Practice Area · Property
Real estate in divorce.
Real estate is where divorcing couples most often confuse three different numbers: what a property is worth, what the equity is, and what anyone would actually keep after tax. Divisions that ignore the differences aren't divisions — they're transfers in disguise.
Three Numbers, Not One
Value, equity, and after-tax proceeds.
Market value starts with an appraisal — and appraisals can be contested. Equity is value minus debt. After-tax proceeds subtract selling costs, capital gain beyond any exclusion, and — for investment property — depreciation recapture and any deferred gain carried in from prior exchanges. A rental with years of depreciation and a low exchanged basis can be worth dramatically less in the hand than on the spreadsheet. I've owned these assets myself; I division-price them at the number a seller actually keeps.
Portfolios and the House
Entity-held assets, refinance reality, and the emotional one.
Investor portfolios add layers: properties inside LLCs (where the interest, not the deed, is what's being divided), partner and lender consent rights, guarantees that must be unwound, and income streams that feed the support analysis. And then there's the family home — the asset people fight for reasons no spreadsheet captures. The unglamorous question that should lead: can the keeping spouse actually refinance the other off the debt? A house awarded to someone who can't carry it is a problem postponed, not solved. I keep the financial conversation and the emotional one separate — and make sure both get answered honestly.
Common Questions
From homeowners and landlords alike.
Who gets the house?
Whoever the whole structure says should — children's stability, refinance capacity, and what offsets the equity all weigh in. Sometimes the honest answer is that neither spouse should keep it; I'll tell you if that's your case.
How are our rental properties divided?
Usually by allocation rather than co-ownership — continued partnership with an ex is a plan that rarely survives contact with reality. Allocation requires valuing each property at true after-tax worth and untangling debt, guarantees, and entity interests cleanly.
Do we have to sell everything?
No. Sales are one tool; offsets, buyouts, and allocations are others. The right mix depends on liquidity, tax positions, and what each of you actually wants to own going forward — which is a strategy conversation, not a fire sale.
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 rule→
- 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 differYou are here
- 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
Let's price the portfolio at what you'd actually keep.
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.