There are a variety of reasons a person might seek a pre-marital or marital agreement: preservation of an existing estate for children from a prior relationship, preservation of pre-marital property with its income and accumulations as separate property, a bad experience with a prior divorce, a willingness to share property but only after a certain period of time and the like.

Parties may make agreements as to financial matters arising out of their marriage either prior to the marriage or at any time after the marriage. Such agreements may conform to or alter Colorado law regarding the ownership of property and debt obligation both during the marriage and after, whether by divorce or death. Agreements may be made as to spousal support and attorneys’ fees arising from a dissolution of marriage action, but these two specific agreements will only be upheld if they are fair at the time of divorce.

Because the effectiveness of such agreements is dependent upon complete financial and legal disclosure between the parties, each must generally have counsel, even if one party pays for the other’s attorney. Furthermore, there must be sufficient time for the parties to thoroughly discuss the issues to be addressed in such agreements and to achieve a willingness to execute the agreement. Thus, the hectic 30 days before a wedding is not the best time to be negotiating, drafting and executing such agreements.