Are you thinking of selling your house during a divorce in Colorado? While you may have several options for how you and your spouse will equitably divide the marital home, selling it is often the easiest and most straightforward option. You and your spouse can divide the proceeds instead of trying to figure out how you will continue co-owning the home or working out an agreement for one spouse to keep it.

However, you need to approach the selling process correctly to avoid violating court injunctions and ensure that the sale is lawful under Colorado divorce law. Discover how to sell your home during a divorce and why a cash buyer may be the wisest choice if you want to sell quickly and privately. Then, contact Joe Homebuyer Colorado to request your free cash offer.

Can You Sell a House During a Divorce in Colorado?

Selling your house during a divorce may be a good idea, but if your divorce proceedings are currently ongoing, you’ll need to take caution to avoid violating court orders or interfering with the proceedings. When a divorce petition is served in Colorado, an automatic temporary injunction (ATI) against selling marital assets goes into effect. The injunction requires mutual consent or court permission to make any significant property changes.

If both parties agree about selling the house, they can often do so even if an automatic temporary injunction is in place. Alternatively, the court may require a divorcing couple to sell the marital home and divide the proceeds if neither party can afford the home on their own and they cannot work out another way to divide this asset.

In some cases, it may be easier to sell a home before filing for divorce. If you and your spouse are on the same page about dividing the proceeds from the sale, you could initiate this process prior to filing and prevent it from interfering with the divorce proceedings altogether.

How Colorado Divides Assets in a Divorce

Understanding how you and your spouse will need to divide assets in a divorce can also help inform your decision about selling the home. Colorado follows an equitable distribution process for dividing assets. This means that a divorcing couple should divide assets fairly, but not necessarily 50/50.

Colorado law distinguishes between marital and separate property. Marital property includes assets either spouse acquired during the marriage, as well as an appreciation connected to separate property. Meanwhile, separate property is property owned before the marriage or received as a gift or inheritance.

In Colorado, separate property stays with the original owner in a divorce, while marital property is divided under equitable distribution rules. If you and your spouse purchased your house while you were married, it would be considered marital property. If one spouse purchased it before the marriage, it would be considered separate property, but any appreciation in the house’s value could be considered marital property.

Reasons To Consider Selling the Marital Home Before or During a Divorce

Selling the home is likely not your only option for dividing this asset in a divorce, but it may be the right option for you and your spouse in a few scenarios.

Neither spouse can afford the home on their own. When you and your spouse purchased the home, you may have done so on the assumption that you both would contribute financially to mortgage payments and upkeep costs. If neither of you can afford the house on your own, you may have no choice but to sell it and split the proceeds.
You want to cash out the equity to use toward your new life. If you and your spouse have a significant amount of equity in the home, this may be your largest asset. Selling the house can allow you to cash out that equity and gain a lump sum of cash to use toward your new single life, whether that’s putting a down payment on a smaller property, moving to another state, or paying the first and last month’s rent on an apartment.
You want to emotionally move on from the marriage. It can be challenging to gain a fresh start after divorce if you still live in the home you and your spouse shared. Some divorcing spouses choose to sell the home to eliminate emotional ties to the marriage.
You want to simplify the distribution of this asset. Selling the marital home is one of the easiest ways to satisfy the laws surrounding equitable distribution of marital property in Colorado. While you may explore other options, such as buying out your spouse’s portion of the home or keeping the house while your spouse gains a larger portion of other assets, selling and splitting the proceeds is usually the simplest route.

How To Sell Your House During a Divorce in Colorado

If you and your spouse have decided to sell the home, you have a few options for navigating this process. First, seek permission from the court if you have already filed for divorce. Then, consider each of these methods for selling the house.

List the House on the Real Estate Market

You may initially think that selling your house during a divorce in Colorado means listing it on the market. While this is certainly an option, it is not your only method for selling the house.

You and your spouse could decide to hire a real estate agent to put your home on the market. This generally involves steps like:

Making any needed repairs or renovations to the home
Staging the property
Hosting open houses or showings to potential buyers
Meeting inspection requirements
Making concessions to buyers

This process can be stressful, especially while navigating an already tumultuous divorce process. It can also be lengthy; your home might take months or years to sell on the market. In the meantime, you and your ex-spouse must continue making mortgage payments and co-owning the property, which can make it challenging to truly move on from the divorce. You might also disagree about who is allowed to continue living in the house while it is on the market.

Sell the Home to a Cash Buyer

If you want to sell your house during a divorce in Colorado, finding a cash buyer is often the easiest route. Cash buyers like Joe Homebuyer Colorado can purchase your home quickly and provide you and your spouse with cash at closing. This way, you can easily split the proceeds from the sale and start moving forward.

Selling your home to a cash buyer offers several benefits for divorcing couples:

Avoid making repairs or updates. If your home needs significant work, it may sit on the real estate market for months or years. You can sell your house to a cash buyer completely as is, without spending time or money on repairs.
Save yourself the hassle of showing the home or hosting open houses. You might want to keep your divorce private, but having to show your home to strangers and host open houses can feel very public and exposing. Selling to a cash buyer keeps the entire selling process more private, with no need for showings.
Easily divide home equity between spouses. With a cash buyer, you walk away from closing with cash in your hand. You and your spouse can pay off the mortgage, then split the proceeds between you.
Sell quickly and move forward. You and your spouse won’t be left trying to sell the home for months after the divorce is finalized. With a cash buyer, you can close within a week in many cases.

Buy Out Your Spouse’s Interest in the Home

One last option to consider for selling your home during divorce proceedings is buying out your spouse’s interest in the home. Your spouse can “sell” their portion of the asset to you, or vice versa. The buyer would need to refinance the mortgage to be solely in their name, and they would need to pay their spouse for their portion of the equity or work out an agreement some other way.

This option works in some cases, but it relies on one spouse being able to afford the home on their own and having enough cash to purchase their spouse’s equity. Your spouse may also not agree to sell their portion of the home to you, in which case you would need to involve the court.

Sell Your Home to Joe Homebuyer Colorado in Three Easy Steps

If you are thinking of selling your house during a divorce in Colorado, Joe Homebuyer Colorado can make the process simple. We follow this quick process to buy homes for cash, no matter their condition:

Submit your information via our online form, and we will reach out within 24 hours to discuss next steps.
Speak with us about your property and situation. We’ll ask questions and arrange an in-person visit to calculate our offer.
Receive your cash offer within about a day. If you accept, we’ll close on your timeline and provide you with cash at closing.

Call us today at 970-680-7773 or fill out our online form to get started.