Congratulations on your engagement!

There are few things in life more exciting than getting engaged! Because of this wonderful news, you, your betrothed, and all of your loved ones are on cloud nine. You can’t get your mind off of the details of your big day – where it will be held, and how it will look. This is a big moment, and one for you and your future spouse to take in all of the love, and consider how you want to spend the rest of your lives together. You see, you are writing your life story together as a couple, and the future is bright! There are so many exciting details to talk about, from the guest list, to the dessert bar — just don’t forget to first discuss the less exciting stuff, like finances and your life goals, too! Why finances? Financial details like the amount you each have in savings, debt (including student loan debt), and who will responsible for what bills, whether or not you will contribute to a joint bank account, are all details that will greatly affect how you live as a couple.

That’s where a prenup comes in.

Create your prenuptial agreement on HelloPrenup

While you are focusing on building a life together, make sure you are focusing on also building a proper, strong foundation. A prenuptial agreement can be one of those building blocks, and should be looked at as a positive step in your relationship, and a prerequisite before your marriage — not as something negative. HelloPrenup makes it easy for you to create an agreement that both you and your partner are comfortable with.

How?

HelloPrenup takes the awkwardness out of the often uncomfortable prenup discussion and removes the stress of calling divorce lawyers to draft your prenuptial agreement. Need to hire a lawyer to discuss any concerns, or want legal advice or representation? No problem — you can take your HelloPrenup draft to a lawyer for review, advice or edits before signing it.

Cheers! Get married and enjoy your long happy marriage

A long, happy, great marriage is about being intentional in every way and at every milestone you experience together. It is important to take the necessary steps to ensure that the foundation you have built is strong and will stand the test of time. Your future spouse — and your marriage as a whole — will thank you.

So, what are the different ways you can get a prenup?

Traditional Attorney

Time needed: approximately 6 months or more

Approximate cost: $2,500+

Steps:

1. Consult with attorney.
2. Pay attorney a legal retainer.
3. Wait weeks, months for a draft.
4. Negotiate draft with fiancé (usually through attorneys).
5. Wait for revisions of another draft… etc…
6. …this a long process, right?

Going the traditional route and hiring a divorce attorney to negotiate and draft the terms of your prenuptial agreement with your fiance’s attorney can be feel stressful, be costly and time consuming. When you and your future spouse choose to go this route, each fiancé will often hire their own attorney well in advance of the wedding- sometimes, a year to six months in advance – to represent each of you, and each of your attorneys will negotiate the terms on each of your behalf. Billable hours accrue quickly, and this method of drafting can cost $2,500 each (on average). Yes that could add up to over $5,000+ per prenup, and many couples find this process incredibly stressful. This is why HelloPrenup was created!

Now, HelloPrenup does not aim to dissuade you from hiring legal counsel if you are in need of advice, if your assets are highly complex, or if you are in a state where legal counsel is required for certain areas of enforcement. However, we do believe there are more efficient ways to approach the prenuptial agreement creation and negotiation process, in a way that allows couples the opportunity to negotiate and draft their own agreement, together – with HelloPrenup!

HelloPrenup

Time needed: about two hours

Cost: $599

Process:

1. Sign up for HelloPrenup & invite your fiancé to join.
2. Answer a detailed questionnaire
3. Review and resolve any discrepancies with your fiancé through our negotiation step.
4. DONE! Print your prenuptial agreement.
5. Have your signatures notarized through Notarize.com

Why HelloPrenup?

HelloPrenup is designed using detailed questions that address important issues in a prenup, such as the categorization of pre-marital (separate) property and marital property, debt, future inheritance or gifts, and spousal support/spousal maintenance. HelloPrenup also allows you to add various “add on” or “lifestyle” clauses of your choosing including a sunset clause, confidentiality agreement, primary residence clause, among many others. We offer many options, to help you and your fiancé customize a prenup that feels right for you.  See our clauses for more examples.

State-to-State Compliance.

HelloPrenup is compliant with the standards for a valid prenup in each state. Without compliance, the probability of invalidation down the road is significantly higher. Our platform stresses the importance of full financial disclosure, a very important part of a valid prenup.

We don’t want to discourage you from hiring a lawyer if you need or want legal guidance. In fact, in many instances legal representation is greatly encouraged. Your finalized HelloPrenup prenup draft can be downloaded in word format, and taken to an attorney of your choice for advice, edits, etc. In fact, this will save you significantly on cost since the agreement has been negotiated and drafted already!

Online Form Builder

Time needed: 5 minutes? 10 minutes?

Cost: $0-$100

Process:

1. Fill out some generic questions
2. Print a generic document
3. Realize this document is probably not a valid prenup (sorry)

Online form builders are tempting – they are usually free or offered at a nominal cost. However these services do not contain any of the legal language that would render a prenup enforceable, like waivers, survival of the agreement, or full and fair financial disclosure.

State-to-State Compliance? Meh…

Form building sites do not fulfill individual state specific standards for enforceability, and overlook essential inputs, resulting in a prenuptial agreement that is likely unenforceable in the future. What’s the point in that?