For dentists
Do dentists need a prenup?
Often, yes. For a dentist, the practice is usually the biggest asset in the marriage and the hardest to value, because part of its worth is tied to you and part is tied to the business. A prenup lets you and your partner agree in advance how the practice, its goodwill, and your student debt are treated. Neptune is the lawyer-led online prenup service: both partners get their own lawyer for one flat fee.
Flat fee of $5,000 per couple. No payment to get started.
The dentist's situation
The practice is usually the largest thing to sort out
About one in four dentists goes through a divorce, and when that happens the practice is frequently the biggest asset on the table. It is also the most contested to value, because a practice is not like a house or a brokerage account with a clear market price. Two dentists start from very different places depending on when they bought in and how they are paid.
The debt
Dental school debt commonly runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and about half of graduates carry it into their careers. That balance often follows a dentist into a marriage.
The ownership
Ownership, more than years in the chair, is what changes a dentist's finances. Owning a practice, or buying into one, turns a salary into a growing stake in a business. That stake is the piece a prenup is built to address.
Why a practice is hard to value
A practice holds two kinds of value, and a divorce treats them differently
The equipment and the receivables are the easy part to value. The hard part is goodwill, the worth of the practice beyond its physical assets. Appraisers usually split goodwill into two kinds, and how each is divided can differ from one state to the next.
Personal goodwill
The value tied to you: your clinical skill, your reputation, and the patients who come back because of you. In many places this is treated as closer to your own future earning power than a divisible business asset, but not everywhere.
Enterprise goodwill
The value that would survive if you walked out tomorrow: the staff, the systems, the patient records and recall schedule, the location, and the name on the door. This is the part more likely to be seen as a business asset.
Where that line falls can shape both how the practice is divided and how support is calculated. Rules for dividing this kind of value differ from state to state, and your attorney can review what applies where you live. A prenup is the place to agree how the two are approached, before it becomes a fight between two hired appraisers.
The path to ownership
A buy-in turns your career into equity, over years
Most associates do not buy a practice outright. They buy in gradually, and the timing of that buy-in relative to the wedding is exactly the prenup question for a dentist on an ownership track.
A phased buy-in, not a single purchase
Many dentists become owners by buying a minority stake first, often 10 to 20 percent, and growing to full ownership over four to seven years. The purchase is commonly funded with a mix of an SBA loan and a seller note carried by the selling dentist.
A minority stake is not a simple fraction
A 30 percent stake in a practice worth a million dollars is not worth three hundred thousand dollars. Minority interests are usually discounted for lack of control and for how hard they are to sell. Valuing your slice is its own exercise.
Who values it, and when, changes the number
A stake sold to a fellow dentist and a stake sold to a group buyer are often priced very differently. Group and private-equity buyers have paid multiples of practice earnings that a doctor-to-doctor sale would not. So the worth of your ownership is not a single fixed figure.
What a prenup can address
Six places a dentist's finances meet prenup planning
A practice you owned before the wedding
A practice you built or bought before marrying usually starts as your separate property, but growth in its value during the marriage can be treated differently. A prenup can describe how the practice, and any increase in its value, is handled.
A buy-in that spans the wedding
If your buy-in payments straddle the wedding, some made with premarital money and some with marital income, the resulting equity can be characterized in more than one way. A prenup can set out how the buy-in and the ownership it creates are treated.
Personal versus enterprise goodwill
The line between the value tied to you and the value tied to the business is the hardest part of valuing a practice, and rules differ by state. A prenup can describe how the two are approached so it is not argued from scratch later.
The seller note and future payments
A buy-in often leaves a seller note or an earn-out that pays out over years. A prenup can address how those future payments, and the debt behind them, are treated.
Student debt brought into the marriage
Dental school debt commonly runs into the hundreds of thousands. Loans taken on before marriage usually start as separate debt, but repayment with shared income can complicate that. A prenup can spell out how the debt and its repayment are handled.
The building the practice sits in
Some dentists own their office through a separate holding company and lease it to the practice. A prenup can clarify how practice-related real estate, and the rent it generates, is characterized.
How Neptune works
Three steps to a prenup that understands a practice
Guided intake for practice owners
Answer questions about your practice, any buy-in underway, your student debt, and how you are paid. Plain language, no legal jargon.
Your own attorney, on a free consultation
Each partner is connected with a separate, licensed attorney who can review how practice ownership, goodwill, and a buy-in fit into your agreement.
A finished agreement
Your attorneys draft an agreement built around practice economics. Turnaround is typically around 3 to 4 weeks when both partners use Neptune attorneys.
Transparent pricing
One flat fee. Two independent attorneys.
Each partner gets their own licensed attorney. One drafts the agreement; the other reviews it on behalf of the second partner.
$5,000
per couple, total
Rush pricing applies when the wedding is within 45 days. No payment required to get started.
Guides for you
Guides on assets, debt, and equity
Start with the guides other couples read before they begin, then take the next step when you are ready.
Common questions from dentists
Do dentists need a prenup?
For many dentists, a prenup is worth considering because the practice is often the single largest asset in the marriage, and it is one of the hardest to value. If you own a practice, are buying into one, or expect to, a prenup lets you and your partner agree in advance how the practice, its goodwill, and your student debt are treated. It is planning, not a prediction that the marriage will fail.
How is a dental practice valued in a divorce?
A practice is usually valued at what it would sell for, and the hardest piece is goodwill, the value beyond the equipment and the receivables. Appraisers often separate personal goodwill, tied to you and your reputation, from enterprise goodwill, tied to the staff, systems, records, and location. Rules for how each is divided differ from state to state, and your attorney can review what applies where you live. A prenup can describe how the practice and its goodwill are approached so the question is not left open.
What happens to my practice buy-in if we divorce?
A phased buy-in builds ownership over several years, often funded with an SBA loan and a seller note. Payments you make before the wedding, and payments made with marital income after it, may be treated differently, and the equity they create can be characterized in more than one way. Your attorney can review how to describe the buy-in and the ownership it produces so both partners have clarity.
Is my dental school debt treated as separate or shared?
Student loans you took on before marriage generally start as your separate debt, but the picture can get more complicated if marital income is used to pay them down. Rules for dividing property and debt differ from state to state, and your attorney can review what applies where you live. A prenup can set out clearly how your dental school debt and its repayment are handled.
What does it cost and how long does it take?
Neptune charges a flat fee of $5,000 per couple, which covers two independent attorneys, one for each partner. No payment is required to get started. Turnaround is typically around 3 to 4 weeks when both partners use Neptune attorneys. Rush pricing applies when the wedding is within 45 days.