Colorado’s Marital Agreement Act, C.R.S. §14-10-301, permits spouses and prospective spouses to enter into marital agreements in Colorado. Marital agreements can be either a pre-nuptial agreement into which the parties enter prior to their marriage or a post-nuptial agreement into which the parties enter during their marriage prior to filing for dissolution of marriage. These agreements permit parties to a marriage to contract with each other as to the issues of maintenance (alimony) and the division of their property and debts upon either the dissolution of their marriage or the death of either party. Usually, a spouse’s desire for estate planning and/or asset protection is the motivation for these types of agreements. If you are in need of either a pre-nuptial agreement or a post-nuptial agreement or if you are attempting to enforce or set aside one of these agreements, please contact Antolinez Miller, LLC for a free consultation.

The Colorado Marital Agreement Act sets forth several requirements which the parties must meet in order for their marital agreement to be enforceable in Colorado. First, each party must make a full and fair disclosure to the other party of his or her income, assets and liabilities. Second, the parties must reduce their agreement to a formal written agreement. Finally, each party must knowingly and voluntarily enter into the marital agreement. Recent case law states that a post-nuptial agreement cannot be entered into when a divorce is pending or if a divorce is contemplated by either party.

Marital agreements in Colorado can addresses the various rights and obligations of spouses to each other upon the dissolution of their marriage or upon their death. The rights and obligations that these agreements usually cover are property and debt division, maintenance (alimony) and the parties’ rights under insurance policies, wills, employee benefit plans and other such plans or policies. Parties to a marital agreement are not permitted to enter into binding agreements as to child custody and child support prior to the dissolution of their marriage. The parties may, however, indicate to the court what they believe would be in the best interest of their children should they get divorced, but those intentions would only be considered by the court and would not be binding upon the court. Additionally, if the parties decide to contract as to their rights and obligations with regard to spousal maintenance (alimony), the parties need to understand that at the time of the enforcement of a marital agreement as to support, the court must find the maintenance provision to be fair, just and reasonable, and not to be unconscionable (unfair) at the time of enforcement.