Divorce and Custody
Many surveys show that divorce is the second most stressful time of a person's life - with only the death of a spouse, child or parent being more stressful. Most clients who come to us are going through a divorce for the first time. Let our experience of assisting clients help you through this difficult time.
We represent clients as they come to us - both custodial and non-custodial parents, men and women, couples with heavy debts, couples with many assets, couples who get along and couples in high conflict. We strive to accurately and honestly evaluate your case, which enables us to effectively and firmly advocate for you and your interests.
Children and Custody
Our philosophy is that we represent our client's interest while also advocating the βbest interest of the children.β The law recognizes that the best situation is when, despite divorce, children still have at least two parents who love them and are interested in how they grow into adults. Children deserve to have both parents involved in their lives, provided it is not harmful to them. When the facts merit, we do not hesitate to seek every legal remedy to protect children from abusive situations and abusive parenting.
Custody has been replaced in Colorado with the concepts of parental responsibilities and parental duties. The intent of this recent reform in Colorado's law is to change the manner in which people think and act in regards to their children. The mental health community's belief was that "custody" was a property term and not a parenting concept. The hope is that by changing the language that we use, we will help people focus on making good parenting decisions instead of fighting over a "custody" designation.
The practical effect is that there is now a long list of subject areas to be discussed such as education, religious training, medical/dental decisions, day care, child care, vacations, residence, etc. These areas may be allocated jointly to the parents, solely to one parent or divided between the parents. It allows us more flexibility in putting together a parenting plan that works for you and your children.
Change in Residential Placement. A substantial part of our practice addresses changes in residential placement brought about by changes in living circumstances or changes in children's ages and needs.
Visitation has been replaced in Colorado with the concept of "parenting time." If you are having trouble getting time with your children and having a relationship with them, we can help develop new parenting time plans and seek court modifications of existing orders.
Child Support. Colorado law establishes a child support schedule based upon the income of both parents, the number of overnights with the non-residential parent, child care costs, health insurance costs and extraordinary expenses. Colorado law establishes it is the child's right to receive child support. We can help you determine proper child support or seek modifications based upon changes in these factors.
Alimony/Maintenance. In Colorado, alimony is called maintenance. Effective in 2001, Colorado now has an automatic temporary maintenance statute that in some cases sets a schedule of temporary maintenance while the divorce is pending. While temporary maintenance is now presumed, permanent maintenance is disfavored and compensation in the form of a more favorable property division is preferred. We can make sure you get economic justice in regard to maintenance.
Property Aspects of a Divorce
Property rights in divorces are set by the Uniform Dissolution of Marriage Act. First, property is classified as separate property or as marital property. Separate property is generally property acquired prior to the marriage and maintained as separate segregated property with separate title, such as inheritances and gifts. Marital property is generally all property acquired during the term of the marriage and the increase in value of separate property during the marriage. Once this determination is made, each type of property is treated and divided differently.
Marital property is subject to equitable division. In our Judicial District, this generally means equal division. Exceptions to this will be discussed below. This means generally one would create a balance sheet or asset chart for a couple and divide the possessions to obtain equal values. For example if a couple owns a condominium with $60,000 in equity and a $60,000 money market account, one person would likely get the condominium and one the money market.
Separate property is not subject to division, but the accumulated appreciation on separate property is divisible. In general, this means that if one person receives an inheritance or gift, such as stock or real estate, the value at the time of receipt and at the time of the divorce must be determined and the gain (or loss) calculated. This amount is then divided equitably. An example might be someone's uncle leaving them Lucent stock which was valued a $60 a share at that time. If, at the time of the divorce, the stock was worth $100 a share, the person receiving the stock would keep it, however the additional $40 per share would be divisible.
Equitable division vs. Equal division. Colorado is an equitable division state. While this generally means equal division, it sometimes means unequal. If one spouse is disabled or has stayed home to raise children, or has a young child and put off or damaged a career to raise the child by marital mutual agreement, the Courts may - if they think it is fair - make the division unequal to compensate. The statute lists a number of factors to be considered.
Businesses and Self-Employment. A business is considered property and the value of the business is subject to division in accordance with the same rules. For example, if the husband was a self-employed plumber with his own business, that business would have to be evaluated or valued by an accountant or other business expert. If the business was formed after the marriage, the whole value would be marital. If the business was formed before the marriage, the initial value would be separate property, but any increase in value would likely be considered marital. For example, if the business was worth $100,000 and the equity in the marital home was $100,000 generally the husband would be awarded the business and the wife awarded the home.
Pension and Retirement Plans. The pension and retirement plans of a spouse are also considered property, so the same general rules apply. This means if one person has a pension and the other does not, the pension will be valued and the amount divided.
Other. . . Of course we cannot summarize all of divorce property law in Colorado in one page, but this should serve as a basic primer. We can only give real legal advice after talking to you about your specific facts and then applying the law. |
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