Prenuptial Agreement Allows Couples to Define Their Own Terms. A prenuptial agreement enables the engaged couple to negotiate around Colorado law in order to define separate property and marital property as they wish. By means of a prenuptial agreement you can define separate property to include all income from and appreciation on your separate property. You can also protect your earned income by defining that as separate property, so that assets purchased or investments made with your earned income will remain your separate property upon divorce. If you wish to restrict your spouse's rights upon divorce to your earned income, including retirement benefits, you can do that as well.
Spouses can waive their rights to maintenance payments in a prenuptial agreement.
They can agree in a prenuptial agreement to a certain amount of maintenance to be paid to the less wealthy spouse in the event of a divorce. Finally, a prenuptial agreement can allow couples to determine what rights a surviving spouse will have upon the first spouse's death. Such a waiver ensures that the estate plan of the first spouse to die will be honored by the surviving spouse. Why Couples Choose to Alter Spousal Rights Provided by Law. Couples choose to alter their statutory rights for a number of reasons.