How Much Does A Prenuptial Agreement Cost?

The cost of hiring an attorney for a prenup may be under $1,000 or over $10,000. While all prenups have similar requirements, the cost can vary depending on the complexity of the client's situation, the amount of negotiation, and number of revisions.

What Goes Into Creating a Prenup Agreement?

The prenup process consists of the attorney interviewing the client, collecting his or her financial information, drafting the agreement, negotiating, revising, and reviewing the final agreement with the client.

Any of these steps can take more time than expected. Questions often come up throughout the process that requires time for the attorney to answer. Also, clients change their minds about what they want as they gain more knowledge of the issues.

There's no way to know at the beginning how this will play out. Every client and every prenup is different. It's vitally important that the client understands every aspect of the agreement and is comfortable signing it.

How Do Attorneys Bill for Prenuptial Agreements?

An attorney can represent a prenup client for a flat fee or charge by the hour. The attorney may only offer one of these or give the client the option of choosing. Either method has positive and negative aspects for both the client and the attorney.

Under an hourly-rate structure, an attorney gets paid for his or her time. Any amount of time an attorney spends on your prenup is billed to you. If you and your fiancé/fiancée are in agreement on the terms of your prenup and don't make too many changes, the attorney time and your cost can be minimized.

However, the more negotiation and revisions there are the more expensive it's going to be. If you change your mind about something halfway through the process, it's going to take time and money to alter the agreement.

In a flat fee arrangement, the attorney estimates the time it will take and charges a set rate. No matter how much time it takes, the cost is locked in at the beginning. But there is no partial refund if the entire process is completed quickly.

A prenup should only take a few months to complete and possibly require a few revisions. Attorneys don't want to work on a flat fee if it takes ten months and fifteen revisions. This is beyond the scope of reasonable expectations for representing a client for a flat fee prenup agreement.

To prevent clients from getting carried away and taking an unfair amount of the attorney's time, there is usually some kind of limit on the services included in the flat fee. If the agreement is not completed in a certain amount of time or there are too many revisions, there may be extra charges.

As a client, you have to decide which fee structure you are more comfortable with. When choosing an attorney, you may want to discuss how they approach the process and their fee structure.

A Prenup Requires an Attorney for Each of You

One attorney can't represent both you and your fiancé/fiancée. It's not feasible under the laws related to prenup agreements or the ethical rules for attorneys because it's considered a conflict of interest.

Each of you needs someone to advise you and advocate for what is best for you. Even though you may have a positive relationship and aren't looking to "win" the negotiation at the expense of the other, you still need to look out for yourself.

If one of you can't afford an attorney for the prenup, the other one can pay for it. This may sound like a conflict, but it does not allow the one paying to have any say in choosing the other's attorney, their fees, or the advice given. Your fiancé/fiancée is just paying the bill.

A Prenup Agreement Is Potentially a Multi-Million-Dollar Contract

A prenuptial agreement can affect how income is allocated between you and your spouse for as long as you're married. Is that income going to be owned by one or both of you?

If there's a divorce, will that money be split equally or will most or all of it go to one of you? How much spousal support will be paid and for how long? The answers to these questions have a big impact on your future wealth and should be addressed in a prenuptial agreement.

If there is a death, will one spouse get all the assets and property? Will other relatives be excluded? Again, the answers to these questions will likely be addressed in a prenuptial agreement.

It's important to weigh all of the above factors when considering hiring an attorney to draft a prenup. The potential effect on your later finances can be significant.