The legislature has chosen to abolish the fault system in the matter of divorce and family law, believing that the process of assessing blame only makes relations worse between the spouses. Divorce is based on irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. That means that if one spouse wants out of the marriage, he or she can obtain a divorce in Colorado whether the other spouse agrees or not. Marital fault may back into the picture when it affects a party's ability to parent a child, or there is a request for a restraining order, but absent such matters, it will not be considered. The court has limited time and many litigants, and the last thing the judge wants to hear about is infidelity and other marital misconduct.
All marital property is subject to division in Colorado.
Property is marital, unless it is excluded under the law. Exclusions include property acquired before the marriage, inheritances, gifts to one spouse which were not joint gifts, and several other categories. Increases in value of a spouse's separate property is considered to be marital. Property can be divided without regard to legal title. Property division can be extremely complex, because property acquired prior to a marriage or as a gift must be valued both at the time of the marriage or gift and again at the time of the trial.