It settles property, debt, maintenance, and parenting in one document. The property terms are close to final once the decree enters, which is why the gaps are what cost you.
A separation agreement is the written contract that resolves a case when the spouses settle. That makes the drafting more consequential than the litigation most people worry about.
What the Agreement Is, and What Happens When It Is Approved
Colorado expressly authorizes divorcing spouses to settle maintenance, the disposition of property, and the allocation of parental responsibilities, support, and parenting time in a written separation agreement.1 Despite the name, you do not need a legal separation to use one.
It is the standard settlement document in a Colorado divorce, and it is also what a legal separation uses when a couple wants the terms without ending the marriage.
What happens on approval is a choice the agreement makes, and most people never notice it. Unless the agreement provides otherwise, its terms are set forth in the decree and you are ordered to perform them.
Terms set forth in the decree are then enforced by the remedies available for a judgment, including contempt, rather than as contract terms. An agreement can instead say its terms are not set forth in the decree. The decree then identifies the agreement and records that the court found the terms not unconscionable.
Property and Debt
The agreement should identify every marital asset and debt, assign each one, and state the values used. Colorado divides marital property equitably, meaning fairly in light of the statutory factors rather than automatically in half.2 That same section governs if a court later has to allocate something the agreement missed.
What a complete property section covers
Real estate, including who keeps the home, the refinancing deadline, and what happens if refinancing fails. Retirement accounts and pensions, including the division method, the valuation date, and who prepares any order the plan requires.
Bank, brokerage, and business interests with valuation dates stated rather than assumed. Debts assigned by name and account number, with protection if the responsible spouse stops paying.
Then taxes: filing status for the final year, who claims which dependents, and capital gains exposure on anything being transferred. Those terms sit on top of the equitable split that Colorado property division produces, and they can change what a share is actually worth.
The debt point people learn too late
Creditors are not parties to your divorce. A decree assigning a joint debt to your spouse does not stop the lender coming after you when payments stop, because the lending contract is unchanged.
Agreements handle that with refinancing requirements, payoff deadlines, and indemnification. Without those, the decree gives you a claim against your former spouse and nothing against the bank.
Have an agreement in front of you?
Property terms are close to final once the decree enters, so review before signing is worth more than review afterward. Schedule a free consultation with Johnson Law Group and we will read it for the gaps that cause the expensive problems.
Parenting and Child Support
Where there are children, the agreement works alongside a parenting plan covering decision-making, the regular schedule, holidays, and exchanges. Child support has to be calculated under the Colorado guidelines, and the worksheet should travel with the agreement.3 Specificity here is conflict prevention rather than distrust.
You cannot bargain child support away. The court reviews child-related terms independently rather than treating them as settled, and the guideline figure is where Colorado child support starts.
The parenting section should track a complete Colorado parenting plan, which covers the schedule, decision-making, and how disputes get resolved.
Maintenance
Maintenance terms should state the amount, the duration, the payment method, and the events that end the obligation. Three of those operate by default. Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly provided in the decree, maintenance ends on the death of either party or the recipient’s remarriage or civil union.4
How explicit that agreement has to be is currently unsettled. A 2025 Court of Appeals decision held the writing need only show the intent expressly or by clear implication. It declined to follow an earlier division that read the statute to require express language, and the Supreme Court granted review in May 2026.5
The drafting advice is the same under either reading, which is why it is worth following now. Say it plainly if you want Colorado alimony to continue past remarriage, because silence does not preserve it.
Colorado also lets you decide whether maintenance can be changed later. Except for terms concerning children, the decree may expressly preclude or limit modification if the agreement so provides.
That choice cuts both ways and should be made deliberately. Locking the figure protects you from a reduction and also from an increase.
The Gaps That Cost the Most
The same omissions turn up in agreements that fall apart years later. Retirement accounts divided equally with no division mechanics, no valuation date, and nobody assigned to prepare the order the plan requires.
A house awarded to one spouse with no refinancing deadline and no remedy when the deadline passes. Values that were guessed, or assets the two of you agreed to deal with later.
Joint debts assigned without indemnification or a payoff requirement. Nothing about taxes, insurance, or what happens if a spouse dies while still owing maintenance.
These are expensive because property terms are close to final. A property disposition may not be revoked or modified unless conditions exist that justify reopening a judgment, which is a demanding standard.6
The Five-Year Rule, and What It Does Not Do
For hidden assets the most useful route is narrower than it sounds. Where the required disclosures contain misstatements or omissions, the court retains jurisdiction for five years after the final decree to allocate material assets or liabilities.7 The omission has to materially affect the division, and the rule does not displace other remedies available by law.
A motion also has to explain with particularity why relief is warranted. It may rely on allegations made on information and belief, but one resting only on those risks being dismissed outright.8 The reach-back does not apply to maintenance either.
One drafting point belongs in any review. Agreements sometimes include broad releases of future claims, so ask whether yours would reach this remedy before you sign it.
The rule protects you from concealment. It does not rescue a deal you understood and signed anyway.
How a Court Reviews It
Your terms on property, debt, and maintenance bind the court unless it finds them unconscionable after considering the economic circumstances of the parties. Terms concerning children never bind the court, which reviews them on its own.
If the court finds the agreement unconscionable it can send you back to revise it or make its own orders. Agreements that are incomplete or internally inconsistent draw the same treatment, which delays the decree.
Approval is not a substitute for having your own attorney read it. The court checks for basic fairness and completeness and does not negotiate a better deal for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What goes into a Colorado separation agreement?
Division of all marital property and debt, maintenance terms, and where there are children, parenting and child support provisions consistent with the guidelines. Complete agreements also cover taxes, refinancing deadlines, insurance, and how terms are enforced.
Does a judge have to approve it?
Yes. The court reviews the financial terms for unconscionability and reviews child-related terms independently. Unless the agreement says otherwise, its terms are then set forth in the decree and the parties are ordered to perform them.
Can a separation agreement be changed after the divorce?
Child-related terms can be modified when the legal standards are met, and maintenance may be modifiable depending on what the agreement says. Property and debt terms are close to final, because a property disposition cannot be revoked or modified absent conditions justifying reopening a judgment.
What if my spouse hid an asset?
Where the disclosures contain misstatements or omissions, the court keeps jurisdiction for five years after the decree to allocate material assets or liabilities whose omission materially affects the division. A motion must explain with particularity why relief is warranted, and the remedy does not reach maintenance.
Does maintenance stop if my former spouse remarries?
Yes, by default. Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly provided in the decree, maintenance ends on the death of either party or the recipient’s remarriage or civil union. Colorado courts currently disagree on how explicit that agreement must be, and the Supreme Court has taken the question up, so say it plainly.
Have Your Agreement Reviewed Before You Sign
Most of the damage in these documents is done by what is absent rather than by what is wrong. A reader can be comfortable with every sentence and still be exposed by the four things nobody wrote down.
Johnson Law Group reviews settlement terms before they become a court order, and you can learn more about our approach on our Colorado family law page. You can find our offices in Denver, Colorado Springs, Commerce City, Englewood, and Fort Collins, with virtual consultations available.
You can also read about the background and experience of the attorneys on our team. Schedule a free consultation and bring the draft with you.
Sources
[2] C.R.S. § 14-10-113 – disposition of property; marital property is divided equitably, and this section governs even when a court later allocates a misstated or omitted asset | https://colorado.public.law/statutes/crs_14-10-113
[3] C.R.S. § 14-10-115 – child support guidelines | https://colorado.public.law/statutes/crs_14-10-115
[4] C.R.S. § 14-10-122 – modification and termination; unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly provided in the decree, future maintenance terminates on the death of either party or the recipient’s remarriage or civil union, and a property disposition may not be revoked or modified absent conditions justifying reopening a judgment | https://colorado.public.law/statutes/crs_14-10-122
[5] In re Marriage of Clark, 2025 COA 75 (No. 24CA1713, Aug. 28, 2025) – holding that the writing need only expressly or by clear implication show the parties’ intent, and declining to follow In re Marriage of Cerrone, 2021 COA 116; the Colorado Supreme Court granted review in May 2026 | https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/system/files/opinions-2025-08/24CA1713-PD.pdf
[6] C.R.C.P. 60(b) – relief from a judgment or order, the route C.R.S. § 14-10-122(1)(a) refers to when it speaks of conditions justifying the reopening of a judgment | https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/self-help/rules
[7] C.R.C.P. 16.2(e)(10) – duty of disclosure; where disclosure contains misstatements or omissions the court retains jurisdiction for five years after the final decree to allocate material assets or liabilities whose omission materially affects the division, and the rule does not limit other remedies available by law | https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/self-help/rules
[8] In re Marriage of Durie, 2020 CO 7 – a motion under C.R.C.P. 16.2(e)(10) must satisfy the particularity requirement of C.R.C.P. 7(b)(1); it may include allegations on information and belief, but one resting exclusively on those risks dismissal | https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/co-supreme-court/2044212.html