The Sexy Side of Stock Rights: A Beginner's Guide to Mastering Stock Awards in Divorce  

     

 

The existence of options, restricted stock and other types of stock rights in divorce presents an exciting set of facts for the family law practitioner and can be indicative of a more complex marital estate.  It is also an area where many family law lawyers are without a basic understanding of what to look for or how to proceed when dealing with stock rights such as options, restricted stock, restricted stock units, phantom stock rights and stock appreciation rights in the context of divorce.  The program will provide a step-by-step road map for addressing these interests, from identifying the type of stock right at issue, to identifying the documents needed to determine whether the stock right is property, to characterizing the stock right as marital or separate, to valuing the stock right, and finally to applying Colorado law in analyzing how to divide the stock right.

Kristi Anderson Wells is an attorney at Hunnicutt & Appelman PC, where her practice focuses on high asset dissolution of marriage actions. She has written and lectured extensively on family law, benefits, tax and executive compensation topics, as well as having been a tax commentator for NPR's Morning Edition. The American Bar Association has recently published Kristi's book: The Executive Compensation Handbook: Stock Option Awards, Restricted Stock Grants, Cash Bonuses, Incentives, and Other Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation in Divorce. Kristi serves on the Colorado Bar Association Family Law Section Executive Council and serves as Vice President on the Board of Colorado Collaborative Divorce Professionals. She is also a Fellow of the Academy of Collaborative Divorce Professionals. In addition to her law degree, Kristi holds a Master's degree in taxation (LL.M.) from the University of Washington School of Law.