Divorce home equity and spousal buyouts

Whose number?

The most argued figure in the case. The keeping spouse wants a lower value (smaller buyout); the leaving spouse wants a higher one. Two fixes work: an independent appraisal both agree in advance will control, or a buyout price at the midpoint of two CMAs delivered to both spouses at the same time. Our reports are written, dated and delivered to both sides at once, and our specialist, Damon Chavez, is a Colorado Certified Residential Appraiser, so the number holds up. Appraisal versus CMA.

Selling costs: deducted or not?

Some agreements deduct estimated selling costs (about 7 percent) from the value before splitting, on the theory that the leaving spouse gets cash now while the keeping spouse gets an illiquid asset they will eventually pay to sell. Others do not. Neither is required; decide it explicitly and write it down.

Separate property and the premarital house

A house one spouse owned before the wedding keeps its wedding-date value as separate property; the growth since, and principal paid with marital money, is marital and divisible (C.R.S. 14-10-113(4)). A retroactive appraisal to the wedding date sets the separate number. Down-payment gifts and inheritances follow the same logic and are easier to prove with paper.

Four ways to pay a buyout

The deadline

Colorado decrees usually give the keeping spouse 60 to 90 days to refinance and remove the other spouse from the loan; the state’s own form leaves a blank for the date, and the usual fallback is a sale. A refinance takes 30 to 45 days. Pre-approval before the decree is the whole game. Qualifying alone.

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