Kim Willoughby

Kimberly R. Willoughby has been practicing law in Colorado since 1994, and has earned a reputation as one of the premier family law attorneys in the state.

Kim is licensed in both Colorado and South Dakota. Kim is the only rostered attorney in the United States who is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) and American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC). Kim is also one of two attorneys listed with Chambers and Partners as a Band 1 Family Law Attorney for High Net Worth individuals for Colorado.

Kim received her J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School in 1994, and received a B.A. in Political Science, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1991.

Awards and Distinctions

Kim is one of only two attorneys listed with Chambers and Partners as a Band 1 Family Law Attorney for High Net Worth individuals in Colorado.

Kim has been selected to the American College of Family Trial Lawyers, a select group of 100 of the top family law trial lawyers from across the United States.

Kim has been named one of the Top 10 Attorneys in Colorado for 2024 by Superlawyers.

Kim was named one of the Top 100 Attorneys in Colorado for 2012, 2013, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, and one of the Top 50 Female Attorneys in Colorado for 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 by Superlawyers (a publication of 5280 Magazine and Law and Politics).

Kim has been selected to SuperLawyers every year for the last eighteen years (2006-2024).

Kim was named by 5280 Magazine as one of the Best Attorneys in Denver for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2024.

Avvo rated “Superb.”

Tim Gill Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year, 2004. Awarded by the Colorado Business Council.

Featured in the Denver Woman Magazine June 2009 issue.

Named one of Denver’s top divorce attorneys by Divorce in Denver Magazine, January, 2005.

Barrister of the Year, March 2001, awarded by Colorado Legal Initiatives Project.

About Kim

Kim Willoughby lives with her husband and two teenagers in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains just outside of Denver. Kim is an ice rink veteran, having raised one hockey player and one competitive figure skater. She loves hiking, camping, skiing, snorkeling, boating and cows.

Kim is originally from South Dakota, where she still owns the family ranch. She has segued her homes and presence in South Dakota and Grand Cayman into a niche asset protection practice.

Kim’s husband owns a local Colorado distillery, making Vanjak Vodka and Camaro’s.

Kim is an avid reader and appreciates book recommendations for management, biographies, history, neuropsychology, the aging brain, and novels by Irish authors.

Kim’s passion for the law arises from her love of constitutional law, teaching and writing. While she thought she would be a philosophy professor, three generations of lawyers and judges in her family steered her away from that.

Kim loves her area of practice because of the wonderful people she is fortunate enough to work for. Few things in her professional life give her more joy than a well put together spreadsheet, a pile of tax returns, and a plan to help people in an unfortunate time of life to get to a better place.

Published Appellate Decisions

In re Marriage of Crandall and Levy, 22CA1790, (Colo. App. 2024) (not published)
In re A.C.B., 2022 WL 67869 (Colo. App. 2022).
In re Marriage of Crouch, 2021COA3 (2021).
In re Marriage of Rooks, 16SC906, 2018 CO 85 (Colo. App. 2018).
In re Parental Responsibilities of A.R.L., 318 P.3d 581 (Colo. App. 2013).
In re Madrone, 290 P.3d 478 (Colo. 2012).
In re Marriage of Sorenson, 166 P.3d 245 (Colo. App. 2007).
In re Marriage of DePalma, 176 P.3d 829 (Colo. App. 2007).
In re Marriage of Ciesluk, 113 P.3d 135 (Colo. 2005).
In re E.L.M.C., 100 P.3d 546 (Colo. App. 2004).
In re Marriage of Dorworth, 33 P.3d 1260 (Colo. App. 2001).

Selected Publications

Kim co-authored an article with Wendy S. Goffe and Peter M. Walzer entitled “When Estate Planning and Marital Agreements Collide” – Part I and Part II
Kim contributed a chapter to the book How to Be a Lawyer: The Path from Law School to Success, written by Jason Mendelson and Alex Paul.
“Realizing the Value of Hard to Value Assets,” American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Journal, Fall, 2021.
“The Price of Vice,” with Ron Seigneur, Family Lawyer Magazine, June 29, 2021.
Contributing Author, “The Double Dip Debate,” Business Valuation in Divorce, Fourth Edition, 2019.
“Colorado’s New Uniform Premarital and Marital Agreements Act,” with Susan L. Boothby, The Colorado Lawyer, March 2014.
“Changes to Colorado’s Uniform Probate Code,” with Elizabeth Bryant and Constance Beck Wood, The Colorado Lawyer, December 2010.
“Family Relationships,” Senior Law Handbook, Colorado Legal Education, first published in 2010 and updated every year through 2019.
“Family Law,” Lawyers’ Professional Responsibility in Colorado, 3rd Edition, first published in 2010 and updated every year through 2019.
“Relocation in Family Law Cases,” The Colorado Lawyer, March 2006.
“Think of Me When Preparing Marital Agreements,” Trusts and Estates Newsletter, Colorado Bar Association, January 2005.
“Death and Divorce,” The Practitioner’s Guide to Colorado Domestic Relations Law, 2nd Edition, first published in 2010 and updated every year through 2019.

Selected Seminars

Kim presented to the Colorado Bar Association on February 14, 2024, on “Death and Divorce.”
Kim presented to the Colorado Bar Association on November 17, 2023, on The New Era of Marital Agreements with Amy Goscha and Diane Wozniak.
Kim presented at the ACTEC Regional Conference on September 10, 2023 in Custer, South Dakota on Divorce and Estate Planning.
Kim presented on June 6, 2023 at ENGAGE (AICPA and CIMA) on Estate Planning for the Greying Divorce.
Kim presented in New York City on May 5, 2023 to the New York Chapter of AAML on Estate Planning During Divorce.
Kim presented to the UCLA Continuing Education Board Estate Planning Institute on April 20, 2023 on Prenuptial Agreements.
Kim presented at the 67th Annual Estate Planning Seminar in October, 2022: “When Estate Planning, Marital Agreements and Divorce Collide: How to Avoid Unintended Consequences” with Wendy Goffe and Peter Walzer.
Kim presented at the ACTEC National Conference in San Diego, March 11-13, 2022: “Irrevocable Trusts and Marital Agreements.”
Kim presented to a joint conference of the National American College of Employee Benefits Counsel (ACEBC), the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) on March 5, 2021: “The Impact of ERISA Preemption on Estate Planning and Marital Matters.”
Kim presented to the National AAML Midyear Conference on March 12, 2021: “Avoid a Pyrrhic Victory: Trust Resolutions in Divorce.”
“Trust Distributions,” American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, November 5, 2020, and American Law Institute, November 9, 2020.
“Did I Say I Do? Addressing and resolving issues associated with common law marriage in estate planning and administration,” with Amy K. Rosenberg, 2020 Domestic Relations and Probate Institute, September, 2020.
“Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid. But Do Not Despair – How Divorce Attorneys and Your Own Clients May Make You Regret that Prenup You Drafted, and How to Avoid It,” Trusts and Estates Annual Retreat, Santa Fe, New Mexico, June 6-8, 2019.
“Double Dip Debate,” AAML/BVR National Divorce Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, May 10, 2019.
“The Price of Vice: Issues with Cannabis and Other ‘Vice’ Businesses,” AAML/BVR National Divorce Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, May 10, 2019.
“Valuation of Unique Assets,” AAML Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, November 9, 2017.
“Appointment of GALs in Domestic Cases,” Colorado Judicial Conference, Vail, Colorado, September 11, 2017.
“Prenuptial Agreements: A High-Level Discussion with Colorado’s Premier Practitioners and Judges,” Presented by Colorado CLE, February 16, 2017.
“Double Dipping: Webinar for Business Valuation Resources,” January, 2017.
“Grey Divorce: Special Considerations for Elders Involved in the Dissolution of Marriage Process,” with Melinda Moses, Esq., 2016 Elder Law Retreat, August 26, 2016.
“A High-Level Discussion about the Interplay between Goodwill and Maintenance: Expanding the Double Dip Debate,” AAML Colorado Chapter, December 2015.
“Uniform Pre-Marital and Marital Agreements Act and Colorado Civil Unions Act,” Family Law Update, Denver, Colorado, October 25, 2013.
“Colorado Civil Union Act,” Colorado Women’s Bar Association Annual Conference, Vail, Colorado, May 18, 2013.
“Modifications to the Uniform Probate Code,” Estate Planning Retreat, Vail, Colorado, June 17-19, 2010.
“UPC and the Law,” Trusts and Estates Update, Denver, Colorado, December 11, 2009.
“Standards of Value,” Business Valuation Program, National CLE Conference (LEI), Vail, Colorado, January 3, 2009.
“Cohabitation Agreements,” Relationship Agreements, CLE International, Denver, Colorado, August 12, 2005.
“Death and Divorce: The Intersection of Family Law and Probate,” Family Law Section’s Annual Spring Family Law Update, May, 2002.

Professional Associations

Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC).
Fellow, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML).
Chambers and Partners listed as one of two Band 1 Attorneys in Family and Matrimonial Law for Colorado.
American College of Family Trial Lawyers (Top 100 Family Law Lawyers in the nation).
National Chair of the AAML Committee to work with the National Chair of the ACTEC Task Force on the intersection of estate and trusts and family law, 2019 – .
Executive Council Liaison between Trusts and Estates Section and Family Law Section of the Colorado Bar Association, 2018 – .
Orange Book Committee, Trusts and Estates, Colorado Bar Association – Helped draft Colorado’s Form Premarital Agreement, 2019.
Denver Estate Planning Council.
Society of Financial Service Professionals.
AAML 2018 National CLE Committee, 2017 – 2018.
Chief Justice’s Commission the Legal Profession, Liaison, 2013-2015.
Statutory Revisions Committee, Trusts and Estates Section, CBA, subcommittees on GALs and trust decanting.
Past President, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Colorado Chapter, 2012-2013.
Board Member, Colorado Continuing Legal Education, 2002-2008.
Statutory Revisions Committee, Trusts and Estates Section, CBA, subcommittee on review of Uniform Probate Code (surrogacy issues), 2008-2010.
Appointed Member, Colorado Bar Association Common Law Marriage Task Force, July 2007 – December 2007.
President, Thompson Marsh Inn of Court, 2006-2007.
Executive Council, Colorado Bar Association, 2005-2006.
Budget Committee, Colorado Bar Association, 2002-2003.
Second Vice President, Denver Bar Association, 2001-2002.
Executive Council, Family Law Section, Colorado Bar Association, 2001-2003.
Board of Governors, Colorado Bar Association, 1998-2002, 2005-2006.
Fellow, Colorado Bar Association, 2005-present.
Board Member, Colorado Women’s Bar Association, 1998-2000.
Chairperson, Solo/Small Firm Section, Colorado Bar Association, 1999-2000.
Member, Family Law Section, Colorado Bar Association.
Member, Trusts and Estates Section, Colorado Bar Association.

Charitable Organizations

Kim Supports: