Chapter 5 - § 5.3 • MARITAL PROPERTY

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 5.3 • MARITAL PROPERTY

The concept of marital property is a feature of the Colorado Uniform Dissolution of Marriage Act. The term "marital property" is defined "[f]or purposes of this article only"²⁰ as follows:

All property acquired by either spouse subsequent to the marriage except:

(a) Property acquired by gift, bequest, devise, or descent;
(b) Property acquired in exchange for property acquired prior to the marriage or in exchange for property acquired by gift, bequest, devise, or descent;
(c) Property acquired by a spouse after a decree of legal separation; and
(d) Property excluded by a valid agreement of the parties.²¹

C.R.S. § 14-10-113(3) provides:

[A]ll property acquired by either spouse subsequent to the marriage and prior to a decree of legal separation is presumed to be marital property, regardless of whether title is held individually or by the spouses in some form of coownership such as joint tenancy, tenancy in common, tenancy by the entirety, and community property. The presumption of marital property described in this subsection (3) is overcome by a showing that the property was acquired by a method listed in subsection (2) of this section.

The term "property" does not include any interest a party may have as an heir at law or a living person or any interest under a donative third-party instrument that is amendable or revocable, including but not limited to third-party wills, revocable trusts, life insurance, and retirement benefit instruments.²² Marital property does not include property held by a spouse as a trustee.²³

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Notes:

^[20] C.R.S. § 14-10-113(2). The words "this article" refer to the Uniform Dissolution of Marriage Act, C.R.S. Title 14, Article 10.

^[21] C.R.S. § 14-10-113(2). But property transferred into joint ownership, whether by one of the...