Marital Property Attorney

There are many misconceptions about property division in divorce. Chief among these is the idea that any property in an individual’s name will be considered separate property. This is not always the case, and the expertise of a skilled marital property attorney is essential in identifying what you may be able to claim and what may be beyond your reach.

Complex Marital Estates

At Front Range Family Law ®, founding attorney Rebecca Gumaer assists clients who need help identifying, cataloging and appraising all property in the divorce. Ms. Gumaer then considers all of the facts involved in order to determine what property constitutes marital property and what constitutes separate property and moves forward with ensuring appropriate compensation for clients.

Divorces in which high income spouses are attempting to untangle jointly owned first and second homes, cars, boats, planes and small businesses require discrete and comprehensive legal representation. The potential for discord and division is greater in high net worth divorces. Through zealous advocacy and discretion, Jefferson County marital property lawyer Rebecca Gumaer strikes the perfect balance between sophisticated legal representation and excellent legal outcomes.

Marital Property Versus Separate Property

The high-asset divorce component of our family law practice assists clients who have some or all of the following:

We have successfully served high-asset clients in the Denver Highlands because we have access to a network of business valuation experts and financial advisers. Key to the success of Front Range Family Law ® has been our team approach. Each individual case is assigned to founding attorney Rebecca Gumaer. After selecting appropriate support staff and financial experts, Ms. Gumaer then builds a team of individuals who will work on your case from its inception to completion. With this consistent approach, she has been able to produce excellent outcomes.

What Does Equitable Distribution Mean in Colorado?

Equitable distribution means a Colorado court divides marital property in the proportions it finds just, after weighing the circumstances of both spouses. Colorado is not a community property state. There is no rule that says to send half of everything to each side.

The distinction matters more than it sounds. In a community property state, the starting point is a formula. In Colorado, the starting point is the judge’s judgment. That gives a well-prepared spouse room to argue for an outcome that reflects what actually happened in the marriage, and it gives an unprepared spouse room to lose ground they did not know was in play.

Debts are handled the same way. Mortgages, credit card balances, and loans taken on during the marriage are generally marital obligations regardless of whose name appears on the account, and they are allocated on the same fairness standard as the assets.

What Counts as Marital Property in Colorado?

Colorado treats nearly everything acquired during the marriage as marital property, no matter which spouse holds title. Four categories fall outside that definition:

  • Property received by gift or inheritance
  • Property acquired in exchange for property owned before the marriage, or in exchange for a gift or inheritance
  • Property acquired after a decree of legal separation
  • Property excluded by a valid agreement between the spouses, such as a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement

Here is the rule that surprises people most. Separate property generally stays separate, but the increase in its value during the marriage is marital property subject to division. A home you owned before the wedding stays yours. The appreciation it gained across a fifteen-year marriage usually does not stay yours entirely.

Separate property can also lose its character when it is mixed into marital accounts and can no longer be traced. Tracing is a documentation exercise, and it is one of the most common places where a claim that should have succeeded quietly fails.

What Colorado Courts Consider When Dividing Property

Colorado law directs the court to consider four factors, along with any other relevant circumstances:

  • Each spouse’s contribution to acquiring the marital property, including contributions as a homemaker
  • The value of the property set apart to each spouse
  • The economic circumstances of each spouse when the division takes effect, including whether it makes sense to award the family home to the parent the children live with most of the time
  • Any increase, decrease, or depletion in the value of a spouse’s separate property during the marriage

Timing carries weight as well. Marital property is generally valued as of the date of the decree, or as of the hearing on property division if that comes first. In a volatile market, or with a business that is growing or shrinking, that date can change the arithmetic significantly.

Notice what is absent. Colorado does not weigh marital fault in property division. An affair does not move the number. Economic conduct is different, and a spouse who wasted marital assets can see that treated as a financial factor, but it is weighed as economics rather than as blame. Clients who arrive expecting the division to punish a spouse’s behavior are usually working from the wrong map.

Why Equitable Does Not Mean Equal

Many Colorado property divisions land at or near an even split, and Colorado courts often treat both spouses’ contributions as equal. But the law does not require mathematical equality, and courts have broad discretion to divide the estate unevenly when the circumstances support it.

There is a second point that matters just as much in a complex estate. An even split on paper is not always an even split in practice. A retirement account, home equity, and a stake in a closely held business can carry identical values and behave nothing alike once you account for taxes, liquidity, and what it would take to convert any of them to cash. Which assets you receive can matter more than the percentage attached to them.

That is the work. A marital property attorney can help you identify what is genuinely in dispute, document what belongs to you, and understand which trades are worth making. You do not need to know the answers before you call. You need a clear picture of where you actually stand.

Contact Marital Property Attorney Rebecca Gumaer

At Front Range Family Law ®, we identify all of the potential financial consequences of a divorce. We will help you assert your rights over marital property and maintain your individual assets. For a free case consultation, please call 720-456-6471 or email our office.

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