Written for the person who usually asks first
Most of the people asking divorce questions are women. This page is for you.
About seven in ten divorces are initiated by women, and after a divorce a woman’s household income drops about 41 percent, nearly double a man’s. Those are the facts. This page is about what you can control: the house, the money, the credit, and the order to do things in.
Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree.
The number one fear: one income
In a survey of 1,785 divorced women, living on one income beat every other worry in every age group. Second: the cost of the divorce itself.
The house decided before the math
Keeping the house for the kids is a promise most people make before anyone runs the payment. Run it first.
Your own account, a frozen credit file
One in four women say divorce wrecked their credit. Most of that is preventable.
Information, no email required
Read everything without signing up. Private window recommended. A live person answers the phone if you want one.
You can afford to find out. Nothing on this site costs anything, requires an email, or tells anyone you were here. Start with what the house is worth and what you could carry alone, because that number decides most of the rest. Then open your own bank account, freeze your credit, gather three years of records, and get one consultation with a family-law attorney before you say a word at home. If you are not safe, the hotline is 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788.
The questions women ask first, answered short
Can I afford to leave?
Build two budgets: the household as it is, and yours alone with realistic housing. Colorado’s maintenance guideline gives you a starting number for support if the marriage lasted three years and combined income is under $240,000; child support is a separate worksheet. Then price housing honestly. The formula.
Can I keep the house for the kids?
If a lender will approve you alone at today’s rate, or the decree lets you stay until a trigger date with everything written down. A joint $1,572 payment from 2021 becomes a solo $3,400 payment at today’s rates on the same house; that is the number to look at before the promise. The buyout math.
Can he sell the house without me?
No. Once the case is filed and served, the automatic injunction bars it without your written consent or a court order, and both owners have to sign a deed anyway. What the injunction covers.
Do I have to move out?
No. Neither of you has to leave unless a court orders exclusive possession. Talk to an attorney before you leave voluntarily.
I have never handled the money. Where do I start?
Twenty-two percent of divorced women in the same survey had handed all finances to their husband. Start with the checklist: three years of tax returns, every statement, the deed and the mortgage. The sworn financial statement is due within 42 days of the case starting anyway. The checklist.
Will a lender count child support and maintenance?
Yes, with the decree, six months of receipts (three for FHA on court-ordered support) and at least three years left to run. Forty-two percent of women receiving support have no plan for when it ends; the lender’s three-year test is a good forcing function. Buying on one income.
How do I protect my credit?
Open your own checking account and one card now. Freeze all three bureaus. Watch the joint mortgage every month until it is out of your name; one 30-day late by him costs you about 100 points too. The full list.
Can I search without him seeing?
Use a private window on your own device. Do not wipe your whole history; a blank history looks suspicious. Nothing here asks for an email to read. Browsing safely.
After 50
Women initiate about two-thirds of gray divorces, and the financial hit is larger: standard of living falls about 45 percent versus 21 percent for men. The three things that change that outcome are valuing the retirement accounts after tax before trading them for the house, checking the 10-year Social Security rule against the decree date, and downsizing on your own timeline instead of the court’s. Gray divorce in Colorado.
What women tell us afterward
Relief, independence, and a rebuild they did not expect to enjoy, alongside money worry that fades once the numbers are real. Researchers found the same: women report reinvention and no more loneliness than married peers; men report more loneliness and less money worry. Whatever your version is, the fastest way through it is information you can trust. That is what this site and the workshop are for.
The workshop was built for this
Six professionals, one morning, every question you were afraid to ask.
A family-law attorney, a certified financial planner, a mortgage lender, a title company representative, a marriage and family counselor and a real estate professional, on a Saturday morning, in person or on Zoom, free, with anonymous question cards. Or read all of it here tonight.

Divorce and the House: A Guide for Women
The short guide written for this page. Free, 4 pages, plain English, Colorado numbers. Fill in your name, email and phone and the PDF opens right away. Only Damon Chavez and Brian Burke see the form.
Where to go next
- Gray divorce in Colorado
- The free gray divorce guide (PDF)
- Downsizing after divorce
- From a big house to a condo
- Living on one income: the first year
- Running a home alone
- Rent or buy after divorce?
- What to do with the stuff
- Retirement accounts and pensions
- Written for women
- Written for men
- Taxes when you sell a long-held home
- The mortgage after divorce
- Buying again on one income
- 55+ communities in Colorado, the complete list
- Grey divorce and real estate on kennarealestate.com
- The virtual workshop
- Call or text 303-955-4220: a live person answers
- Book a free discovery call
- Get the free divorce-home guide (PDF)
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.
- Divorce for women: the house, the money, the next move (kennarealestate.com)
- 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.


