How Much Does a Prenup Cost in Australia?

📋 Quick recap: what is a prenup, legally🔗

A binding financial agreement is a contract made under the Family Law Act 1975 that sets out how property, assets and financial support get divided if a relationship ends. It can be made before marriage, during marriage, or after separation, and the same framework applies to de facto couples too.

🎯 The essential: It's the price of the paperwork you're paying for here, but really you're paying for two independent legal opinions and the certainty that comes with getting them right.

💵 So, how much does it actually cost?🔗

There's no single number, because the cost is driven by complexity, not by the fact that you're getting a prenup at all. Here's roughly how it breaks down. Treat these as indicative ranges, not quotes, actual fees vary by firm, location and how complicated your assets are.

Why does it always take two solicitors? Because the law requires each person to get advice that's genuinely independent, covering how the agreement affects their rights and whether signing it is actually in their interest. If the same lawyer advised both of you, that advice couldn't be independent by definition. Each solicitor also signs a certificate confirming the advice was given, and copies get exchanged between the parties. Miss a step here and a court can set the whole agreement aside later, which defeats the entire point of paying for it.

📈 What pushes the price up🔗

• Complexity of assets. A couple with one jointly owned property is a much simpler job than a couple where one partner runs a business, holds shares in a trust, has a self-managed super fund, and owns property overseas.
• Back-and-forth negotiation. If you broadly agree on the terms, the process is quick. If there are rounds of amendments and disputes about what should be included, every email and call adds to the bill.
• Location. Solicitors in a major CBD generally charge more per hour than regional practitioners, and that gap compounds fast on a complex matter.
• Urgency. Needing everything finalised before a wedding that's three weeks away tends to attract a premium. Rushed timelines also raise the risk of mistakes that make an agreement unenforceable.

🗣️ Questions worth asking a solicitor before you commit🔗

Most family lawyers offer an initial consultation before you're locked into anything. Use it properly. A few questions worth asking upfront can save you from an unpleasant surprise on the final bill:

• Is this quoted as a fixed fee or charged by the hour? If it's hourly, ask for a realistic estimate range, not just the best-case scenario.
• What's included in that fee, drafting only, or also the negotiation and back-and-forth with the other party's solicitor?
• What happens to the cost if my partner's solicitor requests changes, does the fee scale with each round of negotiation?
• Roughly how long will this take from our first meeting to a signed agreement?
• What happens if we decide not to proceed partway through, are we billed for the work done so far?

Getting straight answers to these before you sign an engagement letter is the easiest way to avoid a final invoice that's meaningfully higher than what you budgeted for.

🤔 Is it worth the money?🔗

Honestly, it comes down to the complexity of what you own far more than how much you trust your partner. A couple with modest, roughly equal assets might find the cost of a BFA is a meaningful chunk of what they're actually protecting, and the Family Law Act's default rules, while imperfect, may land somewhere reasonable anyway for a simple situation.

A couple where one partner owns a business, the other brought a property into the relationship, and together they hold significant combined assets is a different story. Here, an agreement that costs a few thousand dollars can prevent a dispute that costs many multiples of that if things go sideways later. It's worth considering if one partner is entering the relationship with significantly more wealth, if there are kids from an earlier relationship whose inheritance needs protecting, or if part of a family business depends on the relationship staying financially contained.

None of this is a hard rule. Plenty of couples with modest assets still get one purely for the peace of mind, and plenty of wealthier couples skip it because they'd rather trust the process. The point of the checklist above is to help you have the actual conversation, not to make the decision for you.

⚖️ What happens if you skip it🔗

Without a binding financial agreement, the Family Law Act 1975 governs how things get divided if you separate. The court looks at what each person contributed, financially and otherwise, plus each person's future needs, and works out what's just and equitable. It's not an automatic 50/50 split, but it is the court's call to make, not yours.

The same framework applies to de facto couples in most circumstances, generally once you've lived together for two years, have a child together, or one partner made substantial contributions that would cause serious injustice if ignored. A lot of de facto couples don't realise they carry the same financial exposure as married couples. We cover this in detail in our guide to de facto relationships and money.

Without an agreement, you're handing the decision to the legal system if things go wrong. That might turn out fine. Or it might not. Either way, you don't get to choose.

❓ Frequently asked questions🔗