Before assuming there's nothing, search for language that isn't labeled "kill fee" but functions like one — "cancellation," "early termination," "termination for convenience," or milestone payment structures. A lot of contracts have partial protection buried under a different heading. If you genuinely find nothing, the contract is simply silent, and silence has its own rules.
When a contract doesn't address cancellation, most jurisdictions fall back on the principle that you're owed the reasonable value of work already performed — sometimes called quantum meruit. This isn't automatic or guaranteed, and it usually requires you to show what you did and that the client accepted or benefited from it. But it means "no kill fee clause" is not the same as "no right to be paid."
Send a short, factual invoice or summary: what was agreed, what was delivered, and the amount owed for completed work only. Don't bill for the whole project — bill for the fraction actually done. This is both the fair ask and the one most likely to get paid without a fight, since it's hard for a reasonable client to argue against paying for work they've already received.
A kill fee clause isn't complicated to add: a flat percentage (commonly 25–50%) owed if the client cancels after work has started, scaling up the later into the project it happens. Even a single sentence protects you far better than relying on general contract law after the fact.
Upload it and ask what it says about payment, milestones, or cancellation. Every answer cites the exact line it came from.
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