Premarital agreements are becoming more and more common. But does everyone need a prenup? And how do you make sure your prenup will be upheld? Do you need to hire an attorney to get a good prenup? And how long before the wedding should you be negotiating a prenup? Find out these answers and more on today’s episode, with Colorado attorney and marital agreement expert, Ryan Kalamaya.
Life is full of peaks and valleys. Ryan Kalamaya and his team meet people when they are suffering in an emotional valley and facing the prospect of climbing their own personal mountain. They sort through their baggage, help them plan their journey and guide them to the summit. Ryan is the managing partner of Kalamaya Goscha, an innovative and ambitious law firm that pushes the boundaries to discover new frontiers in family law, personal injuries, and criminal defense in Colorado. He is the co-host Divorce at Altitude: A Podcast on Colorado Family Law. Ryan specializes in divorces involving complex property valuations, including closely-held businesses, family partnerships, & trust interests, attacking or defending marital agreements, and parental relocation or high-conflict custody disputes. He was named to the Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers for 5 years before being selected to Super Lawyers for 2022. He has a 10/10 rating by Avvo where there are over 80 client reviews and testimonials.
Millennials seem to be more open to premarital agreements, possibly because they saw their parents go through a divorce; they also seem to be more pragmatic. A lot of people today are getting married a lot later in life and often then have more assets going into marriage. A lot of celebrities end up attacking or having to defend their pre-nup agreements (like Dr. Dre, Kelly Clarkson, etc.).
A premarital agreement or prenup spells out what happens if there is a divorce or death. There is also a marital or post-nup, which is created after a marriage has already started. The purpose is to lay out who gets what and to have predictability. A premarital agreement means nothing unless the spelled out scenario actually happens.
Does everyone need a prenup? Probably not. But certainly it’s never a bad idea.
What do you need to do to ensure your prenup agreement will hold up? In Utah and Colorado, there’s a uniform act. Prenups and marital agreements are a special kind of contract. They’ve been around for centuries. Their purpose was to spell out what happened in 2nd and 3rd marriages. Now we use them for divorce for 1st marriages. They have to include financial disclosures. It’s a simple net worth statement. Hiding assets will never go over well in a prenup. And they have to be voluntary. Does an attorney have to be involved to draft and file these? At least meet with an attorney to ask questions and explain any of the legal meanings if you’re going to buy a boiler-plate prenup document to sign.
Don’t wait until the last minute to negotiate premarital agreements. It’s important to have each party have an attorney. This is the best way to get an enforceable agreement. You need to be prepared to not sign a premarital agreement and walk away from the wedding if what you are being asked to sign is completely one sided. Even if you don’t feel you are bringing as much to the marriage as far as assets or potential earnings. Have the hard conversations now. And find a local and experienced attorney: family law attorney or estate planning. Ask if they’ve had any experience litigating the challenge or defense of pre-nups.
Ways to attack a premarital agreement’s validity:
- Unconscionability - may be present if the agreement is patently unfair to one party.
- failure to disclose, or
- duress and coercion.
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