Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreement Attorneys Serving Denver, Eagle County & Summit County

Lewis & Matthews, P.C. has drafted and reviewed prenuptial agreements, postnuptial agreements, and cohabitation agreements for Colorado clients for more than 30 years. Attorney Jennifer Lewis handles each engagement personally — from drafting and negotiating the agreement to advising clients on enforceability, financial disclosure, and the legal consequences of the terms they’re agreeing to. The firm serves clients in the Denver metro area, Eagle County (including Vail, Avon, and Edwards), and Summit County (including Breckenridge, Frisco, and Dillon).

A marital agreement — before or after marriage — is one of the more consequential documents a couple can sign. Done well, it creates clarity and protects both parties. Done poorly, it creates conflict and may not hold up in court. Getting it right requires an attorney who drafts these agreements regularly, understands Colorado’s enforceability requirements, and handles your matter directly.

→ Schedule a Consultation — (303) 329-3802

Colorado Marital Agreements — What They Cover

Colorado law recognizes three categories of marital agreements:

Prenuptial Agreements (also called premarital agreements) are contracts signed before marriage that become effective on the wedding date. They govern financial matters between spouses — property rights, debt allocation, maintenance, and related issues — in the event of divorce, separation, or death.

Postnuptial Agreements (also called marital agreements) are contracts signed by parties who are already married. They serve the same function as a prenuptial agreement and carry the same enforceability requirements.

Cohabitation Agreements are contracts for couples who live together but are not married. They can address property rights, financial responsibilities, and what happens to shared assets if the relationship ends — matters that would otherwise be governed by general contract law, since Colorado family law applies only to married (and common-law married) couples.

Prenuptial agreements are codified under the Colorado Uniform Premarital and Marital Agreements Act (C.R.S. § 14-2-301 through § 14-2-310); postnuptial (marital) agreements are governed by C.R.S. § 14-2-311 through § 14-2-322. Cohabitation agreements are enforced as general contracts under Colorado law.

Understanding which agreement is appropriate for your situation — and what it can and cannot legally accomplish — is the starting point for every engagement Lewis & Matthews handles.

What a Marital Agreement Can Address

Colorado law allows prenuptial and postnuptial agreements to cover a broad range of financial matters. A well-drafted agreement can address:

Separate vs. marital property. Which assets and debts each party holds before marriage remain separate property. How property acquired during the marriage will be classified and divided. Whether specific future assets — an inheritance, a business interest, or an investment account — will remain separate or become marital.

Debt allocation. Which party is responsible for pre-existing debts. How debts incurred during the marriage will be allocated between the parties. An indemnity clause protecting the non-debtor spouse from creditors of the other.

Spousal maintenance (alimony). Whether maintenance will be paid, by whom, and in what amount or for what duration — or whether the right to maintenance is waived entirely. Colorado courts will enforce maintenance provisions in a valid marital agreement, subject to the agreement being conscionable at the time of enforcement.

Property division on divorce or death. How marital property will be divided if the marriage ends. How the death of one spouse affects the surviving spouse’s rights — including adjustments to the elective share under Colorado law.

Retirement accounts. Whether retirement accounts accumulated before or during the marriage are treated as separate property, marital property, or divided according to a specific formula.

Life insurance. Obligations to maintain life insurance, beneficiary designations, and who receives policy proceeds.

Tax treatment. How joint tax returns are filed, who claims certain deductions, and how tax liabilities and refunds are allocated.

Attorneys’ fees. Which party is responsible for attorneys’ fees in the event of a dispute over the agreement or related proceedings.

Confidentiality. Restrictions on disclosing the terms of the agreement.

What a Marital Agreement Cannot Address

Marital agreements in Colorado — whether prenuptial, postnuptial, or cohabitation — cannot determine child custody, parenting time, or child support. Courts apply a best interests of the child standard that parties cannot waive in advance. Any provision attempting to predetermine custody arrangements or child support amounts is unenforceable; the court will set those issues under the applicable statutory framework regardless of what the agreement says.

→ Learn more about child custody and support in Colorado

→ Schedule a Consultation — (303) 329-3802

Enforceability Requirements Under Colorado Law

A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is only as valuable as its enforceability. Colorado courts will decline to enforce a marital agreement — in whole or in part — when specific statutory requirements are not met. Jennifer Lewis structures every engagement around satisfying these requirements at the drafting stage, because enforceability problems are far more expensive to litigate than they are to prevent.

Under the Colorado Uniform Premarital and Marital Agreements Act, a marital agreement is unenforceable if the challenging party proves:

Lack of voluntariness. The agreement was not signed voluntarily. Courts look at whether the agreement was presented at the last minute before the wedding, whether the signing party had adequate time to review it, whether pressure or coercion was involved, and whether the party had independent legal advice.

Inadequate disclosure. Each party must have received adequate and fair disclosure of the other party’s assets, income, and obligations. A party who was not given a reasonably accurate picture of the other party’s financial circumstances can challenge the agreement on that basis.

Unconscionability. If the agreement’s terms were unconscionable at the time of signing — so one-sided as to be oppressive — and the challenging party did not receive adequate disclosure, the court may refuse to enforce those terms.

Colorado also requires that both parties have access to independent legal counsel before signing. While a party may waive that right in a separate signed writing, courts scrutinize agreements where one party was unrepresented. Lewis & Matthews represents clients both in drafting agreements and in providing independent review of agreements proposed by the other party’s attorney.

Prenuptial Agreements in Colorado

A prenuptial agreement — signed before marriage, effective on the wedding date — is the clearest opportunity a couple has to define their financial relationship on their own terms before Colorado’s default statutory rules apply.

Colorado’s default rules treat most assets and income acquired during marriage as marital property, subject to equitable distribution in a divorce. Without an agreement, the court has broad discretion to divide marital property, award maintenance, and allocate debts — applying standards that may not reflect what the parties actually intended. A prenuptial agreement replaces that default framework with the parties’ own negotiated terms.

Common reasons couples draft prenuptial agreements:

• One or both parties enters the marriage with significant separate property — a business, real estate, investments, or an inheritance.
• One or both parties has children from a prior relationship and wants to protect assets intended for those children.
• The parties have significantly different incomes or earning potential and want to define maintenance expectations in advance.
• One party will leave the workforce or reduce earning capacity to support the family or household.
• One party carries significant pre-marital debt.
• The parties are remarrying after a prior divorce and want a clear framework that differs from what they experienced in that proceeding.

Drafting a prenuptial agreement requires full financial disclosure from both parties, direct negotiation, and adequate time before the wedding for both parties to review with independent counsel. Agreements presented days before the wedding without time for review face significantly higher scrutiny from Colorado courts.

→ Learn more about prenuptial agreements

Postnuptial Agreements in Colorado

A postnuptial agreement — signed after marriage — serves the same function as a prenuptial agreement but is executed when the parties are already married. Colorado courts enforce postnuptial agreements under C.R.S. § 14-2-311 through § 14-2-322, applying the same disclosure and voluntariness standards as prenuptial agreements.

Postnuptial agreements face an additional layer of scrutiny: courts are attentive to whether one spouse used financial control, emotional leverage, or unequal bargaining position to obtain unfavorable terms from the other. For this reason, independent legal representation for both parties is particularly important in postnuptial agreement drafting.

Common reasons couples draft postnuptial agreements:

• Financial circumstances have changed significantly since the marriage — a business has been built, an inheritance received, or a prior prenuptial agreement no longer reflects the parties’ current situation.
• The couple wants to resolve uncertainty about specific assets — real estate, a family business, or retirement accounts — without litigation.
• One party has taken on significant debt and the other spouse wants formal protection from liability.
• The couple is working through a difficult period in the marriage and wants to establish clear financial expectations as part of that process.
• An estate planning review has identified a need for greater clarity about what the surviving spouse will receive.

→ Learn more about postnuptial agreements

Cohabitation Agreements in Colorado

Colorado recognizes common law marriage. Couples who live together, hold themselves out as married, and intend to be married may be considered legally married under Colorado law — without ever obtaining a marriage license. If a common law marriage exists and the relationship ends, the parties must dissolve it through a formal divorce proceeding under Colorado family law.

For couples who are not married and do not intend to be, a cohabitation agreement provides contractual clarity about property rights and financial expectations during the relationship and at its end. Without such an agreement, shared property, joint purchases, and financial arrangements between unmarried partners are governed by general contract principles — which may produce results neither party anticipated.

A cohabitation agreement can address:

• Ownership of real property, vehicles, and other shared assets
• Each party’s contribution to household expenses
• How shared property is divided if the relationship ends
• What happens to property one party acquired before cohabitation began
• Financial obligations if one party supported the other’s education or career advancement

A cohabitation agreement can also clarify that the parties do not intend to be married — which matters in Colorado, where a court could otherwise find that a common law marriage exists based on the couple’s conduct and circumstances.

Cohabitation agreements cannot predetermine child custody or child support, for the same reasons prenuptial and postnuptial agreements cannot.

→ Learn more about cohabitation agreements

→ Schedule a Consultation — (303) 329-3802

The Drafting Process

Every marital agreement engagement at Lewis & Matthews follows a consistent framework — not because it is efficient, but because the framework is what produces an enforceable agreement.

Initial Consultation and Goals Assessment

The process begins with a clear conversation about what the client is trying to accomplish. What assets need to be protected? What obligations need to be defined? Is there a specific scenario — a business succession, an inheritance, a second marriage — driving the need for the agreement? Jennifer Lewis translates that information into a legal structure for the agreement.

Financial Disclosure Exchange

Both parties must disclose their financial circumstances — income, assets, debts, and obligations — with enough detail and accuracy to satisfy the voluntariness and disclosure requirements under Colorado law. Jennifer Lewis advises clients on what disclosure is required, how to document it, and what level of detail is appropriate given the complexity of the parties’ finances.

Drafting and Negotiation

Lewis & Matthews drafts the initial agreement for the party Jennifer Lewis represents. The other party’s attorney may propose revisions, which Jennifer Lewis reviews and negotiates on the client’s behalf. The process continues until both parties reach agreement on all terms.

Independent Review by the Other Party

The other party should have the agreement reviewed by independent counsel before signing. Lewis & Matthews also represents clients on this side of the process: reviewing an agreement proposed by the other party’s attorney, explaining what the client is agreeing to and what rights they may be giving up, and recommending modifications where appropriate.

Execution

The agreement must be signed by both parties in writing. For prenuptial agreements, it takes effect on the date of marriage. For postnuptial agreements, it takes effect upon signing. Both types should be signed with adequate time before any deadline — for a prenuptial agreement, well in advance of the wedding date.

Serving Denver, Eagle County & Summit County

Lewis & Matthews, P.C. operates offices in Denver and Summit County, with representation extending throughout Eagle County. The firm drafts marital agreements for clients throughout the Denver metro area and Colorado’s mountain communities — a client base that commonly includes business owners, professionals with significant separate assets, individuals entering second marriages, and couples with children from prior relationships.

DENVER METRO 1325 S Colorado Blvd, Suite 503, Denver, CO 80222 (303) 329-3802 Serving clients throughout Denver, Arapahoe, Jefferson, Douglas, and Adams counties.

SUMMIT COUNTY 114 Village Place, Suite 206, Dillon, CO 80435 (970) 468-0240 Serving Breckenridge, Frisco, Dillon, Silverthorne, Keystone, and surrounding communities.

EAGLE COUNTY (970) 468-0240 Serving Vail, Avon, Edwards, Eagle, and surrounding mountain communities.

→ Contact the Office Nearest You

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a prenuptial agreement in Colorado?

A prenuptial agreement (also called a premarital agreement) is a written contract signed before marriage that governs financial rights and obligations between spouses. In Colorado, prenuptial agreements are enforceable under C.R.S. § 14-2-301 through § 14-2-310 and become effective on the date of marriage. A valid prenuptial agreement can define separate and marital property, address spousal maintenance, govern debt allocation, and specify how property is divided in the event of divorce or death. It cannot predetermine child custody or child support.

What is a postnuptial agreement in Colorado?

A postnuptial agreement (also called a marital agreement) is a written contract signed by spouses who are already married. It serves the same purposes as a prenuptial agreement — defining property rights, maintenance, and debt allocation — but is signed during the marriage and takes effect on the date of signing. Colorado courts enforce postnuptial agreements under C.R.S. § 14-2-311 through § 14-2-322, applying the same voluntariness, disclosure, and conscionability standards as prenuptial agreements.

What makes a prenuptial agreement enforceable in Colorado?

For a prenuptial agreement to be enforceable in Colorado, it must be in writing and signed by both parties. Both parties must have signed voluntarily, without duress or undue influence. Each party must have received adequate financial disclosure from the other — including assets, income, and obligations. Each party must have had access to independent legal counsel before signing, or must have waived that right in a separate signed writing. The terms of the agreement must not be unconscionable. Agreements that fail any of these requirements are subject to challenge and may not be enforced in a Colorado court.

Can a prenuptial agreement cover spousal maintenance (alimony) in Colorado?

Yes. A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement in Colorado can define, limit, or waive spousal maintenance. The parties can agree that no maintenance will be paid, set a fixed amount or duration, or define a formula for calculating maintenance if the marriage ends. Colorado courts will enforce maintenance provisions in a valid marital agreement. However, if enforcement of a maintenance waiver would leave one spouse eligible for public assistance at the time of divorce, a court may modify or decline to enforce that provision.

Can a prenuptial agreement protect a business in Colorado?

Yes. One of the most common uses of a prenuptial agreement is to establish that a business interest — whether already owned before marriage or built during the marriage — will remain the separate property of the owning spouse in the event of divorce. The agreement can specify how the business is valued, whether appreciation in the business is separate or marital property, and whether the other spouse has any claim to business income or assets. Without an agreement, a business grown significantly during the marriage may be treated as partially or wholly marital property subject to division.

What is the difference between a prenuptial and a postnuptial agreement?

The primary difference is timing. A prenuptial agreement is signed before marriage and takes effect on the wedding date. A postnuptial agreement is signed during the marriage and takes effect on the date of signing. Both are enforceable under Colorado law and can address the same subject matter — property rights, debt allocation, maintenance, and estate-related provisions. Postnuptial agreements are sometimes scrutinized more carefully by courts due to the inherent dynamics of an existing marital relationship, which makes independent legal representation for both parties particularly important.

Does Colorado recognize common law marriage, and does it affect marital agreements?

Yes. Colorado recognizes common law marriage for couples who meet three criteria: they hold themselves out as married, they intend to be married, and they cohabitate. A common law marriage in Colorado has the same legal effect as a licensed marriage — including the requirement to dissolve it through a formal divorce proceeding if the relationship ends. Couples who are common law married can enter into a marital (postnuptial) agreement. Couples who are living together but not married may benefit from a cohabitation agreement that defines their financial relationship on explicit contractual terms — and that clarifies their intent not to be married under common law.

What is a cohabitation agreement and who needs one?

A cohabitation agreement is a written contract between unmarried partners who live together. It defines property rights, financial responsibilities, and what happens to shared assets if the relationship ends. In Colorado, where common law marriage is recognized, a cohabitation agreement can also clarify that the parties do not intend to be married — which can prevent future disputes about whether a common law marriage existed. Couples who own property together, share significant financial obligations, or have intermingled assets over time are the most common candidates for a cohabitation agreement.

Do both parties need their own attorney to sign a prenuptial agreement in Colorado?

Colorado law requires that each party have access to independent legal counsel before signing a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, or that each party waive that right in a separate signed writing. Waiving independent counsel is not advisable — particularly for the party who did not draft the agreement. Courts scrutinize agreements where one party was unrepresented, and a waiver of counsel can become evidence that the agreement was not signed voluntarily. Lewis & Matthews represents clients on both sides: drafting agreements for one party and providing independent review for the other.

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Counties We Serve

When you need help with drafting, understanding, and scrutinizing prenuptial and postnuptial agreements in the following counties, we can help:

Greater Denver Metro Area

Address: 1325 S Colorado Blvd, Suite 503, Denver, CO 80222

(303) 329-3802

Summit County and Eagle County

Address: 114 Village Place, Suite 206, Dillon, CO 80435

Phone Number: (970) 468-0240

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