Opinion ID: 2601692
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: The Five-Year Retention Provision

Text: The new disclosure duties specified in C.R.C.P. 16.2(e)(1) operate in tandem with the five-year retention provision of C.R.C.P. 16.2(e)(10). The five-year retention provision states that for any disclosures made under the new rules, the court shall retain jurisdiction for a period of five years after the entry a decree to reallocate assets and liabilities if either party failed to comply with his or her affirmative duties to disclose financial information. Rule 16.2(e)(10) renders inactive C.R.C.P. 60(b)'s six-month window, which formerly operated as a bar for such retained jurisdiction. Rule 16.2(e)(10) provides: As set forth in this section, it is the duty of parties to an action for decree of dissolution of marriage, legal separation, or invalidity of marriage, to provide full disclosure of all material assets and liabilities. If the disclosure contains misstatements or omissions, the court shall retain jurisdiction after the entry of a final decree or judgment for a period of 5 years to allocate material assets or liabilities, the omission or non-disclosure of which materially affects the division of assets and liabilities. The provisions of C.R.C.P. 60 shall not bar a motion by either party to allocate such assets or liabilities pursuant to this paragraph. This paragraph shall not limit other remedies that may be available to a party by law. (Emphases added). This provision states that courts shall retain jurisdiction for five years after entry of a final decree or judgment. Something can be retained only when it is already possessed in the first place. See Webster's Third New International Dictionary 1938 (2002) (defining retain as to hold or continue to hold in possession or use). Of course, the term shall makes the retention period mandatory. Further indicating that the rule is forward looking, the five-year retention period applies only to an omission or disclosure that materially affects the division of assets. C.R.C.P. 16.2(e)(10) (emphasis added). It does not apply to a disclosure that affected the past division of assets under the old rule. The provision is not written in the past tense and does not address disclosures made pursuant to cases filed before the effective date. The five-year retention provision also renders C.R.C.P. 60 inactive when a spouse seeks to reopen a division of assets and liabilities based on disclosures made pursuant to the new rule. The relevant clause is stated in the present tense: The provisions of C.R.C.P. 60 shall not bar a motion by either party to allocate such assets or liabilities pursuant to this paragraph. C.R.C.P. 16.2(e)(10). This phrasing indicates that C.R.C.P. 60 still applies where the disclosures were made pursuant to the old rule, in cases filed before the new rule went into effect. Likewise, the five-year retention provision does not operate independently. Rather, it works in tandem with the new affirmative disclosure requirements. It is located within 16.2(e), which establishes the new affirmative disclosure requirements as a whole. The text of the five-year retention provision explicitly refers to the new affirmative disclosure requirements. It begins, As set forth in this section, and mentions the duties to provide full disclosure of all material assets and liabilities. C.R.C.P. 16.2(e)(10). The rule's language indicates that the five-year retention provision must operate in conjunction with the new affirmative disclosure requirements. The five-year retention provision applies only where the new disclosures fail to comply with the heightened duties established by C.R.C.P. 16.2(e)(1). The parties and the lower courts have labeled this rule the five-year reach-back provision. Some have interpreted it to provide courts with jurisdiction to modify property divisions made pursuant to the old disclosure requirements. Such nomenclature is confusing. As we interpret the structure and language of this provision, we conclude that it does not reach back to allow the courts to correct misstatements or omissions made pursuant to the old rule. Rather, it projects forward. Just like the new rule itself, the five-year retention provision begins to operate only once a new case or a new post-decree motion is filed after the effective date. More precisely, the five-year retention provision becomes operative only after a party has filed disclosures under the new rule to resolve a domestic relations case or post-decree motion filed after January 1, 2005.