Opinion ID: 2601692
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: In re Marriage of Roberts

Text: Michael Roberts filed a petition for dissolution of marriage from his wife Lori Jean Lipson on November 1, 2004, before the new rule went into effect. The court dissolved their marriage on September 14, 2005. According to the decree of dissolution, Lipson received a fixed sum of money while Roberts retained the businesses he owned and any increases in the value of those businesses that may have occurred during the marriage. In his financial affidavit submitted before the dissolution, Roberts listed the net value of his businesses as $0, but he qualified this estimate by saying it might not be accurate due to unknown values. He indicated that one of his businesses owned a 5.41 percent partnership interest valued at $663,000 in Western Brands, the predecessor of Crocs, Inc. Lipson filed a post-decree motion on January 23, 2007, alleging that this valuation was incorrect and that Roberts's ownership interest in Western Brands increased by more than $20 million during their marriage. She based these allegations on documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Further, she maintained that Roberts was aware that his businesses were worth substantially more than the amount he reported in his financial affidavit and that she had relied on his erroneous representations. She filed her post-decree motion nearly two years after the new rule went into effect and nearly fifteen months after the decree had been entered. The trial court denied the post-decree motion on the grounds that the court lacked jurisdiction to reopen the property division under C.R.C.P. 60(b) because Lipson filed the post-decree motion more than six months after entry of the decree.