Misinformation and misconceptions are rife within Colorado family law. Here’s four of the biggest misconceptions I encounter again and again:
1. The courts favor mothers over fathers (or vice versa.)
It’s not uncommon to hear someone complain that they “lost” their family law case because the family law system as a whole discriminates against one parent or the other. While you primarily hear fathers complain that the system discriminates against men, mothers can insist that a male judge took the father’s side just because he was a fellow man. While judges are just people and they can certainly have known or unknown prejudices that impact their decisions, the state of the law in Colorado is gender-neutral in that it requires the court to order whatever parenting plan it believes is in the best interests of the child or children. Colorado law lays out specific factors for the Court to consider in C.R.S. §14-10-124 including things like: the wishes of the parents; the wishes of the children; and the “interaction and interrelationship of the child with his or her parents…”
The “best interests of the child standard” can be wide ranging and take into account a number of factors specific to the case, but none of the factors speak to the gender of the parties involved or favor one gender over another.
2. There is no reason to involve the courts if everything is ok at the moment.
People are understandably hesitant to involve the courts until they have to. After all, why spend the time and money to put a court order in place if things are going ok without one? Well, there’s a simple answer to that question – informal (out of court) agreements between co-parents only work as long as they work, meaning that there’s no way to enforce an informal agreement if the other party decides they don’t want to abide by it any longer. Having an informal agreement that someone decides to ignore leaves everyone in an uncomfortable situation where there are no formal orders to enforce and both parents have the same rights to time with the child. That’s a messy, frustrating situation that can take months to clean up. The way to avoid it is to formalize any agreement by having it adopted as a Court order, that way it can be enforced if necessary.
3. The fault, or reason for the divorce, impacts how property is divided.
While some states (known as “fault states”) allow someone to allege fault for the marriage ending and may take that into account when issuing orders in the case, Colorado is a no-fault state meaning that the non-economic conduct or bad acts of either party leading to the divorce is irrelevant how the marital assets and debts are divided.
Colorado law requires that marital assets and debts be divided “equitably,” or fairly, considering factors like each person’s work history and income earning ability, separate assets or debts held, etc. Any non-economic acts either party did or did not do that led to the divorce has no bearing on the financial aspects of the case.
4. Property and debt is divided based on how it is titled.
Colorado law (see C.R.S. §14-10-113) requires that the Court (1) identify marital and separate property; then (2) divide marital property “equitably.” At the most basic level, and with a few caveats, separate property is anything that was owned prior to the marriage or that was specifically gifted to or inherited by only one party during the marriage. Everything else gained or purchased during the marriage is marital property.
How cars, homes, bank accounts, etc. are titled has no bearing on whether that property is separate property or marital property, with the exception that separate property that is transferred into a partner’s name is assumed to be a “gift” to the marriage, which transforms what was separate property into marital property. For example, if you owned a home prior to getting married that home would be your separate property (though any appreciation in the home over the course of the marriage would be marital property.) If however, during the marriage you transfer the deed into both your and your partner’s name, the house that was once your separate property would then be assumed to be marital property. Outside of that kind of situation, when and how property is acquired is all that matters, the name on the deed/title does not.
All family law proceedings are difficult and potentially confusing situations, and unfortunately there are a lot of misconceptions about Colorado family law. See all of our posts here for straightforward and practicable information about family law in Colorado. If you have any questions or would like to discuss anything you read in this or any other article, feel free to contact me directly at DillieLawOffice@gmail.com, (720) 507-3105, or through the website here: https://www.dillielaw.com/contact/.