In 2026, a prenuptial agreement typically costs between $600 and $10,000 or more per couple, depending on how it is created. Do-it-yourself templates run about $600. Software-drafted agreements with attorney review run $2,000 and up. Traditional hourly attorneys run $2,500 to $10,000 or more, billed by the hour.
Prenups.com drafts and negotiates prenups in more than 30 states for a flat $3,500, with no hourly billing. Negotiated agreements, where we negotiate the terms with your partner’s attorney, are a flat $5,000. Your partner’s independent counsel is separate.
The largest driver of prenup cost is whether the attorney bills hourly or charges a flat fee. Complexity, spousal-support waivers, and business interests add cost under either model.
Beyond billing model, four things move the price:
How the agreement is created (a template, software, or an attorney).
How complex the finances are (a business, equity compensation, real estate, or an expected inheritance all add drafting work).
Whether the agreement will be negotiated between two attorneys.
The state, because state law sets requirements that change how much attorney work is involved.
A prenup drafted by a licensed attorney who knows your state’s enforceability rules is a fundamentally different product from an online template. A $3,500 agreement that holds up in court is worth more than a $600 template that does not.
| Approach | Typical cost (per couple) | When a lawyer gets involved | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY online template | $600 | Never | Simple finances, no major assets, willing to risk enforceability |
| Software-drafted + attorney review | $2,000 and up | After the document is generated | Couples who have already agreed on every term and want it documented |
| Attorney-drafted, flat fee (Prenups.com) | $3,500 flatplus independent review for your partner | From the first conversation, before anything is drafted | Couples who want an attorney to design the agreement around their goals, at a predictable price |
| Traditional hourly attorney | $2,500 to $10,000+ | From the first conversation | Couples with an existing attorney relationship, open-ended budget |
This is the question the price ranges hide, and it matters more than the price.
With a template, the answer is never. You are trusting that a generic document satisfies your state’s signing, disclosure, and timing rules.
With software-drafted agreements, the answer is after. The platform generates the document from a questionnaire, and an attorney can be added to review what the software wrote. The attorney is explaining a finished document, not building one around your situation.
With an attorney-drafted agreement, the answer is before anything is drafted.
At Prenups.com, the process starts with a consultation about your finances, your state, and what you are trying to protect. The agreement is then built around that conversation. Every agreement we prepare includes a licensed attorney in your state as counsel of record from the first draft through signing. In our experience, every client finishes with provisions they had not thought to ask for, because the conversation happens before the drafting instead of after it.
For a prenup to hold up, each partner should have independent legal advice, and in some states it is effectively required. Sharing one attorney is among the most common reasons courts strike agreements down, because one lawyer cannot loyally represent two people negotiating against each other.
Prenups.com represents one partner from the first conversation. For your partner, we provide a referral to an independent attorney licensed in your state, typically $1,500 and up depending on complexity, so the agreement is negotiated properly without either of you paying two full drafting fees. On a per-couple basis, a fully negotiated Prenups.com agreement with independent review on both sides typically lands between $5,000 and $6,500 or more, comparable to what platforms charge for two network attorneys, with the difference that the attorney who drafts your agreement is the one who negotiates it.
Prenup pricing follows state law. Every state page below covers that state’s specific requirements, typical costs, and what changes the price there.
California effectively requires independent counsel when an agreement limits spousal support, and imposes a seven-day waiting period between final terms and signing, so California prenups are negotiated agreements; ours are a flat $5,000 there. Community-property states (California, Texas, Washington, and six others) treat marital property differently from equitable-distribution states, which changes what a prenup needs to say. Community property vs. equitable division, explained.
Hourly billing means the price is set by how long your lawyer takes, and you find out at the end. Working with a flat fee attorney means the price is set before the work begins, and the incentive to slow down disappears. Couples planning a wedding are already managing enough open-ended budgets. Why our prenups cost more than a $600 template covers what is inside the fee.
“A $3,500 agreement that holds up in court is worth more than a $600 template that does not.”
For context: the average American wedding now runs well over $30,000 according to The Knot’s Real Weddings Study. A $3,500 prenup is roughly a tenth of that, and it is the only wedding expense designed to still be working for you in year twenty of the marriage. It is also, in our view, the item on the list most likely to make the marriage stronger, because of what it sets up during the marriage, not what it divides at the end. Our agreements build in the financial operating rules, including an annual review where you look at the numbers together and reset goals, using the framework from The Prenup Prescription.
Most couples who involve an attorney pay between $2,000 and $5,000 in 2026. DIY templates cost about $600 but frequently fail state requirements, software-drafted agreements with review run $2,000 and up, and hourly attorneys run $2,500 to $10,000 or more. Prenups.com charges a flat $3,500 to draft and negotiate a prenup.
Think of a prenup as a financial plan and an insurance policy in one. For a one-time flat $3,500, you get the money rules you will actually live by during the marriage and a fixed, private outcome if it ever ends. Compared with what a contested divorce costs in legal fees, time, and disclosure fights, the agreement typically pays for itself many times over, and it keeps working for as long as the marriage lasts.
A prenup defines what is separate property and what is marital, sets or waives spousal support within your state’s limits, and can establish the financial rules of the marriage itself: how income flows, how large purchases get discussed, and how you review finances together each year. It cannot decide child custody or child support.
A template can be a false economy. Most failures are procedural: missed disclosure schedules, wrong signing formalities, blown timing rules like California’s seven-day period. An agreement thrown out in a divorce costs far more than it saved. A $3,500 agreement that holds up in court is worth more than a $600 template that does not.
Each partner should have independent advice, and some states effectively require it when support is waived. Prenups.com represents one partner from the first conversation and refers the other to an independent attorney licensed in your state, typically $1,500 and up depending on complexity. One shared lawyer for both partners is a common reason agreements fail.
If your partner reviews the agreement without requesting attorney-negotiated changes, the Prenups.com flat fee is $3,500 plus your partner’s independent review. If their attorney negotiates revisions, the Negotiated tier is a flat $5,000, with your partner’s attorney billed separately by their side. Either way our number is fixed before the work starts.
Agreements involving businesses, equity compensation, trusts, or significant real estate need more drafting and financial-disclosure work. Hourly firms commonly quote $10,000 to $50,000 per person. The Prenups.com Platinum tier starts at $10,000 flat, including negotiation and coordination with your financial advisors.
Prenups are not filed with a court; they take effect at the marriage. Our flat fee covers consultation, drafting, revisions, negotiation per your tier, and signing coordination, including notarization logistics where your state requires it.
Start 60 to 90 days before the wedding. Timing does not change our flat fee, but it changes enforceability: agreements signed days before a wedding invite duress challenges, and California requires seven days between final terms and signing. Earlier is stronger.
Founder of Prenups.com and author of The Prenup Prescription. Harvard Law School graduate, admitted to the Georgia Bar in 2003. Aaron has represented athletes, entertainers, founders, and everyday couples in prenuptial and postnuptial matters across the country.
Rebecca Ritchey, Esq. is the COO of Prenups.com and a partner in the firm, admitted to the California Bar in 2009.
