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Under Oath

Kristi Anderson Wells

Member Spotlight

July 2025

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Kristi is the immediate past chair of the CBA Family Law Section and a domestic relations attorney who practices throughout Colorado. Her practice focuses on complex financial issues in divorce, such as characterizing and dividing trust interests, closely held businesses, executive compensation, retirement assets, and stock rights.

Hometown: Medina, Washington
Law School: University of Washington School of Law
Lives in: Denver
Works at: Wells Family Law, PC
Practice Areas: Domestic Relations

Describe yourself in five words.
Unafraid to try new things.

What do you like the most about your practice area?
Most of my clients come in for their initial consultation filled with trepidation. They’re worried about the children being hurt, wondering if they will be forced to sell the house, or concerned about their friends taking sides. The vast majority are stronger and happier by the time the decree enters. There’s nothing better than running into a former client and having them bring me up to speed on how well they and their children are doing.

What are the greatest challenges you face in your practice, and how do you manage them?
High emotions are one of the hallmarks of divorce. To me the biggest challenge is helping my clients make it through the process without them spiraling into depression or acting out inappropriately. I urge my clients to work with a therapist, exercise, and not involve the children in the discussion. If someone has never managed finances, we get them a financial advisor. If someone hasn’t spent much time with the children, we get them a parenting coach. It’s really about giving people the resources they need to get them through the period of upheaval and come out stronger on the other side.

What do you think is the most essential professional skill?
The ability to figure things out. This is why family law suits me. I get to help my clients figure out their next steps in life.

If you weren’t a lawyer, you’d be?
An artist.

What is your favorite way to unwind?
Sailing. There aren’t too many opportunities in Colorado outside of the 60 knot winds on Lake Dillon, so my husband and I charter. We’ve done trips in the San Juan Islands, the Netherlands, and British Columbia, and this year we will sail in the Seychelles.

What’s your favorite movie of all time?
It’s a toss-up between Interstellar and Arrival.

What’s your favorite book of all time?
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. It’s about a Jesuit priest leading the mission to make first contact with extraterrestrial life and examines the assumptions we make when encountering different cultures. It explores the motivations of the church both in terms of converting and exploiting the populations they encounter. The parallels to the history of the Jesuits who explored North and South America are spot on.

People would be surprised if they knew this about you:
My husband and I (with a team of dedicated helpers) built a mutant vehicle in the shape of Aladdin’s lamp using a golf cart and bent PVC for the frame. We sewed the skin of the lamp using four-way metallic stretch Lycra.

Who is your greatest inspiration and why?
My children are my greatest inspiration. They are living in a world far more difficult than the one I grew up in, and they are figuring it out!

 If I had a dime for every time I heard (blank), I’d be a rich person.
That the other party in a divorce is a narcissist.

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