When the marriage of a Colorado couple ends in divorce, their marital property will be equitably divided between the spouses according to state law. This means that the marital property of the couple is to be fairly split between the two. This blog post will give a quick review of the factors that Centennial State courts are to take into account in determining who gets what. These factors are enshrined in state law.
First, the court is to weigh the contribution of each spouse to the acquisition of the marital property when deciding how it should be fairly divided. State law specifically states that a spouse’s contribution as homemaker is to be weighed along with other contributions. Further, the court is to take into account the value of the property it sets apart to each spouse.
Another factor the court is to take into account is the economic circumstances of each spouse at the time the property division is to be finalized. The laws specifically instruct courts to take into account the desirability of awarding the house – or at least the right to live in it at certain times – to the spouse that the couple’s children spend the majority of the time with. Finally, courts are to take into account any changes in the value of a spouse’s separate property or the depletion of a spouse’s separate property when dividing a couple’s marital property.
In a contested divorce, it is common for each spouse to make a strong case for awarding him or her a large portion of the marital property. Many divorcing parties have found that having an experienced, forceful legal advocate was beneficial to their case during the property division process.
