The Denver prenuptial agreement attorneys at Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C. can help you craft your prenuptial agreement to ensure that it is valid and legally enforceable should you ever need to use it. Contact us today to schedule a consultation with a family law attorney in Denver, Colorado.
A prenuptial agreement is a popular type of legal document used mainly for protecting property in a divorce in Colorado. While no couple anticipates getting divorced on their wedding day, sometimes the unexpected happens. A prenuptial agreement can protect you and your assets from unforeseen circumstances.
The experienced Denver divorce attorneys at Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C. are here for you for all family law matters, including creating a legal, enforceable prenuptial agreement. We offer the following advantages through our legal counsel:
Our firm’s promise to prioritize your objectives throughout the process of creating a prenuptial agreement makes us the legal representatives you can count on for this and any future family law matters that may arise.
A prenuptial agreement, also referred to as a premarital agreement or prenup, is a legally binding document that lays out the terms for divorce should the couple’s marriage end. It is typically used to protect one person’s assets, such as a spouse who owns a great deal of property, owns a business, has a high amount of income or savings, or wishes to be protected from absorbing the other person’s debt in the event of a divorce or legal separation.
A prenup can cover many different areas of a divorce case, including property division, debt division, insurance policies, beneficiaries and alimony. It will determine how you and your spouse deal with these issues in a divorce without requiring you to attend mediation or a trial. It is often easier to work out these details prior to the split, while you and your spouse are more willing to communicate and compromise.
Contrary to popular belief, prenuptial agreements are not only for the rich and famous. These documents can provide important protection to anyone who wishes to preserve assets, earnings and property in the event of a divorce – or anyone who wants to enjoy total peace of mind on the day of their wedding, no matter what the future holds.
A prenup also does not mean that one party doesn’t have faith that the marriage will last. It is simply a good idea to prepare for the worst-case scenario so that you’re never stuck in a bad financial situation. A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is especially important if you have high-value assets that you wish to protect.
Under Colorado’s equitable division law, a judge will divide property in a way that is fair (but not necessarily equal) in a divorce case that goes to trial. A prenup can allow you to choose your own property division rules far in advance of a divorce in Denver. It can help you and your spouse avoid costly and time-consuming arguments and a trial should your marriage ever be dissolved.
It’s extremely important to make sure your prenuptial agreement is legally valid. Otherwise, you might discover that it’s not enforceable at the worst possible time – when you’re already getting divorced and it’s too late to protect your assets. All prenups in Colorado must be in writing, disclose all property and assets, and bear the signatures of both parties.
Both parties must enter into the agreement knowingly and voluntarily, and your spouse must have had the opportunity to obtain independent counsel in the week before signing. Finally, the agreement must not violate any laws or public policy. The best way to ensure the validity of your prenuptial agreement is to have an attorney draft it for you.
When a prenuptial agreement is in writing, both parties fully disclose their assets, each spouse has ample time to hire counsel and review the document, and it’s signed and notarized with no hint of duress, it’s legally enforceable. If one spouse wishes to overturn the prenuptial agreement and you cannot both agree to follow the contract’s terms, there are several options for enforcement.
First, you could attempt to negotiate with your spouse to avoid court. This requires hiring attorneys and attending mediation to resolve disputes. If you are unable to reach a mutual agreement on new terms that depart from the prenup, then you will have to go to court to present your arguments to a judge.
A prenuptial agreement puts a structure in place for the possibility of a future divorce or the death of one of the spouses. A prenuptial agreement in Colorado may include terms for the following:
Many spouses also include in their prenup terms that define each spouse’s financial responsibilities during the marriage, for example, an agreement to consult with each other before making large purchases.
A spouse may challenge a prenuptial agreement by showing evidence of any of the following:
One spouse may also challenge a prenuptial agreement’s validity by asserting that they signed the agreement under duress. Duress may include threats, intimidation, or producing the prenup for a partner to sign the day before, or immediately before, the wedding with a real or implied threat of calling off the wedding if the partner doesn’t agree to sign.
If you and your spouse are curious about whether a prenuptial agreement is right for you, discuss it in more detail with a Denver prenuptial agreement lawyer from Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C. We can craft a strong and impenetrable prenuptial or postnuptial agreement to protect your assets against all future possibilities. Please call (303) 451-0300 or send us an online message today and we’ll get back to you right away to discuss your legal needs.
