A prenuptial agreement has no state filing fee attached to it, because it is a private contract between two people, not a court case. The cost that matters is the work it takes to make it hold up later: full financial disclosure, the right signatures, and, in some states, independent legal review.
Key Takeaway: The cheapest prenup that still works is one that follows your state's disclosure and timing rules exactly, not one that skips them. California requires at least seven days between presenting the final agreement and signing it, and treats a spousal support waiver as unenforceable without independent counsel. Florida has no statutory waiting period but still checks voluntariness and disclosure if the agreement is challenged. Other states set their own rules; confirm current requirements with a licensed attorney in your state before signing.
What Does a Prenuptial Agreement Cost?
There is no government fee to get a premarital agreement, unlike filing for divorce or requesting a fee waiver in court. A prenup is a private contract, so the cost comes from whoever helps prepare or review it, if anyone does, and how much back and forth the terms require.
Cost varies by attorney, by how many assets or how complex a business or property interest is, and by whether one or both spouses bring in separate counsel to review the draft. Neither California nor Florida law publishes a standard price, because none exists; confirm current pricing directly with any attorney or preparation service you are considering rather than relying on a number you saw elsewhere.
What's the Cheapest Legitimate Way to Get a Prenup?
The agreements least likely to run into an enforceability fight later share the same features regardless of price: a signed writing, full and honest financial disclosure from both people, and enough time before the wedding for each person to actually read and consider the terms.
That means the cheapest legitimate path is not the cheapest template you can find online, it is the one that still meets your state's specific requirements for voluntariness and disclosure. A free or low-cost draft that both spouses fill out honestly, then have reviewed rather than fully renegotiated by an attorney, keeps cost down while still meeting the legal standard. Skipping disclosure entirely, or signing days before the wedding with no time to review, is what tends to get an agreement challenged later, which almost always costs more than doing it right the first time.
What Should a Prenup Include?
A premarital agreement generally addresses:
- Separate versus shared property. What each spouse owns going into the marriage, and how property acquired during the marriage will be characterized
- Debt. Who is responsible for debts brought into the marriage or taken on during it
- Spousal support. Whether either spouse waives or limits support, and under what conditions, a provision that gets extra scrutiny in most states
- Specific assets. How a business, an inheritance, or a family home will be treated if the marriage ends
- What happens on divorce, separation, or death, including whether the agreement affects a will or trust
What a prenup generally cannot decide in advance, in California, Florida, and most other states, is child custody or child support. Those are set under the child's best interest and the state's current guidelines at the time, not by a contract signed years earlier.
Do Both Spouses Need Separate Lawyers?
Not always, but it changes what the agreement can accomplish and how safely it can be signed without one.
Under California Family Code Section 1615, a premarital agreement is presumed involuntary, and therefore unenforceable, unless the party against whom it is being enforced either had independent legal counsel at signing or expressly waived that right in a separate signed writing after being advised to seek it. A spousal support waiver specifically is unenforceable in California unless that party was represented by independent counsel when they signed. Florida's Uniform Premarital Agreement Act does not require either party to have an attorney for the agreement to be valid, but a court still looks at whether the signing was voluntary and whether disclosure was fair if the agreement is challenged later.
California and Florida: How the Rules Compare
California. A premarital agreement must be in writing and signed. To count as voluntary, the party against whom it is enforced needs independent counsel or a written waiver of that right after being advised to seek it, and needs at least seven calendar days between being presented with the final agreement and signing it.
Child support cannot be decided in advance by the agreement.
Our California prenuptial agreement cost guide covers the full enforceability rules and cost drivers in detail.
Florida. Fla. Stat. 61.079 requires only a writing signed by both parties, and the agreement is enforceable without any separate payment or exchange beyond the marriage itself. There is no statutory waiting period.
A child's right to support cannot be adversely affected by the agreement, and it can be challenged later if a party did not sign voluntarily or was not given a fair disclosure of the other party's finances. Our Florida prenuptial agreement guide walks through the full requirements.
Prenups in Other States
Most states have adopted some version of the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act, the same framework California and Florida use, but the specific details, including waiting periods, disclosure standards, and whether independent counsel is required for certain waivers, vary state by state. Confirm the current rules with a licensed attorney in your state before signing.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Signing a prenup within days of the wedding, without time to actually review the terms
- Leaving out full disclosure of assets, income, or debts, which supports a later unconscionability challenge
- Assuming a verbal or handshake agreement counts; every state in this guide requires a signed writing
- Trying to decide child support or custody in advance, which California, Florida, and most other states do not allow
- Skipping independent counsel entirely in California when the agreement includes a spousal support waiver, which makes that specific provision unenforceable
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest prenuptial agreement you can get?
There is no state fee for a prenup, since it is a private contract, not a court filing. The cheapest legitimate option is one where both spouses fully disclose their finances in writing, follow their state's signing and timing rules, and keep attorney time focused on reviewing rather than negotiating from scratch. Skipping disclosure or timing rules to save money is what makes a prenup cheap to sign and expensive to defend later if it is challenged.
Can you write your own prenup without a lawyer?
In most states, nothing requires an attorney to draft a premarital agreement for it to be valid. What matters is whether it meets your state's requirements: a signed writing, full financial disclosure, and enough time before the wedding for both people to actually read and consider it. A self-drafted agreement that meets those requirements can hold up; one that skips them is the type most commonly challenged.
Do both people need their own attorney for a prenup to be enforceable?
It depends on the state and the provision. California treats an agreement as involuntary, and unenforceable, unless the party against whom it is enforced had independent counsel or expressly waived that right in writing after being advised to get it, and a spousal support waiver specifically requires independent counsel to be enforceable at all. Florida does not require counsel by statute, but voluntariness and fair disclosure are still what a court checks if the agreement is challenged.
Is there a waiting period before you can sign a prenup?
California requires at least seven calendar days between when the final agreement is first presented and when it is signed, regardless of representation, under Family Code Section 1615. Florida's statute does not set a fixed waiting period, but signing with little time to review is one of the facts a court can weigh if voluntariness is later disputed.
Can a prenup decide child support in advance?
No. California and Florida both bar a premarital agreement from adversely affecting a child's right to support, and this is standard across community property and equitable distribution states alike. Child support and custody are decided under the child's best interest and current state guidelines at the time, not by a contract signed before the child existed.
What happens if you get married without a prenup?
You are still married; you simply fall back on your state's default property and support rules if the marriage ends, rather than terms you negotiated in advance. Some states allow a postnuptial agreement after the wedding, though it is typically held to closer scrutiny than a prenup because spouses already owe each other financial duties once married.
What Virdix Covers
Virdix prepares divorce paperwork, not premarital agreements. If a marriage already has a prenup in place and later ends, Virdix's questionnaire for California and Florida asks about existing agreements as part of preparing your case, so your existing terms are reflected consistently across your filing.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Virdix is a document preparation service, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed family law attorney in your state.
Sources: California Family Code Sections 1612 and 1615 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov), Florida Statute 61.079, the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act (leg.state.fl.us).