Property and debt
Who gets the house in a Colorado divorce?
Nobody automatically. Colorado is an equitable-distribution state, which means the judge divides marital property in whatever proportion is fair after weighing a list of factors. Here is the list, what counts as marital, and how the house usually ends up.
Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree.
Equitable, not equal
“In such proportions as the court deems just.” Fair after the factors, not a coin flip and not 50/50 by law.
Title does not decide it
Property acquired during the marriage is presumed marital no matter whose name is on the deed.
Valued at the decree
The house is valued as of the decree or the property hearing, not the day one of you moved out.
Growth is marital
A premarital house stays separate as to its wedding-day value. The appreciation since then is divisible.
Most Colorado couples decide the house themselves in a separation agreement, and the judge signs off. When they cannot, the judge divides marital property under C.R.S. 14-10-113 by weighing each spouse’s contribution (including as a homemaker), the property each keeps, each spouse’s economic circumstances at the time of division, and any change in the value of separate property during the marriage. The statute specifically mentions “the desirability of awarding the family home or the right to live therein for reasonable periods to the spouse with whom any children reside the majority of the time.” Marital misconduct is not a factor.
What is marital property and what is separate?
Marital: everything either of you acquired after the wedding, with four exceptions. Separate: gifts and inheritances to one spouse, property exchanged for premarital or gifted property, property acquired after a decree of legal separation, and anything excluded by a valid written agreement (a prenup or postnup). Property acquired during the marriage is presumed marital regardless of how title is held; the spouse claiming it is separate has to prove it.
The house you owned before the marriage. Its value on the wedding date is yours. Everything above that today is marital: market appreciation, plus principal paid down with marital income, plus improvements paid with marital money. On a Denver home bought for $350,000 in 2015 and worth $650,000 now, roughly $300,000 is on the table even though the deed never changed. A retroactive appraisal to the wedding date is common.
What do judges actually weigh?
So how does the house usually end up?
Sold, proceeds split
The default when neither spouse can carry it alone or the equity is most of what you own. The split is whatever is equitable, often but not always half.
Selling during a divorceAwarded to one spouse with a buyout
The staying spouse pays the other’s equity share, by refinance, HELOC, or an offset against retirement or other assets, by a date in the decree.
The buyout mathOne spouse stays for a period
The statute lets the court award the right to live in the home “for reasonable periods” to the primary-residential parent, then sell.
Deferred saleQuestions people ask on this page
Is Colorado a 50/50 state?
No. Colorado is an equitable-distribution state, not a community-property state. Equal is common when the facts are even, but the judge is not required to split anything down the middle.
Does it matter that the deed is only in my spouse’s name?
For a house bought during the marriage, no. It is presumed marital regardless of title. For a house your spouse owned before the marriage, the wedding-date value is theirs and the growth since is marital.
Does moving out mean I give up the house?
No. Leaving does not change ownership or your share of the equity. It can affect who the court lets stay in the house during the case, and it means you are paying for two places, so talk to your attorney before you go.
Does cheating change who gets the house?
No. The statute says the division is made “without regard to marital misconduct.” Spending marital money on an affair can be argued as dissipation, which is a different point.
When is the house valued?
As of the date of the decree, or the date of the property hearing if that comes first (C.R.S. 14-10-113(5)). A market move between separation and decree lands on both of you.
What if we agree on everything?
Write it into the Property and Financial Agreement (JDF 1115). The form has fields for selling and splitting, for an equity payout by a date, and for transferring title and refinancing by a date. The judge will normally approve a fair agreement.
Where to go next
- The house: keep, sell or buy out
- Who gets the house in Colorado
- Keep the house
- Sell the house
- What is the house worth
- The mortgage after divorce
- Taxes when you sell
- Buying after divorce
- Why a divorce realtor
- Mike Oswald at Rate: refinance and buyout math
- Selling in a divorce: FAQ on kennarealestate.com
- Search every home for sale in Colorado
Call your Colorado divorce agent
Questions about the house, the deed or the decree?
Call us today to talk through your situation and how we can help. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree.
Ask us about the house
Tell us where you are in the process and what you are trying to figure out. We will answer honestly, including when the honest answer is to wait. Free, confidential, and nobody sells you anything.
Call or text 303-955-4220
A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. Prefer email? homes@kennarealestate.com
Ready to sell or buy? Kenna Real Estate Group handles the house.
- Real estate and divorce in Colorado: divorce realtors in every Front Range city and county
- Divorce and real estate articles on kennarealestate.com
Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers.
