Prenuptial Agreement Cost Calculator

Drafting a prenup usually involves two lawyers — one for each party — plus financial disclosure. Typical billing: 8-15 hours per side at 250-500/hour, plus 500-2,000 for disclosure and schedules. That puts typical total cost in the 4,000-15,000 range. Complexity drives cost: more assets, cross-border issues, or prior marriages all push it up.

Legal-cost estimator.

A worked example

Try the defaults: party a legal hours of 10, party a hourly rate of 350, party b legal hours of 10, party b hourly rate of 350. The tool returns 8,000.00. You can adjust any input and the result updates as you type — no submit button, no reload. That's the real power here: seeing how sensitive the output is to one or two assumptions.

What moves the number most

The result responds to Party A Legal Hours, Party A Hourly Rate, Party B Legal Hours, Party B Hourly Rate, and Disclosure & Valuation.

The formula behind this

Hours × rate for each party's representation plus any disclosure costs. Assumes independent legal advice on both sides — which is the standard requirement for the agreement to hold up. Everything the calculator does is shown in the formula box below, so you can check the math against your own spreadsheet if you want.

What the number doesn't include

Life events generate side costs: time off work, travel for guests, aftercare, lost weekends. The figure here covers the direct costs. Noting the indirect ones alongside avoids the post-event surprise.

What this doesn't capture

Life events generate side costs the figure doesn't include: time off work, lost income, travel for others, aftercare. Add 10–15% to the direct number as a buffer; the items you haven't thought of usually fill most of it.

Common scenarios

The calculator helps in several situations:

• Comparing cost estimates from different legal firms by entering their hourly rates and estimated hours side by side
• Understanding how attorney experience affects total spend (senior counsel typically bill at higher hourly rates than junior staff)
• Budgeting for agreements involving significant or complex assets, which often require extended disclosure and valuation work
• Estimating costs when one party's legal representation is more involved than the other's
• Planning ahead when couples are considering a prenup but haven't yet consulted solicitors

Example scenario

Two parties with substantial investment portfolios and real property in multiple regions. Party A's attorney estimates 15 hours at 450/hour; Party B's attorney estimates 12 hours at 400/hour. Disclosure and asset valuation is quoted at 1,500. The calculator shows: (15 × 450) + (12 × 400) + 1,500 = 6,750 + 4,800 + 1,500 = 13,050. This figure helps both parties understand the shared financial commitment before engagement letters are signed.

Limitations of this calculator

The result shows a single-point estimate based on the hours and rates you enter. It does not account for:

• Variation in billable time as the agreement progresses — some cases settle faster or slower than estimated
• Additional specialist fees (tax advisors, accountants, financial planners) that may sit outside attorney billing
• Revision rounds or negotiation cycles that extend the initial scope
• Jurisdiction-specific procedural costs or court filing fees
• Whether both parties are equally represented (sometimes one side declines independent counsel, which changes the cost profile)

This calculator is for educational illustration. Actual costs depend on your circumstances, the firms you instruct, and the complexity of your assets and family situation.