer working on their case.
After one spouse files a petition for divorce and the other spouse files a response, the next step in the process is the discovery period. This marks the initial step in the process of equitably dividing marital property during a Colorado divorce. Each spouse must complete a full financial disclosure affidavit. During the discovery period, a spouse’s attorney may request additional financial documentation from the other spouse to get a complete picture of the separate and marital assets.
For spouses with few assets and a short-term marriage, the equitable division process is typically straightforward; however, it may become more complex for business owners, high-asset spouses, those divorcing after long-term marriages, or those with diverse financial portfolios.
Regardless of the value and complexity of your marital assets, you deserve assertive legal representation to ensure that you receive your fair share. Call our divorce lawyer in Denver, CO at Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C. for experienced legal representation to fight for your best interests throughout the process of marital property division and all aspects of your Colorado divorce.
