Divorce is a tough decision to make, and it often comes with a significant amount of stress, contention, and uncertainty. With an experienced Aurora family law attorney, you can maneuver the process with more confidence.
At Shapiro Family Law, we provide legal services for families in Aurora and the surrounding areas. If you need assistance with family law areas such as divorce, legal separation, property division, or mediation, call us at 303-695-0200 or contact us online. We offer support, legal advice, and strategies tailored to your specific needs and goals.
Navigating the Divorce Process in Aurora, CO
It can be challenging to walk the path of divorce alone, especially when you need to make complicated decisions about child custody, splitting property, and spousal support. A dependable Aurora divorce attorney can take every step with you, assisting you with all parts of the divorce process, including:
- Completing divorce paperwork
- Negotiating with spouse’s attorney
- Attending court hearings
- Dividing marital assets and debt
- Creating a parenting plan
Our knowledgeable legal team at Shapiro Family Law will protect your rights under Colorado law, developing an individualized plan to resolve issues of divorce while striving for the best possible outcome.
No-fault Divorce in Colorado
Colorado is a no-fault divorce state, so you don’t have to give the exact reason for ending your marriage when filling out the paperwork. You can choose to divorce because of “irreconcilable differences,” which means you and your spouse aren’t compatible.
Child Custody and Support
Child custody and visitation issues can be complex and contentious topics during the divorce process, so it helps to have legal guidance for these family law matters.
Our attorneys have extensive experience aiding parents with child custody and child support negotiations. We can walk you through the calculation of child support based on your and your spouse’s income and the formulas that the Colorado court uses when deciding the amount each spouse should pay.
When you and your spouse are working out child custody and visitation, we can assist with negotiations to keep the divorce process moving and avoid going to court.
Legal Separation vs. Divorce
A legal separation is like a divorce, but the main difference is that a legal separation doesn’t dissolve the marriage. If you want to live away from your spouse but not end the marriage, you can file for legal separation and establish agreements on spousal support, child custody, and other issues.
Our Aurora family law attorney can help you with negotiations during your legal separation, defending your interests, and developing creative strategies for achieving your goals.
Why Choose Legal Separation Over Divorce?
Couples choose legal separation over divorce for many reasons, including:
- Religious or moral reasons
- Maintaining health insurance
- Trial separation
- Attempting to reconcile
In some family law cases involving legal separation, the married couple ends up reconciling and moving back in together.
Property Division Assistance
At Shapiro Family Law, we can address your questions and concerns about property division during your divorce. Whether you’re seeking to maintain your property from before the marriage or want to ensure that your marital assets are divided fairly, our Aurora divorce attorney can help.
Understanding Marital Property
Figuring out marital property in Colorado can be confusing because it depends on the specific situation of you and your spouse. Generally, marital property is the assets and debt that each spouse acquired during the course of the marriage.
Typical marital property subject to division in a divorce includes the following:
- Houses
- Cars
- Bank accounts
- Retirement accounts
- Stocks
- Pension benefits
- Businesses
If you owned an asset before the marriage and the title is only in your name, the asset is separate property, meaning it isn’t eligible for division. Also, any gifts or inheritance you were given during marriage are separate property.
However, if your separate property gained value during the marriage, such as a house that went up in price, there could be marital property involved.
When couples can’t reach an agreement on property division, the court decides while taking certain factors into account, such as:
- Marital property value
- Each spouse’s contributions to marital property
- The economic standing of each spouse
- An increase or decrease in separate property value
In an equitable distribution state like Colorado, the judge strives for a marital property division that’s fair for each spouse but not necessarily equal in value. Our Aurora family law attorney can expedite the property division process by giving you access to in-depth legal knowledge and resources.
Business Valuation
Business valuation is a necessary step of the marital property dividing process when one or both of the spouses are business owners.
Valuing a business requires detailed analysis to ensure it can bear scrutiny from the opposing side. We use our comprehensive knowledge of legal issues and help from business valuation specialists to make the proceedings go as smoothly as possible.
The court considers the following when dividing a business as marital property:
- The business’s true value
- Each spouse’s contributions to the business
- Whether the business is a startup or in a developing or declining industry
- Conflicting business valuations
Divorce Mediation Services
If you want to avoid standing across your spouse in the courtroom, mediation is a good option. When you and your spouse struggle to agree on issues like child visitation, financial support, and property, a mediator can facilitate discussions to help you reach an agreement.
At Shapiro Family Law, we provide mediation services if we don’t already represent you, or we could accompany you in your mediation discussions as your legal representation. Your spouse would have to bring their own divorce lawyer.
Litigation vs. Mediation
When a divorce goes to litigation, the judge has to make the decisions for your family. Mediation allows you and your spouse to make those important decisions in private, with conditions that you both agree on.
Contact a Qualified Family Law Attorney in Aurora, CO
At Shapiro Family Law, we’re a client-driven family law practice providing legal services to clients in Aurora, CO, and nearby areas. If you need an Aurora family law attorney for an issue such as divorce, mediation, or legal separation, call us at 303-695-0200.