Why The Fry Law Firm?
Attorney Christopher W. Fry has drafted and reviewed hundreds of prenuptial agreements on the behalf of clients over the course of his career, both at The Fry Law Firm and through his work at associated law firms. He has worked with a wide range of people: those just starting out in their adult lives who have modest wealth but big dreams, those with significant family wealth, and even those with tens or (in a few cases) hundreds of millions of dollars of assets they wish to protect.
As our client, we are committed to ensuring you understand your legal rights under a marital agreement and what might happen in the event of divorce if you did not have an agreement in place. We want to help you craft an agreement which suits your unique needs and which will be enforceable in the event you ever need to rely upon it.
What is a Prenuptial Agreement or Postnuptial Agreement?
Nobody enters a marriage planning to get divorced. But things happen.
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements allow married couples to agree ahead of time what might happen if they ever find themselves divorcing or legally separating. Prenuptial agreements are signed before the marriage, whereas postnuptial agreements are signed after the marriage. Both are equally enforceable under Colorado law.
These agreements can provide you peace of mind and allow you to determine ahead of time what will happen to your finances and property in a divorce situation. If you do not have a pre- or postnuptial agreement, you may be left with a judge applying Colorado divorce law and deciding how your finances and property are divided. Such uncertainty can not only affect your happiness and relationship during the marriage, but also your ability to focus on what might be most important during a divorce. Focusing on children or knowing what resources you will have available after a divorce can help ease the transition into life's next chapter. A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can be an anchor in the midst of uncertainty.
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements can help you determine ahead of time things like:
Reviewing Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements
If your partner has provided you with a draft agreement that you would like us to review, we are happy to help with this process. The review process typically takes 1-2 hours of attorney time. This includes an initial discussion to get to know your unique circumstances and goals for the agreement, and then a review of the draft agreement to ensure it comports with your intentions. If the agreement does not match your wishes we will propose edits and negotiate changes with your partner's attorney. If substantial changes are required or negotiations become complex then additional time may be required.
What is the Drafting Process?
When you contact us to schedule an initial appointment about drafting a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, we start by getting to know a bit about your unique situation. When do you plan to get married? What makes you interested in a marital agreement? What do your and your partner's finances look like and what are they likely to look like in the future? What are your general goals for the agreement? What are the concerns you hope to address?
After we get a basic understanding and you retain us, the next step is for you to do some homework. We will ask you to fill in a spreadsheet and provide us with an accounting of the various categories and values of your assets and debts. This will help us understand what might need to be covered by your agreement. From there we schedule a 30-40 minute telephone call to discuss in detail how you want to treat the various assets and debts you are bringing into the marriage, how finances will be treated during the marriage, and what other provisions you may wish to include in the agreement.
Once we have this information, we draft the initial agreement for you to review. Once we are both comfortable with the the draft we can share it with your spouse or soon-to-be spouse. To ensure the agreement will be enforceable, it is recommended that your spouse also retain independent legal counsel to review the agreement. This assures your partner fully understands the rights and obligations you are each gaining or waiving by signing the agreement.
KEEP IN MIND THAT IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU COMPLETE AND SIGN A PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT WELL BEFORE YOUR PLANNED MARRIAGE DATE. In some cases Colorado Courts have found prenuptial agreements signed immediately before a wedding to be unenforceable. A court might find that a party has signed the agreement under duress if there is sufficient time pressure and a party did not have ample opportunity to understand and consider the agreement they were signing. If you plan to complete a prenuptial agreement it is best to plan ahead.
(C) Copyright 2011-2025, The Fry Law Firm, LLC
Attorney Christopher W. Fry has drafted and reviewed hundreds of prenuptial agreements on the behalf of clients over the course of his career, both at The Fry Law Firm and through his work at associated law firms. He has worked with a wide range of people: those just starting out in their adult lives who have modest wealth but big dreams, those with significant family wealth, and even those with tens or (in a few cases) hundreds of millions of dollars of assets they wish to protect.
As our client, we are committed to ensuring you understand your legal rights under a marital agreement and what might happen in the event of divorce if you did not have an agreement in place. We want to help you craft an agreement which suits your unique needs and which will be enforceable in the event you ever need to rely upon it.
What is a Prenuptial Agreement or Postnuptial Agreement?
Nobody enters a marriage planning to get divorced. But things happen.
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements allow married couples to agree ahead of time what might happen if they ever find themselves divorcing or legally separating. Prenuptial agreements are signed before the marriage, whereas postnuptial agreements are signed after the marriage. Both are equally enforceable under Colorado law.
These agreements can provide you peace of mind and allow you to determine ahead of time what will happen to your finances and property in a divorce situation. If you do not have a pre- or postnuptial agreement, you may be left with a judge applying Colorado divorce law and deciding how your finances and property are divided. Such uncertainty can not only affect your happiness and relationship during the marriage, but also your ability to focus on what might be most important during a divorce. Focusing on children or knowing what resources you will have available after a divorce can help ease the transition into life's next chapter. A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can be an anchor in the midst of uncertainty.
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements can help you determine ahead of time things like:
- will I get to keep the property I bring into the marriage it if I get divorced?
- what happens if property I bring into the marriage increases in value while I'm married?
- should our incomes during the marriage be considered a marital asset or shall it remain the separate property of the person who earns it?
- how do we want to share and contribute toward our joint living expenses?
- what happens if my new spouse moves into my premarital home? Do they get half of the house value if we get divorced?
- should one of us be entitled to ask for spousal support (maintenance/alimony) if we ever divorce?
- who is responsible for what debts if we ever divorce?
- do I keep all of my retirement account or pension if we separate?
- who gets to stay in the marital residence if we separate and can't agree?
- should we defer to our state's spousal inheritance statutes or do we want to choose who inherits any of our separate property?
- what happens if I inherit assets from family members and then get divorced?
- how should the agreement be interpreted if we get married in Colorado but move out of state?
Reviewing Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements
If your partner has provided you with a draft agreement that you would like us to review, we are happy to help with this process. The review process typically takes 1-2 hours of attorney time. This includes an initial discussion to get to know your unique circumstances and goals for the agreement, and then a review of the draft agreement to ensure it comports with your intentions. If the agreement does not match your wishes we will propose edits and negotiate changes with your partner's attorney. If substantial changes are required or negotiations become complex then additional time may be required.
What is the Drafting Process?
When you contact us to schedule an initial appointment about drafting a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, we start by getting to know a bit about your unique situation. When do you plan to get married? What makes you interested in a marital agreement? What do your and your partner's finances look like and what are they likely to look like in the future? What are your general goals for the agreement? What are the concerns you hope to address?
After we get a basic understanding and you retain us, the next step is for you to do some homework. We will ask you to fill in a spreadsheet and provide us with an accounting of the various categories and values of your assets and debts. This will help us understand what might need to be covered by your agreement. From there we schedule a 30-40 minute telephone call to discuss in detail how you want to treat the various assets and debts you are bringing into the marriage, how finances will be treated during the marriage, and what other provisions you may wish to include in the agreement.
Once we have this information, we draft the initial agreement for you to review. Once we are both comfortable with the the draft we can share it with your spouse or soon-to-be spouse. To ensure the agreement will be enforceable, it is recommended that your spouse also retain independent legal counsel to review the agreement. This assures your partner fully understands the rights and obligations you are each gaining or waiving by signing the agreement.
KEEP IN MIND THAT IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU COMPLETE AND SIGN A PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT WELL BEFORE YOUR PLANNED MARRIAGE DATE. In some cases Colorado Courts have found prenuptial agreements signed immediately before a wedding to be unenforceable. A court might find that a party has signed the agreement under duress if there is sufficient time pressure and a party did not have ample opportunity to understand and consider the agreement they were signing. If you plan to complete a prenuptial agreement it is best to plan ahead.
(C) Copyright 2011-2025, The Fry Law Firm, LLC