Top

Kristi Anderson Wells, JD, LL.M.

Counties served: All of Colorado with focus on Greater Denver Metro Area and Mountain Counties

kristi.png

ATTORNEY

EMAIL

Wells Family Law PC
1660 Lincoln Street, Suite 1525
Denver, CO 80264

Phone (303) 309-1077

Fax (720) 677-0110

About ME

Kristi Anderson Wells is the founder and President of Wells Family Law PC where her practice focuses exclusively on domestic relations issues. She has been practicing law for twenty-eight years, sixteen of those in family law. Prior to her move to family law, Kristi’s areas of practice included taxation, benefits and executive compensation. Kristi serves as Chair of the Colorado Bar Association Family Law Section Executive Council. In 2024, Kristi Chaired the 2024 Family Law Section Family Law Institute.

Kristi has written and lectured extensively on family law topics as well as having been a tax commentator for NPR’s Morning Edition. Her presentations have ranged from Advanced Tax Issues in Divorce, Attorney Fees in Family Law, the Duty to Confer, to Classifying, Valuing and Dividing Executive Employment Benefits. Kristi's book, "The Executive Compensation Handbook: Stock Option Awards, Restricted Stock Grants, Cash Bonuses, Incentives and Other Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation in Divorce," was published by the American Bar Association in 2018. She also authored “A Primer on Executive Compensation in a Colorado Divorce,” Parts 1 and 2, for the Colorado Lawyer magazine in 2022.

Kristi provides over fifty hours per year in pro bono legal services to clients through the Metro Volunteer Lawyers and the Denver Bar Association Family Law Ask-A-Lawyer Clinic. As part of her commitment to Collaborative law, Kristi is a member and past President of Colorado Collaborative Divorce Professionals, and a member of the Academy for Collaborative Law Practice. She is also a trained mediator.

EDUCATION 

  • B.A. Journalism, magna cum laude, 1994, University of Washington

  • J.D. (with honors), University of Washington School of Law, 1997

  • LL.M Taxation, University of Washington School of Law, 1998

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

  • Colorado Collaborative Divorce Professionals, Past President of Board of Directors

  • Colorado Bar Association, Family Law Section, Chair of Family Law Section Executive Council

  • Academy for Collaborative Law Practice, Fellow

COLLABORATIVE TRAININGS Taken

  • CCDP Level 1, 2012

  • “Excellence in Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Strengthening your Collaborative Skills,” Linda Solomon, LPC, LCDC, LMFT, September 19-20, 2013, Lone Tree, Colorado - Sponsored by Colorado Collaborative Divorce Professionals

Other Relevant Trainings and Experience:

  • Completed 40 hours of hands-on mediation training at the University of Washington School of Law, Mediation Clinic, 1996-1997

  • “On Being a Child in a 50/50 Era: Research and Developmental Perspectives on Shared Parenting After Separation,” Jennifer McIntosh, PhD, October 4, 2013, Westminster, Colorado - Sponsored by Boulder Interdisciplinary Committee

  • “Emerging Consensus Views on Shared Parenting: AFCC Think Tank Findings and the Latest Thinking and Interventions,” Marsha Line Pruett, PhD, MSL and Herbie DiFonzo, JD, March 13, 2015, Westminster, Colorado - Sponsored by Boulder Interdisciplinary Committee and Metro Denver Interdisciplinary Committee

  • “Caught in the Web – Risk Management for Mental Health Professionals and Attorneys,” Jane Irvine, MA, LPC, Chad Gillam, Esq., Hon. Angela Arkin, November 7, 2017, Denver, Colorado - Sponsored by Metro Denver Interdisciplinary Committee

  • “Child and Family Investigators: Standards, Challenges, and Best Practices,” Michal Lord-Blegen, District Court Magistrate 2nd Judicial District, January 9, 2018, Denver, Colorado Sponsored by Metro Denver Interdisciplinary Committee

Presentations Given

  • Commentator: Complex Taxes (National Public Radio broadcast, Morning Edition, April 15, 2002)

  • Speaker, Advanced Tax Issues in Divorce, Colorado Bar Association Family Law Institute, 2015

  • Commentator: New Tax Law (National Public Radio broadcast, Morning Edition, August 21, 2001)

  • Commentator: Estate Tax - the Mysterious Disappearing Repeal of the Estate Tax (National Public Radio broadcast, Morning Edition, June 7, 2001)

  • Author, Benefits Issues Arise When Same-Sex Relationships End, The Colorado Lawyer, Colorado Bar Association, 2013

  • Commentator: Tax Time Commentary -- An Ode to the Code (National Public Radio broadcast, Morning Edition, April 16, 2001)

  • Co-Author, Supreme Court Ruling on DOMA Raises More Questions Than It Answers for Colorado Families, CBA CLE Legal Connections, Colorado Bar Association, 2013

  • Implementing a Domestic Partner Benefits Program, Maine Business and Employment Law (Northern New England Publishers, Inc., Naples, Maine), January, 2001

  • Speaker, Divorce: Classifying, Valuing and Dividing Executive Employment Benefits, Strafford Family Law Webinar, 2013

  • Domestic Partner Benefits: Legal Issues, Maine Business and Employment Law (Northern New England Law Publishers, Inc., Naples, Maine), December, 2000

  • Speaker, Attorney Fees in Family Law, Colorado Bar Association Family Law Institute, Colorado Bar Association, 2013

  • Author, The Executive Compensation Handbook: Stock Option Awards, Restricted Stock Grants, Cash Bonuses, Incentives, and Other Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation in Divorce, American Bar Association, 2018

  • Speaker, The Duty to Confer, Colorado Bar Association Family Law Institute, Colorado Bar Association, 2013

  • Speaker, Rocky Mountain High: Navigating the Marijuana Divorce Without Losing Your Mind, Colorado Bar Association, Family Law Section, 2018

  • Speaker, Same Sex Issues in Family Law: When it Isn't "Husband and Wife", MDIC March Luncheon, Metro Denver Interdisciplinary Committee, 2013

  • Speaker, Unveiling the Mysteries of Dividing Executive Compensation, Stock Rights and Severance in Divorce, Colorado Bar Association Family Law Institute, Colorado Bar Association, 2012

  • Moderator, Judges Panel on Business Valuations in Divorce, CBA Family Law Section February Meeting, Colorado Bar Association, 2012

  • Speaker, Spoils of War: Dividing Deferred Compensation in Divorce, CBA CLE 2011 Spring Family Law Update, Colorado Bar Association, 2011

  • Trial Preparation and Practice, co-presented with John Tatlock, Colorado Bar Association, 2014 Fall Family Law Update, October 31, 2014

  • Speaker, Trial Preparation and Practice, Colorado Bar Association, Family Law Section, 2014

  • Division of Benefits in Same-Sex Break-Ups: Assisting Clients in a Complex and Unsettled Area, co-presented with Ann Gushurst at the one-day International CLE program, "Civil Unions: Family Law and Estate Issues in a Time of Rapid Change," November 4, 2013

  • "Supreme Court Ruling on DOMA Raises More Questions Than it Answers for Colorado Families," CBA-CLE Legal Connection, June 28, 2013, Co-authored by Ann Gushurst and Kristi Wells

  • What Happens When the Unhappy Couple Isn't "Husband and Wife"? Co-presented with Ann Gushurst at the Metro Denver Interdisciplinary Committee Luncheon, March 5, 2013

  • Unveiling the Mysteries of Dividing Executive Compensation, Stock Rights and Severance in Divorce, at the Family Law Institute in Vail, Colorado, August 11, 2012

  • How Technology and Social Networking Inform the Divorce Process, Colorado Serenity Magazine, December 2011