Divorce Law 101 (2025 Edition)

Cynthia L. Ciancio | Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C.

Cynthia L. Ciancio, is a founding shareholder of Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C. and she heads up the firm’s family law group consisting of 18 attorneys and 6 paralegals. Cynthia’s practice specializes in high profile and complex divorce matters, including high net worth clients, high asset divorces, grey divorces, divorces involving businesses, and the occasional high conflict custody matter. Cynthia is a certified mediator, and she and Loren Brown own a separate business called Divorce Resolutions that handles nothing but family law mediations and arbitrations for represented and unrepresented parties. Cynthia is going on her 29th year as an attorney, with 26 of those years practicing family law exclusively. She began her career as a Deputy District Attorney in Adams County and gives credit to that office for providing her with top-notch courtroom/litigation skills.

Cynthia is known for her dedication to the practice, her many years of volunteer work on various boards especially boards and committees dedicated to educating family law judicial officers and practitioners, and she is especially proud of her work managing the bi-annual update of the Domestic Relations Bench Bar Book – the go to manual for family law in Colorado. Cynthia is also known for her creativity in negotiations, her ability to be a tough advocate when that’s needed, and her no-nonsense – tell it like it is – approach to advising her clients and dealing with opposing counsels. Cynthia is respected by her peers, clients, and judicial officers throughout the state of Colorado. This has earned her a fellowship in Colorado’s Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and it has led to her being named a Super Lawyer (including Top 100 and Top 50 Women) 15 years in a row, Best Lawyer (Family Law) many times over, and 5280 Top Lawyer – numerous years in a row. Cynthia practices throughout Colorado and continues to serve as a member on the Executive Counsel of the Colorado Bar Association’s Family Law Section, and as a Fellow of the AAML.

Megan E. Courtney | Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C.

Megan E. Courtney is an Associate Attorney at Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C. and a member of the Family Law Team. A native of Michigan and a graduate of Michigan State College of Law, Megan has been a practicing since 2011. Her practice includes high asset divorce, high conflict divorce, divorce involving businesses and business valuation issues, drafting marital agreements, and resolving child custody disputes. Megan also has a background in small business civil cases, Chapter 7 & Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases, and as a financial advisor.

I. Child custody known as allocation of parental responsibilities | 1:00pm – 1:20pm

• Best interest standard
• Child’s wishes
• PREs/CFI (custody evaluations in Colorado)

II. Spousal support | 1:20pm – 1:40pm

• Maintenance guidelines
• Meeting the threshold
• Maintenance “formula’
• Maintenance factors

III. Process, pleadings and discovery | 1:40pm – 2:00pm

• Filing the petition
• Service
• Injunction
• Sworn financial statement and Mandatory 16.2 disclosures
• Initial status conference with court

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

IV. Marital property state | 2:10pm – 2:30pm

• Equitable Distribution
  • Equitable doesn’t mean equal
    1. But it really does mean equal
    2. Court has discretion to divide marital property equitably
• Definition of marital property
• The marital balance sheet
• Interesting assets
  • Business interests
  • Goodwill
  • Double dipping

V. Unbundled legal services | 2:30pm – 2:50pm

• How to’s
• The ethics of unbundled
• The fee agreement

VI. Marital and premarital agreements | 2:50pm – 3:10pm

• Historic statutes and Colorado Common Law
• Current statue