When you find love and decide to get married, the last thing you want to think about is divorce. Perhaps, this explains why a marital agreement is usually hard to fathom for most newly-married couples.
Entering into a marital agreement before marriage does not imply that you have trust issues as a couple. Rather, it implies that you are being forthright about your current relationship and are keen to make arrangements for your future. It also helps protect your family’s generational wealth or family business. And, if either of you have a child from a prior relationship, it ensures your child’s inheritance is protected, rather than going directly to the new spouse.
What Is A Prenuptial Agreement and How Does It Work in Colorado?
Also known as prenup, a marital agreement can be considered a binding contract that spells out the rights and responsibilities of each party as they get into marriage. It can also include clauses on post-marriage support and inheritance.
In Colorado, all marital agreements are made must adopt the stipulated law. This is the legal document that standardizes all premises of premarital contracts. To be valid, a marital agreement must:
- Be in writing, not verbal
- Duly signed by both parties
- Include a mention that both parties entered into the agreement voluntarily
- Be fair, reasonable, and not unconscionable
- Advise that both parties had access to independent legal counsel
- Include a plain language advisement of waivers of rights
- Include a fair and reasonable disclosure by each party regarding assets, debts, and income
- Cannot include a reduction or eliminate child support
- Cannot be against public policy (cannot punish a spouse for initiating divorce or restrict remedies for victims of domestic violence)
Also, while preparing the prenuptial agreement, both parties are required to disclose their assets as well as any existing financial obligations. Finally, a Colorado prenup agreement can only take effect after marriage. A cohabitation agreement should be considered if you share assets, debts, or income and do not intend to marry.
What A Prenup Can Cover In Colorado
A couple has the liberty to decide the content and scope of their prenup agreement as long as those considerations are legal. A basic prenup agreement can outline the following:
- How assets and debts will be shared should the marriage end by divorce
- How assets and debts will be shared should the marriage end by death
- Whether each party will need to create a will to provide further support to the prenup agreements
- How each spouse’s retirement plans, and employee benefits will be shared
- Future spousal support payments
- Future rights for attorney fees
- Any other provisions as long as they do not conflict with Colorado state laws
What You Can’t Put In A Prenup
One reason that prenups are sometimes thrown out of court is that they contain provisions but you’re not permitted to put in that prenup. It’s very important to understand this both while drafting the document and after the fact, if you believe that a mistake may have led you to create an invalid prenuptial agreement. So what are some of the things that cannot go in the document?
1. Anything relating to child custody
You can never make child custody decisions in a prenuptial agreement. This would not be in the child’s best interests and it would not be fair to them. Even if your spouse agreed to give up custody or something of this nature, the court is not going to honor that and will simply make the custody decision during your case.
2. Assets that would leave them destitute
It’s also important that your spouse doesn’t leave the marriage with absolutely nothing. Even if they technically agreed to a prenup saying that you would get 100% of the assets in a divorce, the court is not going to do something that would leave them destitute. This is to protect someone from signing a very unfair prenuptial agreement just because they desperately want to get married and then losing everything that they own in the divorce.
3. Moving through your divorce
The divorce process can be complex, whether you have a prenup or not. As you can see from the above, just the mere presence of a prenuptial agreement does not necessarily dictate exactly what is going to happen. This can still be a complicated process with a lot of different steps that need to be taken to ensure that everything is done properly.
Should Elderly Divorced Couples Get A Prenup?
Most people think of newlyweds as young couples moving into new homes fresh from their honeymoon and ready to start families, but statistics show that as many as 50% of single individuals over age 65 remarry. It’s never too late for a fresh start, including finding the person you want by your side during your golden years.
With today’s medical advances, many people enjoy good health and remain active far into their senior years. But when walking down the aisle late in life, many aging or elderly individuals bring with them significant assets and savings gathered over a lifetime and/or left to them by a deceased spouse.
Should betrothed elderly individuals go into new marriages with pre-nuptial agreements to protect their individual assets? Many financial experts say prenups are more important than ever during late-in-life marriages.
Contact A Denver Prenuptial Agreement Attorney Today
If you are in a position where you are wondering whether you need a prenuptial agreement or not, you may have questions. And one of these questions is what you should or should not include in your prenuptial contract. If this describes your situation, then you need a Denver prenuptial agreement attorney to help you create a prenup agreement that will safeguard your interests.