Downsizing after divorce

What to do with the stuff

Twenty years of furniture, photos, tools, holiday boxes and the kids’ art will not fit in the next place, and half of it is not yours to decide alone. Here is how the personal property gets divided, what to sell, what to give away, and a two-weekend plan for the rest.

Talk to the team From a big house to a condo Call or text 303-955-4220

Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree.

The law

It is marital property too

Furniture, tools, art and collections acquired during the marriage are divided like everything else. Most decrees say "as the parties agree" and attach a list.

The list

Two columns, one afternoon

Walk the house with your phone. Photograph anything worth over about $500. Each of you lists what you want; argue only about the overlap.

The sale

Estate sales and consignment

An estate-sale company takes 30 to 40 percent and empties the house in a weekend. Consignment for the few good pieces.

The kids

Their things travel

Their rooms are not the property division. Their things go where they go, and they choose.

The short answer

Personal property is divided by agreement in almost every Colorado divorce; judges do not want to hear about the couch. Make the list, photograph anything valuable, agree on the overlap or flip for it, and then be ruthless with the rest: the next home is smaller and storage is a monthly bill for things you will not open. Two weekends, one estate-sale company, one donation pickup, done.

How the contents get divided

Colorado treats household goods as marital property, but the court expects you to divide them yourselves and usually orders “as the parties agree” with a schedule attached. Anything you owned before the wedding, or received as a personal gift or inheritance, is yours. Valuable items (a collection, tools, jewelry, art) get a value on the sworn financial statement; the rest is split by list. Do not remove anything from the house before it is agreed; the injunction covers it.

The two-weekend plan

Weekend one: the listWalk every room with your phone. Photograph the valuable pieces. Each of you writes what you want. Trade the overlaps or take turns picking. Send the list to your attorneys; it becomes the schedule.

Week between: three callsAn estate-sale company for the house (they price, run the sale and clear the leftovers), a donation pickup (Habitat ReStore, Goodwill, ARC), and a hauler for what is left. Movers for the pieces each of you is keeping.

Weekend two: the sortKeep, sell, donate, trash. Four zones, no fifth. The rule for the keep pile: it fits in the next home and you would buy it again today.

The last dayEstate sale runs. Donation truck comes. Hauler clears the rest. Movers take the keep pile to two addresses. The house is ready to stage for the listing.

The things people fight about

The photos and the videos

Scan them or copy the drive; both of you get a full set. Nobody keeps the only copy of the wedding album, and nobody throws it away.

The pets

Colorado treats pets as property, but judges will consider who cares for them. Agree on it, in writing, with the vet costs.

The tools, the guns, the collection

Value them properly (an appraisal for a collection) and put them on the financial statement. Trading a collection for equity is common.

The gifts from my family

Yours, if they were given to you alone. Gifts to the couple are marital. Receipts and cards help.

Storage units

$100 to $250 a month. The average unit gets opened twice. If it is not coming to the next home, it is not coming.

Staging what is left

Once the house is half empty it has to look whole for buyers. Fill the closet, stage the empty room, take down the family photos. Buyers read a half-empty house as a divorce and price it into the offer. How we run a divorce listing.

The next chapter, planned

We help people move from the marital home to the next one every month.

Downsizing after a divorce is not a step down. It is a household that fits one income, one calendar and one set of hands, chosen on purpose. Our team sells the big house, finds the right smaller one, and lines up the lender so the two closings work together.

If the honest answer is to rent for a year first, we say so. Nobody sells you anything.

The sale and the purchase timed together, or a rent-back so you move once

A written budget for the new place with taxes, HOA and utilities, not just the payment

One-income pre-approval with Mike Oswald at Rate, or any lender you choose

Movers, estate-sale and donation contacts who have done this with divorcing clients

Talk to the team

Where to go next

Plain-language education, not advice. Divorce Decisions is published by The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC, a real estate team. 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.

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.

Call today 303-955-4220 Download the free divorce-home guide

Ask about the move

Tell us where the house is and when it has to be empty. We will send the estate-sale, donation and mover contacts we use, free.

Call or text 303-955-4220

A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. Prefer email? homes@kennarealestate.com