Division of Marital Property

In Colorado, marital property is divided equitably based upon the value on the day of the divorce, unless the parties agree otherwise. “Equitably” does not mean equal. The court’s division of marital property need not be exactly equal – just fair. Nonetheless, the most common fair division is for a court to divide marital property equally. Only marital property is considered for equitable division. The courts cannot touch a spouse’s separate property. The difference between marital property and separate property is when the spouse acquired the property. If the property was acquired before the marriage, then it generally will be considered separate property. Similarly, if a spouse solely inherited property during the marriage and the inherited property was never used for a marital purpose, then the inheritance will be considered separate property.