Only "marital" property gets divided. Property you owned before marriage, or received as a gift or inheritance, is "separate”, but its appreciation during the marriage is marital.

The first question in dividing assets is considering what assets are on the table. Under C.R.S. § 14-10-113, marital property is generally everything either spouse acquired during the marriage, no matter whose name is on the title. Separate property is what you owned before the marriage, plus gifts and inheritances received by you alone, property you got in exchange for separate property, and anything acquired after a decree of legal separation. Separate property normally stays with its owner.

According to Colorado, while the original value of separate property stays separate, any increase in its value during the marriage is treated as marital property and is subject to division (§ 14-10-113(4)). If you owned a house or stock worth $200,000 when you married and it's worth $350,000 at divorce, that $150,000 of appreciation is generally marital. Commingling separate funds with marital ones can also blur the lines. If you have premarital or inherited assets, it is vital to document their original value, as you may have difficulty tracing it later.

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Colorado

Colorado, USA