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Buying before the decree

Buying a house during a divorce in Colorado

You can, but most Colorado attorneys will tell you to wait until the decree, and for good reasons: anything bought with marital money during the case is still marital property, the automatic injunction limits what you can do with joint funds, and a lender has to qualify you on one income while the old mortgage is still on your credit. Here is when buying during the case works, and what has to be true.

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The injunction

Joint funds are frozen for big moves

Colorado's automatic temporary injunction bars transferring or encumbering marital property outside the ordinary course without consent or a court order. A down payment from a joint account needs both signatures or an order.

Marital property

Bought during the case is still marital

A house closed before the decree is presumed marital, even in one name. Your spouse can claim a share unless the separation agreement says otherwise.

The lender

One income, two mortgages

Until the old loan is refinanced or the house sells, it counts against you. Support counts only with a history and a future.

The workaround

Attorney sign-off and separate funds

A written agreement or order that the purchase is your separate property, funded with separate or agreed money, is how it is done cleanly.

The short answer

Wait for the decree if you can. If you cannot, because the sale of the marital home closes first, or a lease is ending, or the right house is on the market, do it with your attorney's written sign-off, a documented source of funds, and a lender who has done this before. We have closed purchases mid-case; they only work when the paperwork is in front of the offer, not behind it.

What has to be true

Your attorney agrees, in writingA stipulation or order that the new home is your separate property and that the funds used are yours to use.

The money is cleanSeparate funds, a gift with a letter, or an agreed advance on your share of the marital estate. Not a quiet withdrawal from the joint account.

The lender counts your income aloneWages, plus support only with six months of receipts and three years to run; the joint mortgage still counts unless the decree assigns it and the payments are proven.

The timing worksIf the marital home is selling, the purchase often has to close after it. A rent-back or a short lease bridges the gap.

What usually goes wrong

Buying in your own name with joint money, then losing half of it in the property division.
Going under contract before the lender sees the divorce decree draft, then failing qualification.
Waiving inspection to win a house while the marital home is still unsold.

Buying after the decree instead

The cleaner path: close the marital home, let the decree assign the debts, then buy on one income with the settlement money as the down payment and CHFA or metroDPA if you qualify. Buying again after a Colorado divorce, and the free buyer’s guide.

Free, live, on Zoom

Divorce and the House: Sell It, Keep It or Buy Out Your Spouse?

Second Saturday of every month, 9:00 to 10:00 AM Mountain

Next: the next second Saturday, 9:00 AM Mountain ·

A real estate professional, a mortgage professional and a title professional, focused on what to do with the house: what it is worth, the equity, the buyout, selling before or after the decree, and your questions, sent ahead and answered live. Every session is recorded for the workshop library. Free, no pitch.

Prefer in person?

Second Saturday, Littleton

Second Saturday of the month, 9 to 11 AM

The in-person Second Saturday Divorce Workshop at St. Philip Lutheran Church in Littleton, where Damon L. Chavez holds the real estate seat. Free. For attorneys, financial analysts, mediators and counselors, we refer you to professionals we know.

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Where to go next

Search for the next place

Duplexes and multi-family homes (share a house, keep the kids close)Rent-to-own homes in Colorado Condos and townhomes Homes near the kids: search by city Every home for sale in Colorado

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Plain-language education, not advice. Divorce Decisions™ is Colorado divorce education and free workshops; real estate services are provided by The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC, a real estate group; Divorce Workshops Colorado is the live and online workshop offered through Divorce Decisions. Nothing here is legal, tax, lending or financial advice, and reading it does not create any professional relationship. Colorado law and lender rules change; confirm anything that matters to your case with a licensed Colorado attorney, a tax professional, and your lender. See our full disclaimer.

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Ask before you write the offer

Tell us where the case is, where the money would come from and what you are looking at. We tell you honestly whether it works now or after the decree. Free, confidential, no pressure.

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Divorce Decisions™: Colorado divorce workshops and education. Real estate services provided by The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC. Not legal, tax, lending or financial advice.

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Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers.