Practice Area · Complex Estates
High-asset divorce in Colorado.
When the marital estate includes businesses, real estate, equity compensation, or trust interests, a divorce is less a legal dispute than a financial engineering problem with legal deadlines. The outcome turns on preparation, valuation, and tax analysis — not volume of paperwork.
What Makes a Case Complex
It isn't the number. It's what the number is made of.
A large estate made of salary and index funds divides easily. A moderate estate made of a closely held company, three LLCs, unvested RSUs, and a partial trust interest does not. Complexity comes from illiquidity, valuation disputes, and embedded tax — not from the total on the balance sheet.
Here is the analysis most divorces miss: a dollar is not a dollar. A million dollars in a brokerage account, a million in a retirement account, and a million of home equity are three different after-tax numbers. Divide an estate at face value and you can quietly hand one side hundreds of thousands of dollars of the other's tax bill. I tax-effect every significant asset before we talk about who keeps what.
Colorado's Rules
Equitable division rewards the prepared.
Colorado divides marital property equitably under C.R.S. § 14-10-113 — what is fair under the circumstances, not an automatic 50/50. Judges have broad discretion, which means outcomes are driven by how assets are identified, valued, and presented.
Colorado imposes an affirmative, ongoing duty of full financial disclosure: C.R.C.P. 16.2 requires complete, affirmative financial disclosure from both spouses — and a division based on materially incomplete disclosure can be reopened and reallocated for up to five years after the decree. Hiding assets is not a durable strategy; neither is assuming the other side's disclosures are complete. Part of my job is making sure they actually are.
Strategy and Discretion
Settle from strength. Keep it private where possible.
I prepare every case as though it will be tried — the right experts retained early, temporary orders handled with care because they set the trajectory of the whole case, and a record built from day one. That preparation is what produces strong settlements.
Discretion matters to the people I represent. Where appropriate, disputes can be resolved through private mediation or arbitration rather than open court, and sensitive financial filings can be handled to limit public exposure. If your name means something in this town, the process should respect that.
Common Questions
What clients with significant assets ask first.
Is Colorado a 50/50 state?
No. Colorado divides marital property equitably — fairly under the circumstances — considering contributions, economic circumstances, and the nature of the assets. Equal happens; it is never automatic.
How are stock options and RSUs handled?
Unvested equity is one of the hardest problems in a high-asset case — part property, part future compensation, and the line between them is negotiable. Vesting schedules, grant purposes, and tax treatment all matter. This is exactly the kind of issue that decides whether a settlement is actually fair.
Can our divorce stay out of the public eye?
Much of it can. Private mediation and arbitration, careful handling of financial exhibits, and disciplined litigation conduct all limit exposure. Total secrecy is not honest to promise; substantial discretion is achievable.
The rest of this chapter.
Closely held businesses, professional practices, executive and equity compensation, trusts, real estate, and the tracing that decides what is marital and what is not.
- Business Valuationthe number that decides the case→
- High-Asset Divorcecomplex estates, disclosure, and the five-year ruleYou are here
- Business Owner Divorcekeeping the company you built→
- Complex Financial Divorcevalue, characterize, tax-effect — then divide→
- Property Divisionequitable, not automatic 50/50→
- Separate Propertya records-management discipline→
- Spousal Maintenancethe formula, published with a worked example→
- Executive Compensationproperty or income — the line worth arguing→
- Stock Options & RSUstax character changes real value→
- Trust Intereststhe instrument, not the balance, decides→
- Real Estatevalue, equity, and after-tax proceeds differ→
- Retirement AssetsQDROs, and three different currencies→
- Professional Practicesgoodwill, licensure, and buyouts→
- Tax Strategythe settlement that matters is the after-tax one→
- Hidden Assets & Forensic Discoverythe disclosure duty, and the five-year hammer→
- Cryptocurrency & Digital Assetsfindable, valuable, divisible→
- Married to the Business Ownerleveling the information field→
- Income Determinationwhat “income” means when you own the company→
Engagement
If your estate is complex, the preparation should start before the filing does.
A consultation is a scheduled working session — in person in Greenwood Village or by video — in which we go through your situation and I tell you what I would do. It is a paid meeting, not a free call and not a sales pitch; my assistant quotes the consultation fee when you schedule. There is no chatbot here: the contact form and the phone both reach my office, my assistant reviews every inquiry personally, and the meeting goes on my calendar. Please hold the confidential details until we have run a conflicts check.