By: Beth Andersen-Filson

While divorce is challenging, you are not exactly launching the GPS III SV-07 satellite. As an engineer, you MUST know everything to the smallest spatial resolution pixel size, but in divorce, you may deal with generalizations. Programmers talk in binary, but in divorce there are nuances and shades of gray. Engineering by definition must be final and perfect, but divorce requires compromise and an appeal to justice, equity and best interests of the child, factors that are based on opinion and may alter over time.

Why You Will Excel At This Process

Engineers and people in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields often possess qualities that help them negotiate the divorce process in superior ways. Divorce finances as based on basic math formulas. All data must be documented with empirical data. People who have facility with data gathering and analysis, know how to hit deadlines with efficiency, are able to use software like Excel and Google Sheets to prepare spreadsheets, and do not let emotions overly cloud their baseline positions will negotiate divorce more easily than people who let their emotions cloud judgment or prevent them from completing tasks on time1.

Agile at Andersen Law

While divorce proceedings may be confounding, the good news is that they do follow many attributes of a long-term engineering project. In fact, my law firm practices Agile and finds it lends itself to a process that can be distilled down to two-week burndowns, measured in daily stand ups, and small team tasks spelled out on a Kanban board aka Trello through Atlassian.

Simply put, we have represented many engineers, programmers, STEM practitioners and employees of nearby Lockheed Martin and NREL in their divorces.

10 Pointers

The following are pointers we learned and that you need to know too.

  1. Colorado practices the concept of “no fault” divorce. A court is not interested in looking into whether someone was a good guy or bad guy, had a divorce, etc. It is off limits. As long as someone wants a divorce, it will happen. Nor will the court try to make up for an unfair marriage by going back in time to make up for “bad acts,” unless those acts have a recent financial impact2.
  2. Colorado practices equitable distribution. Courts do not automatically divide everything in half. They will look at whether the division is financially fair to both parties. For example, they may make the party with higher income pay off a higher percentage of marital debt. And they may give the lower income party more assets in lieu of maintenance (alimony). Courts will also look at different assets differently. A retirement asset is not the same as liquid cash in the bank, for example. It has tax and time implications. If you collect the data, your lawyer can help you justify your proposed “budget,” and division of assets and debt as financially fair to both parties3.
  3. Colorado courts often honor prenuptial, post-nuptial and cohabitation agreements. You cannot enter into a post-nuptial (i.e., post-marriage) agreement in anticipation of divorce. Timing is a factor in deciding whether the agreement was in anticipation of divorce4. And because Colorado has common law marriage5, a cohabitation agreement may make sense if you do not want to be “accidentally married” by cohabitating, living together, fixing joint taxes or holding yourselves out as married. Protect yourself by addressing these issues early on. Once you are divorcing, try to reach agreements but make sure they are fair before signing them. An attorney can help.
  4. Even if one parent exercised less parenting time, courts usually grant substantial parenting time and decision-making ability to both parents. Even if you worked longer hours, you may want to increase your involvement in parenting either immediately or by stepping it up over time. Get involved and document your involvement with the child(ren) with notes and calendars, texts and emails, getting to know their teachers and medical providers. If you did most of the parenting, that may change and you may need a Child Family Investigator (CFI) to document what is best parenting for the children.6
  5. Courts use formulas and software to calculate maintenance (alimony) guidelines and child support. The formula for maintenance is very simple. Where I1 = gross  monthly income of higher breadwinner and I2 = gross monthly income of lower breadwinner, (I1 + I2).4 – I2 x .8. The .8 may vary based on tax bracket. The duration is set forth on the maintenance chart.7 The child support calculus is more complex and calculated using the Family Law Software which is available for free at the Colorado Judicial website.
  6. You will need to organize and turn over all your financial information, and prepare a spreadsheet of assets and debt. You will need to complete the JDF 1111, JDF 1111SS, JDF 1104 and provide all documents on the JDF 1125. (Family Cases | Colorado Judicial Branch) Our office provides all clients with an Excel template for the asset/debt spreadsheet and welcomes you to complete various versions for mediation and court. We will provide a lawyer’s review but welcome you to contribute the mathematics.
  7. Courts do not divide “separate” assets so if you can show an asset is your separate property, you can keep it. Once you have collected financial data, you will need to “trace” anything that is “separate property” so you do not need to divide and share with the other party. This includes property you held at the time of the marriage, inherited property, gifts and property you agreed to keep separate.8 The burden is on the party holding that property to prove its separate nature. You will need financial records and experts to document this. A good attorney will help you hire the right experts and compile the right data.
  8. Courts have specific methodologies for valuating and dividing your investment and retirement accounts. Courts have divided thousands of investment and retirement accounts and expect you to know the type of account and the correct formula to employ. For example, the court will employ the “Hunt formulation” to calculate the marital share of a pension aka defined benefit plan. See In re Marriage of Hunt, 909 P.2d 525, 531 (Colo. 1995).Courts employ a “time rule” formula: Years of Service During Marriage × Monthly Benefit × Years of Total (After Taxes) Service. But there are variables such as whether the employed spouse will increase in rank subsequent to divorce. Courts require a QDRO (qualified domestic relations order) for division of a 401(k).There is yet another valuation methodology for IRA accounts. There is also the issue of whether shares are yet vested, as unvested shares may be considered too speculative to divide. Your work history may result in various accounts and plans to be divided. If you work or worked privately, you may have a 401(k), IRA, investments, pensions and other benefits which each have specific rules for division. A federal employee may have a FERS, TSP, FEGLI and federal benefits with completely different criteria and proposed orders such as an RBCO (retirement benefits court order).9 So too military have their own sets of assets.And a state employee will have PERA and other state funds. If you held a variety of positions, you may even have all of the above. You need to know what these are and how to protect your rights in divorce, as well as knowing which experts can best assist you. We can help negotiate this very technical and tricky area of divorce law which can have thousands or even millions of dollars at stake.
  9. Mediation is required. It is also a superior method of resolving a divorce as opposed to the rushed judgment of a court who may allot only a few hours to decide your entire divorce. Courts in Colorado require mediation and usually issue a mediation order requiring parties to follow a strict mediation schedule if they cannot agree on their own. Because a mediator is like a referee and will not advocate for the best result for you, you may still need your own lawyer to represent your best interests. Be prepared for mediation as it is usually the most affordable, expedient, fair and autonomous way for parties to divorce.
  10. Time is money. The shorter and more efficient the divorce, the less stressful and expensive it is. Beware of an attorney who is too busy for your calls and drags everything out. Quickly compiling and synthesizing then crafting fair agreements is the calmest, fastest and least expensive route. Using AGILE practices like an excellent Scrum master or Project Manager, our team of attorneys, paralegals and support staff will keep your divorce on track. We even offer “unbundled” services, mediation services, text contact, and digital weekly billing, to keep things as transparent, efficient and collaborative as possible.

I love working with people in the STEM field and am more than happy to meet and discuss the best course of action for your divorce. Do not hesitate to call or text my cell at 303-808-4794, call the office at 720-922-3880, or email at beth@AndersenLawPC.com for a free consultation.

 

1Let me be clear, there is no one Myers Briggs personality type who is superior at divorce. An INTJ engineer-type will have just as much success and struggle as an ENFP life coach. They each bring different skills to the table. Myers Briggs Type Preferences Perception Judgment I have found opposite personality types often marry each other as they have traits that start out as complimentary yet in divorce seem confounding.

2 Colorado’s no fault divorce statute C.R.S. 14-10-106(1)(a)(II) states: “The district court shall enter a decree of dissolution of marriage or a decree of legal separation when: The court finds that one of the parties has been domiciled in this state for ninety-one days next preceding the commencement of the proceeding (and) the court finds that the marriage is irretrievably broken…” So as long as one party says the marriage is “irretrievably broken” the parties can divorce.

3 Equitable distribution in Colorado is outlined in Colorado Revised Statutes Sections 14-10-113: Disposition of (Marital) Property in Dissolution or Legal Separation.

4 Prenuptial Agreements – Andersen Law PC

5 Colorado Common Law Marriage | StateRecords.org

6 Allocation of Parental Responsibilities – Andersen Law PC; see also CRS 14-10-116.5; Colorado Title 14. Domestic Matters § 14-10-116.5 | FindLaw

7 Spousal Maintenance Advisement February 2021 FINAL.pdf

8 Colorado Title 14. Domestic Matters § 14-10-113 | FindLaw

9 I’m separated or I’m getting divorced    Learn more about court-ordered retirement benefits Attorney Handbook

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