Buying a home after divorce near the kids' other parent

How close should you live to the other parent?

Within 10 to 20 minutes. At that distance a forgotten backpack costs a short detour, and a mid-week dinner exchange fits into a workday. At 40 minutes it does not.

Do the arithmetic on your own schedule. Each exchange is a round trip for one of you. On a 50-50 schedule with 2 exchanges a week, 15 minutes each way is 60 minutes of driving a week. At 40 minutes each way it is 160 minutes. The two homes after divorce page walks through the schedule types, and the buying after divorce hub covers the rest of the purchase.

Does the parenting plan limit where you can buy?

The plan sets the schedule, and the schedule sets the drive you can carry. Colorado law also has relocation rules: a parent who plans to move with the kids gives the other parent written notice, and the other parent can ask the court to review the parenting plan. A move across the metro or out of state is the kind of change that opens that review. Your attorney confirms the notice period and the rules for your order.

Read moving kids after divorce in Colorado and divorce, kids and the house before you choose a neighborhood. If you plan to stay in the marital home, see staying in the house with the kids. The Colorado divorce process shows when parenting orders take effect, and mediation versus litigation shows where the plan gets written.

Which Denver metro city pairs sit 10 to 20 minutes apart?

These pairs sit within the ring, measured off-peak. Search both cities when your ex lives in one of them.

How do you test the drive between the two homes?

Drive it. Take the route from the address you are considering to your ex's door at 8 a.m. on a Tuesday, at 5 p.m. on a Thursday and on a Saturday morning. Write down the minutes. If the worst of the three passes 25 minutes, price a different street.

Test the drive from your workplace too. If work is 30 minutes from the new home and your ex is 15, the exchange drive is the one that repeats. Weigh the two before you pick a city.

How should exchanges work?

• At a door: the receiving parent picks up at the other home. This works when the drive is under 20 minutes.
• At a halfway point: a public parking lot between the two homes. Pick it before you buy so you know the drive to it.
• With duplicate gear: chargers, a coat, a toothbrush and a backpack live at both homes, so the drive carries the kids and nothing else.

Put the exchange point and time in writing in the parenting plan. A plan that states both leaves no room for argument at the door.

Build the calendar before you buy. Lay your parenting calendar over a month of your work schedule and mark every exchange, every pickup and every practice. If three or more weeks show a conflict, the location is wrong, not the calendar. A house that costs $20,000 less and adds 25 minutes to every exchange is not cheaper.

What should the home itself have?

Match bedrooms to your schedule. These counts are our working minimums for a solo owner with the kids part of the time.

• One child, alternating weekends: 2 bedrooms, the primary bedroom plus a room that is the child's.
• One child, 50-50: 2 bedrooms, and the second one is a bedroom, not an office with a bed.
• Two children, alternating weekends: 2 to 3 bedrooms. A shared room works when the age gap is under 4 years.
• Two children, 50-50: 3 bedrooms, one each.
• Three children, 50-50: 4 bedrooms, or 3 with bunks.

Add storage for two households. The kids' gear, sports equipment and seasonal clothes live at your home half the time, so look for a garage bay, a coat closet by the door and a bedroom closet deeper than 24 inches. A kitchen table that seats everyone is worth more than a formal dining room. See running a home alone after divorce for the upkeep side, and condos if you want the yard and the exterior handled for you.

What if you rent first while the plan settles?

Rent when the schedule is temporary. A 12-month lease near your ex costs less than buying in the wrong place, and the parenting plan is permanent only after the decree. Compare the two paths in rent or buy after divorce in Colorado.

If you buy now, choose a payment that survives a schedule change. Received child support counts as income with a documented history and at least 3 years of continuance in the decree, and support you pay counts as a debt. Read child support and housing and living on one income after divorce, then price the home from the payment, not the maximum approval. The one-income Denver buying page shows the math.

Our lender partner is Mike Oswald, VP of Mortgage Lending at Rate, NMLS 261003, Equal Housing Lender. You are free to use any lender. See Mike Oswald at Rate, and run a mortgage pre-approval before you search.

Where to go next

• The free buying after divorce guide
• The Denver divorce realtor page
• The Aurora divorce realtor page
• The Littleton divorce realtor page
• The free monthly divorce and the house Zoom
• Search every home for sale in Colorado

Talk to us before you sign anything

The Kenna Real Estate Group writes a Smart Pricing Report on the marital home if it is still unsold, runs a payment check with the lender so you know the price that fits one income, and sets up a search on kennarealestate.com around your ex's address, limited to homes inside your drive-minute ring. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. Free and confidential. You do not need to be ready to buy.

Quick answers

Plain-language education from a Colorado real estate group, not legal, tax or financial advice. Numbers are as of September 2026. Disclaimer.