Prenuptial Agreements in Colorado
Colorado Prenuptial Agreements
A premarital agreement is an agreement between people who intend to marry that affirms, modifies or waives marital rights or obligations (C.R.S. § 14-2-302(5)). It takes effect on marriage (C.R.S. § 14-2-307). Attorney Charles E. Liken Jr. drafts prenups for one partner, or reviews a draft your partner's lawyer has prepared, and handles the work personally.
What a Colorado prenup can cover
Colorado defines the "marital rights or obligations" an agreement can address (C.R.S. § 14-2-302(4)):
- Spousal maintenance.
- Rights in property, including how property is characterized, managed and owned.
- Who is responsible for which debts and liabilities.
- Property rights and liabilities at legal separation, divorce or death.
- Award and allocation of attorney's fees and costs.
In practice, that means a prenup can keep a business, a professional practice, a home or an inheritance separate, decide how growth in value is treated, keep each person's debts their own, and set expectations about maintenance.
What a prenup cannot do in Colorado
A term is not enforceable to the extent it (C.R.S. § 14-2-310(2)):
- Adversely affects a child's right to support.
- Limits or restricts a remedy available to a victim of domestic violence.
- Changes the grounds for legal separation or divorce.
- Penalizes a party for starting a legal separation or divorce case.
- Violates public policy.
A term about parental responsibilities, parenting time or other custodial matters is not binding on the court (C.R.S. § 14-2-310(3)). Decisions about children stay with the court, based on the children's best interests. As a court-appointed Colorado Child & Family Investigator, Attorney Liken knows exactly where that line sits. Colorado Child & Family Investigator Guide.
Who should consider a prenup
Business owners
Keep the company, its growth and its debts from becoming a marital fight.
Tech and equity compensation
Stock options, RSUs and vesting schedules need clear rules on what is separate.
Second marriages and blended families
Protect what you intend for your children from a prior relationship.
Expected inheritances
Keep family money and family land in the family.
Homeowners
Decide now how a house owned before the wedding, and its equity, will be treated.
Partners carrying debt
Student loans, tax debt or business loans can stay with the person who took them on.
How Attorney Liken builds a prenup that holds
A Colorado court will refuse to enforce a premarital agreement if the party resisting it proves any of the following (C.R.S. § 14-2-309(1)):
- Consent was involuntary or the result of duress.
- The party did not have access to independent legal representation.
- The party had no independent lawyer and the agreement lacked the statutory notice of waiver of rights or a plain-language explanation of the rights being waived.
- The party did not receive adequate financial disclosure before signing.
Every agreement Attorney Liken drafts answers those four points on paper: a documented timeline with time to reflect, a written record of each party's opportunity to consult counsel, the Colorado notice of waiver of rights displayed conspicuously, and a disclosure schedule with good-faith values attached. Read the full Colorado law explainer.
Prenup questions
When does a Colorado prenup take effect?
On marriage (C.R.S. § 14-2-307). Until then it binds no one.
Does a prenup need consideration to be valid?
No. Colorado says a premarital or marital agreement is enforceable without consideration, as long as it is in a record signed by both parties (C.R.S. § 14-2-306).
Can a prenup waive spousal maintenance?
Yes, maintenance is a marital right the parties can address (C.R.S. § 14-2-302(4)). But a maintenance term can be refused enforcement insofar as it is unconscionable at the time of enforcement, decided by the court as a matter of law (C.R.S. § 14-2-309(5)).
Can we change a prenup later?
Yes. An amendment, meaning a modification or revocation, must also be in a record signed by both parties (C.R.S. §§ 14-2-302, 14-2-309(8)).
We are entering a civil union, not a marriage. Does this apply?
Yes. Colorado lets parties to a present or prospective civil union make the same kinds of agreements, and the act applies to them (C.R.S. § 14-2-303.5).
Talk it through with Attorney Liken
Pick a time and Attorney Liken calls you. Twenty minutes, no charge, no obligation. You will know whether a prenup or postnup fits your situation and what it would take.
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