A client hires you for a ten-article project, you write six, and then the project gets cancelled. Without a kill fee clause, those six articles and the four you turned down other work for are simply gone. A kill fee is a contract term that guarantees you a percentage of the project fee if the client cancels after work has started. It is one of the most valuable clauses a freelancer can have, and it is also one of the least used.

The standard kill fee is 50 percent of the total project fee if the client cancels after you have started work, and 25 percent if they cancel after signing but before you begin. For hourly work, the equivalent is a minimum-hours guarantee or a cancellation notice period of one to two weeks. The exact number matters less than having the term in writing before the project starts. A fee you never agreed cannot be collected later, no matter how unfair the cancellation feels.

Your clause needs four parts. First, the trigger: what counts as cancellation, including the client going silent for a set number of days. Second, the amount: a percentage of the total fee, or a flat fee per completed milestone. Third, the payment deadline for the fee itself, usually 14 days from cancellation. Fourth, who owns the work done so far: until the kill fee is paid, the client has no right to use your drafts, outlines, or partial deliverables.

Here is wording you can adapt: If the client cancels the project after work has begun, the client will pay a kill fee equal to 50 percent of the remaining project fee, in addition to payment for all work completed to date. Cancellation includes written notice or no response to two follow-up messages over 14 calendar days. All work product remains the property of the freelancer until all fees are paid in full. Keep the language plain. A clause the client understands is a clause the client will sign.

Bring the kill fee up during onboarding, not after a cancellation. Frame it as standard practice: every professional contract has one, because it protects both sides by making cancellation a deliberate decision rather than a disappearing act. Clients who intend to pay rarely object. Clients who object loudly are telling you something useful about how they treat freelancers. Add the clause to your template once, and it protects every project after that.

If a client cancels and refuses to pay the fee, start with a calm invoice and a reminder of the signed clause. Most pay once they see the term in their own signed agreement. If they do not, the signed contract plus your invoice is the foundation for a small-claims filing or a demand letter, and the amounts involved usually make a formal dispute unnecessary. The point of the clause is rarely the courtroom. It is that cancellations become rare once clients know they cost money.

Kill fees vary by industry, and knowing the norm helps you set yours. In magazine and online publishing, 30 to 50 percent is standard for a killed assignment. In design and branding, 50 percent is common once concepts have been presented. In video and photography, cancellation fees often rise with proximity to the shoot date, reaching 100 percent inside 48 hours. Whatever your field, match the industry norm rather than inventing a number, because a standard fee is far easier for a client to accept than an unusual one.