THE LEGAL EDGE
Legal Ideas & Information - March 2017
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Overbid Funds from Colorado Foreclosure Sales
If you are a homeowner that has gone through foreclosure, or a junior lien holder holding a lien on a property that is being foreclosed by a more senior lien holder, under C.R.S. Section 38-38-111, you may be entitled to overbid funds from the foreclosure sale.
Following the initiation of a foreclosure, compliance with state statutory notice provisions and the scheduling of the foreclosure sale pursuant to Colorado statute, the county Public Trustee or Sheriff (the “officer”) accepts bids for sale, conducts the foreclosure sale, and sells the property being foreclosed at public auction. The initial foreclosure sale bid submitted at the foreclosure auction is that of the foreclosing lender. Thereafter, bids are taken from the public, or outside “third party bidders,” if there are public bidders interested in purchasing the property being sold at foreclosure sale. The highest bidder for the property at the foreclosure sale is the “successful bidder,” entitling the successful bidder to a Certificate of Purchase of the property.
I am purchasing a new property. Are the mineral rights included?
The specific language in a property’s prior conveyances, known as the chain of title, dictates whether the rights to the minerals are included in the purchase. As clearly disclaimed in the Colorado Contract to Buy and Sell Real Property, buying a property does not guarantee ownership of the minerals found below the surface.
A buyer using the Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate, approved by the Colorado Real Estate Commission, will notice an ALL CAPS disclaimer pertaining to mineral ownership and oil and gas activity.[1] The Contract warns buyers that the surface of a property may be owned separately from the minerals found below. This could mean that a third party might have a right to access the property to develop the mineral rights. It further warns that a surface use agreement could be recorded against a property and that oil and gas activity may occur on or adjacent to the property. The contract disclaimer concludes by advising the buyer to seek additional information regarding oil and gas activity on the property, but where exactly should a buyer go to get answers to the uncertainty surrounding oil and gas activity?
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IN THIS ISSUE
Overbid Funds from Colorado Foreclosure Sales
I am purchasing a new property. Are the mineral rights included?
Who Gets to Claim Child on Taxes After a Divorce?
What Happens When Someone Dies Without a Will?
Who Gets to Claim Child on Taxes After a Divorce?
 Colorado has a law that explains how the dependency exemption for a minor child will be handled, after a divorce decree (dissolution of marriage) is entered. The law is contained in Colorado Revised Statute C.R.S. Section 14-10-115. The law says:
(12) Dependency exemptions. Unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties, the court shall allocate the right to claim dependent children for income tax purposes between the parties. These rights shall be allocated between the parties in proportion to their contributions to the costs of raising the children. A parent shall not be entitled to claim a child as a dependent if he or she has not paid all court-ordered child support for that tax year or if claiming the child as a dependent would not result in any tax benefit.
Colorado courts have interpreted this part of the law to mean that unless the parties agree otherwise, the judge or magistrate will order that the parents will be able to claim the dependency exemption on future tax returns, based on their respective gross income percentages, and not based on where the child lives, who is paying child support, who is paying for the child’s extracurricular expenses, etc. The phrase "contributions to the costs of raising the children" refers to the percentage of child support attributed to each parent in the course of making the child support computation. In re Staggs, 940 P.2d 1109 (Colo. App. 1997).
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What Happens When Someone Dies Without a Will?
 A will is the roadmap that directs what happens to someone’s probate assets when they die. The will also nominates a personal representative to administer the estate. But what happens when someone dies “intestate,” or without a will? In those situations, the Colorado Probate Code directs who inherits from the estate and who has priority to administer the estate. Oftentimes, these default provisions may not be what someone would choose for themselves if they had created a will.
Who Inherits the Estate?
The following tables describe who inherits an intestate estate in Colorado:
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