Can You Revoke a Prenuptial Agreement?

A prenuptial agreement is a legal contract signed before marriage. It establishes a structure for each spouse’s protection should the marriage end in divorce or death and outlines each party’s financial responsibilities and boundaries during the marriage. While prenups are more common when one or both spouses come into a marriage with substantial assets, any engaged couple may choose to sign a prenuptial agreement before marriage for a variety of reasons.

A well-executed prenuptial agreement is legally binding and enforceable. While it’s possible to change your mind about living happily ever after with a spouse, it’s far more complex when you change your mind about a signed prenuptial agreement.

How Binding Is a Prenuptial Agreement?

Since Colorado enacted the 2014 Uniform Premarital and Marital Agreement Act outlining the parameters for a legally enforceable prenuptial agreement by specifying what such a document can and cannot include for legal soundness, contracts made since that date are far less likely to be revocable. A judge is more apt to find cause to overturn a prenup from before that date.

When a prenuptial agreement is carefully crafted, signed by both parties, and notarized before their marriage, it takes effect as soon as they are married. If the prenuptial agreement is well-executed by experienced attorneys and the couple who signed the contract becomes legally married, the signed agreement becomes enforceable.

Judges typically uphold the contract if one party later disputes one or more of the terms of the agreement in court, or tries to revoke it. Only under limited circumstances will a judge overturn a prenuptial agreement in a family law case.

What Is the Threshold for Overturning a Prenuptial Agreement?

A divorcing spouse may dispute the terms of their prenuptial agreement later—most commonly the pre-agree-upon division of their marital assets. Typically, a judge will only decide to allow a spouse to revoke their prenuptial agreement under the following circumstances:

• Both spouses agree to overturn the prenup and sign a document stipulating the agreement
• Both spouses negotiate the terms through their attorneys to reach an agreement to depart from the terms of the prenup due to substantial changes in their financial situation since signing the contract
• One spouse shows evidence that they signed the prenup under duress, such as threats and intimidation that caused fear of physical or emotional harm
• One spouse asserts that they did not have adequate time to consult with their attorney or lacked access to an attorney’s guidance when creating or signing the prenup
• The agreement wasn’t drafted correctly, such as failing to include a notice of waiver of rights if one spouse signed the prenup without having an attorney
• One spouse’s financial disclosure used to create the prenuptial agreement did not accurately represent their assets or debts
• One spouse intentionally hid their assets or debts during the financial disclosure 
• When a judge determines that the terms specified in the agreement are so egregiously unfair to one spouse that they are “unconscionable”

Prenuptial agreements are only legally binding when both parties enter into the agreement willingly, with legal representation, and when they fully and accurately disclose their assets and debts.

How Can a Colorado Prenuptial Agreement Attorney Help Me?

If you are facing a divorce in Colorado and feel that you have reason to overturn aspects of your prenuptial agreement or wish to revoke the prenup completely, call Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C., the Colorado prenuptial agreement lawyers with the knowledge, resources, and experience to evaluate your case and advise you of your legal options.