Make a Living Together Agreement - Law for · PDF file2 How to make a Living Together Agreement t Who is this guide for? If you are living with your partner and aren’t married, this

How to

Make a Living Together Agreement

Making sense of the law and your rights

How to make a Living Together Agreement • www.advicenow.org.uk2

Who is this guide for?

If you are living with your partner and aren’t married, this guide is for you. It explains why having a Living Together Agreement is a brilliant way to protect yourself and your partner, and then shows you how to do it – quickly and easily.

All cohabiting couples should make one. It only takes most people an evening to discuss everything and 15 minutes to write using our agreement template.

There are other Living Together Agreement or Cohabitation Agreement packs available, but this is the easiest to use, most comprehensive, and is completely flexible so that you can use it to confirm whatever agreements work for you.

Contents

What is a Living Together Agreement? 3

Why should we bother? 4

When to make a Living Together Agreement 5

How to make a Living Together Agreement 7

What to put in your agreement checklist 8

Living Together Agreement template 21

Budget helper 36

How to make a Living Together Agreement • www.advicenow.org.uk 3

What is a Living Together Agreement?

What is a Living Together Agreement?

‘‘ ‘‘Joe’s storyWhen we bought a flat together my girlfriend suggested I paid the mortgage and she paid all the other bills (which added up to the same). We’d been doing that for a year when my mum mentioned she thought that would mean I had more right to the flat than my girlfriend. We both knew that wasn’t fair, so we made a Living Together Agreement to sort it out.

A Living Together Agreement (or Cohabitation Agreement or No-Nup agreement as it is sometimes called) is simply a record of what you have agreed about how you will own and share things. It encourages you to think about easy and fair ways to organise your day to day finances and ensures that if your relationship ended, neither of you would lose out financially – unless that is what you had agreed.

An agreement that sets out what would happen if you did split up isn’t an admission that you think you will, anymore than taking out building insurance means that you think your house will fall down. In fact, it can strengthen your relationship by helping both partners to feel more secure.


A Living Together Agreement helps you to discuss and agree how you will pay for things like the rent or mortgage, and household bills. In doing so, it can help you to avoid the kind of arguments and minor worries that can build up over time or that might cause difficulties in the future.

But when it really comes in useful, is if you were to split up. Obviously we all hope that we’re not going to split up, but unfortunately, some couples do. Unmarried couples have few rights or protections if it does all go wrong, no matter how committed to each other they were, or how long they have been together. (If you have children together, there are some things the law can help with, but not many). Instead, couples have to try and work out how to divide their property, money and belongings on their own – when they are usually heartbroken or angry and not feeling terribly fair.

Why should we bother?

Couples who haven’t made a Living Together Agreement usually find that they have very different expectations of what should happen or ideas of what is fair. For couples who have been together a long time, it’s hard to even remember who contributed what, let alone what you said about it at the time.

As unromantic as it seems, making a Living Together Agreement is actually a loving thing to do. It protects both yourself and your partner from unfairness and unpleasantness in the future, just in case.

‘‘ ‘‘Sandra’s storyWe had lived together for 7 years when things fell apart. I moved out and stayed with friends. I suddenly had no home, but what was even harder was not having anything! Everything stayed in the flat with Adam and I was so emotional, the last thing I wanted to do was go round and start trying to negotiate or take legal action. It all took months and eventually I ran out of energy. He ended up keeping everything basically. He was supposed to buy me out of the house, but I ended up settling for a lot less than half. He wasn’t trying to be unfair, it was just the circumstances. As long as I had to keep going back I couldn’t move on.

Why should we bother?


When to make a Living Together Agreement


‘‘Marc’s storyMy partner and I made a Living Together Agreement 2 or 3 years after we’d bought our flat together. Good job we did. Until we made the agreement we hadn’t noticed that we had very different understandings of what we had agreed about the flat. I thought we owned it 50/50, but she thought she owned 65% of it because we had borrowed some money from her mum, even though we paid her back.

Is a Living Together Agreement legally binding?

Living Together Agreements have a slightly odd status in law. They aren’t binding unless you write them as a formal legal deed, but the court will usually follow them as long as what you agreed is fair, and you were both honest about your finances when you made the agreement. A court is even more likely to uphold the agreement if you both had some legal advice, separately, about what you were doing before signing the agreement.

If you want to ensure it is binding, you can make it in the form of a deed. It is advisable to do this if you want to make sure that the agreement about the ownership of the home is binding, for instance, or if one of you is promising to pay something to the other. We advise you to each take legal advice if you are

going to make the agreement in deed form. Do nearly all the work yourselves to save costs and then each of you will need to ask a solicitor to check the draft that you have prepared using our template.

You can find a good family solicitor by going to

www.resolution.org.uk/findamember Don’t be afraid to call around a few firms and compare prices before you decide which one to use.

It is never the wrong time to make a Living Together Agreement. Ideally you would make a Living Together Agreement when you first move in together, but late is better than never, so even if you’ve already been together for 15 years it’s still a good idea. Often people feel it is the right time when they have children together, or have decided that they don’t want to get married or don’t want to get married yet.

‘‘

http://www.resolution.org.uk/findamember/


How I suggested it to my partnerWe understand that some people feel awkward about bringing up this issue with their partner. So we asked readers who had made a Living Together Agreement to tell us how they first suggested it to their partner.

“I’d heard about Living Together Agreements and mentioned it to my partner one night. I said I didn’t think we needed to because, if we did split up, I thought we’d be really fair about money and the flat we rent. She said that actually, she didn’t think she would be and as she is better at arguing than me, we should probably make an agreement now. The next day she had printed off the forms and we filled them in. Not the funnest evening we’ve ever had but definitely pleased we have it in the drawer, just in case.”Suzi

“I just told him I hope our relationship lasts forever, but just in case it doesn’t we should make a Living Together Agreement. If the worst does happen and we do split up, I don’t want us to hate each other.”Neelam

“I earn more than my partner, always have. When I first mentioned Living Together Agreements to her, it didn’t go well. I’m not sure if she got it confused with a celebrity pre-nup or what, but she definitely thought it was about me protecting what is mine. It was only when we were discussing what we would put in it that she realised that wasn’t it.”Tom

“Tash has always been clear that she never ever wanted to get married. So when she got pregnant with our eldest, I went down on one knee and proposed a Living Together Agreement.”Aidan

Don’t put it offNow that you have decided you really should make a Living Together Agreement, please don’t put it off. Like making a will, it doesn’t seem urgent and so too many people don’t get round

to it until it is too late. We are sure you can think of more fun things to do with your evening – but this is the most useful thing you can do.



How to make a Living Together Agreement

How to make a Living Together AgreementThe next part of this guide – What to put in your agreement – is a checklist which goes through all the issues that you might like to include in your Living Together Agreement and other things that you must include.

Don’t be put off by the size of it – there may be many parts that won’t be relevant to your relationship. You can include any issues that are relevant to you and ignore the others. The only essential sections are

marked with an in the notes

and template agreement.

There is a space below each point for you to write down your information and the agreements you come to as you go through it with your partner.

If you are planning to set up home together for the first time, one of the difficult things to work out is how much everything will cost. To help with this we have included a budget helper, so that you can estimate what your joint household costs will be.

Keep it simple. It is tempting to try to provide for every possible future change but this is almost impossible.

When you’ve finished the checklist you can transfer the answers to the template agreement in this guide or the editable template. Next to the space where you will jot down your details and agreements, there is a box that explains where you put this information in the template agreement.

At various points in the agreement there are alternative words or sets of words – when you get to these you need to choose which ones you need and delete the others.

Once you have finished drafting the agreement, read it through together out loud. This helps you to spot any mistakes.

Then invite a friend or two over and sign and date it in front of them. Then ask them to sign it as witnesses.

Make sure that you both have a copy of the signed and dated document and that you keep it safe.

You might need to update it ...

Remember that when your circumstances change, perhaps because you have a baby, move, or get a much better/worse paid job, you need to update your agreement.

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What to put in your agreement checklist

Date

It is important to have a date. This saves arguments later about when something was agreed.

The date is normally written at the beginning of the document, but you should only fill it in last, on the day that you both sign the final version of the document.

Your names and addresses

Any legal agreement needs to set out the names of the people who are making the agreement, and their address(es).

It also helps to have a short way of identifying yourself. For example, you could just use your first name, or the name that you are usually known by. So you could be:

James Peter Brown of 15 Market Road, Micklehampton, Loamshire FD22 3PQ (“Jim”).

At all later points in the document you will be referred to as Jim, until you get to your signature at the end.

Date If you are writing your own agreement using the template put the date in section 1.

Names and addresses go in section 2.

(1) Full name Full address Short name for the rest of the document

(2) Full name Full address Short name for the rest of the document

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Telling each other about your finances

You both need to be honest with each other about what you earn, what you own and what you owe. This is so that you both realise what you are agreeing to, and it removes the possibility of somebody later arguing that one of you was trying to take advantage of the other.

If you own your home (or any other property) you probably don’t need to get your property valued, but you need to agree on a realistic market value.

(1) .....................................................................’s finances

Income

Salary before tax per year £ .......................

Take-home salary per month £ .......................

Any other income: £ .......................

£ .......................

£ .......................

£ .......................

(Include any income from other jobs, benefits, pensions, shares, rental properties, or any other regular income)

Capital

Value of your share of house or flat: £ .......................

(Calculate this by agreeing an estimated price you could sell the property for, then deduct the amount you owe on the mortgage, then reduce the figure left by 2% as this is what it is likely to cost you to sell. Then divide into the shares you have agreed.)

Savings: £ .......................

Shares: £ .......................

Value of car: £ .......................

Value of contents: £ .......................

Any other capital: £ .......................

Debts

Outstanding mortgage: £ .......................

Amount owed on credit or store cards: £ .......................

Amount owed on any hire purchase agreements/installment plans: £ .......................

Amount owed on any loans: £ .......................

Any other amount owed: £ .......................

Transfer these details to Schedule A in the template agreement (on page 31).



(2) .....................................................................’s finances

Income

Salary before tax per year £ .......................

Take-home salary per month £ .......................

Any other income: £ .......................

£ .......................

£ .......................

£ .......................

(Include any income from other jobs, benefits, pensions, shares, rental properties, or any other regular income)

Capital

Value of your share of house or flat: £ .......................

(Calculate this by agreeing an estimated price you could sell the property for, then deduct the amount you owe on the mortgage, then reduce the figure left by 2% as this is what it is likely to cost you to sell. Then divide into the shares you have agree.)

Savings: £ .......................

Shares: £ .......................

Value of car: £ .......................

Value of contents: £ .......................

Any other capital: £ .......................

Debts

Outstanding mortgage: £ .......................

Amount owed on credit or store cards: £ .......................

Amount owed on any hire purchase agreements/installment plans: £ .......................

Amount owed on any loans: £ .......................

Any other amount owed: £ .......................

Transfer these details to Schedule A in the template agreement (on page 32).

11How to make a Living Together Agreement • www.advicenow.org.uk


Children

If you have any children it is important to include them in the agreement. You need to think about who is going to take responsibility for them and pay for them.

If there are children who have another parent, does that other parent support the children? Do you want to make an agreement about how the money from the other parent is used? Will the partner who is not the children’s parent assume any financial responsibility for the children? If so, what will it be?

•Child/ren’s full name(s) and date of birth.

•Say whether they are children of you both, or are from a previous relationship.

•Say whether the child has another parent who is still alive.

•Who will pay for the children?

•Who will look after the children?

Transfer names and dates of birth to section 4 of the agreement.

Financial arrangements go in section 14.

12 How to make a Living Together Agreement • www.advicenow.org.uk


Your home

If you are renting your home you do not need to say much about this in the agreement.

If you own it (whether or not you have paid off a mortgage) you need to decide about how you own it and spell out your agreements.

There are a number of different possibilities. The most obvious ones are:

1 One of you owns the home in his or her name and does not want the other person to have a share of it. If this is your position, the non-owner needs to understand clearly that they will not get any share in the home, even if they make a financial contribution to the running of the household.

Many people in this position decide it is fairest if the non-owner doesn’t contribute to the cost of buying the home, maintaining it, or decorating it, and just contributes to the general living expenses (food, utility bills, council tax, etc). Others do contribute but agree to see it as ‘rent’ that they would otherwise be paying. Whatever you agree is fair for you, you need to spell this out in the agreement.

2 One of you owns the home but wants to agree that the other should have a share. If this is the case then you should consult a solicitor and decide how best to do this. This situation has not been covered in the Living Together Agreement as it should not be done without getting individual legal advice. Find a good family solicitor by going to www.resolution.org.uk/findamember

3 You own the home between you – as joint tenants This means that you own equal shares that cannot be split up. If one of you dies the other will inherit the whole of the home. If you did not sort out the legal position in any detail when you bought the home, it is likely that this is the way you own it. You ought to check this with your solicitor to make sure. You can change the way you own it and turn it into a ‘tenancy in common’ (see below) if you prefer, but you should get legal advice about this.

4 You own the home between you – as tenants in common. If you own the home this way you can state the shares you each have. If you don’t state the shares the law will treat you as owning it 50:50. Many people find it useful to own a home as tenants in common if they have made different contributions to the purchase price of the home, because the shares can reflect this. Your solicitor should have advised you about this when you bought the home and drawn up a Declaration of Trust that states the shares that you own. If this did not happen you can include it in the Living Together Agreement but you should each take legal advice first and make sure that a solicitor approves the agreement. Your partner will not inherit your share automatically if you die first so it is vital that you both make wills.

http://www.resolution.org.uk/findamember



The address of your home

How did you buy the home? i.e. mortgage, savings etc.

How much did you each contribute?

Do you own it:

• In one person’s sole name

•As a joint tenancy

•As a tenancy in common

If it is a tenancy in common, what shares do you hold it in?

..................................................................... : .........%

..................................................................... : .........%

Put details of how you paid for the home in Schedule B (on page 33).

Details of your agreement about the home go in section 7.

Endowment policies

If you have an endowment policy which backs your mortgage, you may have put it in joint names or in one person’s name.

You need to decide whether you will share this jointly, in case there are any profits after the mortgage is paid. Your decision might depend on who pays the policy instalments, or whether you have shared all the household expenses equally.

•Who is the policy with?

•Whose names is the policy in?

•How are you going to share any profits?

Put these details in section 9 of the template agreement. If you don’t have an endowment policy, delete or cross out section 9.



Household expenses and debts

If you are moving in together now you need to think about who is going to pay for what. This is sometimes difficult unless you know exactly how much you spend on everything. You may first need to use the Budget helper at the back to help you to do this. This helps you both work out what you can afford.

You can sort out how you pay for the household expenses in various ways.

•The simplest arrangement is probably to open a joint bank account for all the household expenses and each pay regular amounts into it (you can still keep separate accounts for any money that is not shared). You could each pay in the same amount (if you can both afford it), or you might decide to have a different arrangement. Some couples, for example, decide that they will each contribute half of their take-home pay each month.

If you have a joint bank account, the law treats you as owning half shares of any balance. This may be what you want, or you might feel that if one of you is putting in more than the other, you want to agree that any balance is shared in that ratio. You can set that out in your agreement.

•You might decide that each of you will pay for particular items: one of you will pay the gas bill; the other will pay the food shopping. You need to explain in the agreement whether or not you treat these contributions as equal.

•You could agree that whenever one of you pays a bill the other will give him or her half of the amount. This is a bit fiddly, but it may be the way that you start out.

If you have already been living together for some time you have probably already organised your finances in some way. If you have, all you need to do is just write down how you generally pay for things and if you feel that you own them equally.

Debts

When you live together you do not become responsible for each other’s debts. You can only be legally responsible if you take out the loan, credit card or hire purchase agreement in your name (or jointly with your partner). If you owe anything before you get together your partner cannot become responsible for this.

However, if you are living together and the utilities (gas, water, etc) and Council Tax are in one person’s name, the company can pursue anyone else that lives at the address and who uses the service, even if they aren’t named on the bill.

If you are going to have a joint bank account, list here:

•Bank

•Sort code

•Account number

The details for this go into section 10 of the template agreement.



•The amount that you are each going to pay in each month/week

•Are you going to/do you treat this as an equal contribution or not?

•Are you going to/do you own any balance jointly?

•Have you/are you going to arrange the account so that you both have to sign to authorise a payment?

If you are not going to have an account together, and are each going to pay for separate things, list them here, with the estimated amounts. Say whether or not you consider them equal contributions.

Savings

Some people have savings accounts or ISAs in one person’s name, that they treat as shared. If you have any accounts other than your joint account, list them below and say whether they are shared or not.

•Who is the account with?

•Whose names is it in?

•Are these savings shared or owned by the person whose name is on the account.

Put these details in section 11 of the template agreement. If you have more than one account, repeat for each. If you don’t have a savings account, delete or cross out section 11.



Ownership of contents and other personal possessions

In order to avoid arguments about who owns what, it is helpful if you set out some rules in the agreement. The law is fairly straightforward but you may want to spell it out to avoid later misunderstandings.

• If you owned something before you got together, it belongs to you.

• If you bought something with your own money it belongs to you.

• If you inherited something, or it was given to you by someone else, it belongs to you.

• If one of you buys something and gives it to the other it belongs to the person to whom it was given.

• If you buy something out of a joint bank account it belongs to you equally, unless you have agreed to own the account in different shares. If you have, you own the object in those shares.

• If you buy something together but each contribute different amounts to the price, you own it in the shares in which you contributed.

Some people find it helpful to keep a list at the end of the agreement of any large or expensive items that they buy for the home, with a note of who owns them.

It may help you to indicate whether you both agree to the rules that are set out here:

• If you owned something before you got together, it belongs to you YES / NO

• If you bought something with your own money it belongs to you YES / NO

• If you inherited something, or it was given to you by someone else, it belongs to you YES / NO

• If one of you buys something and gives it to the other it belongs to the person to whom it is given YES / NO

• If you buy something out of a joint bank account it belongs to you equally, unless you have agreed to own the account in different shares. If you have, you own the object in those shares. YES / NO

• If you buy something together but each contribute different amounts to the price, you own it in the shares in which you contributed YES / NO

This information is in section 12 of the template agreement.



Cars

This section is for cars that you may not want to share if your relationship ends (even if you both use it during the relationship). Even if the non-owner does make a contribution, they won’t gain a share in return.

Agree what you want to happen to your car(s) if your relationship ends.

Transfer this information to section 13 of the template agreement.

Adapt section 13 and repeat it if you have another car.Delete section 13 if you don’t have a car.

Pensions

You both need to check out any pensions that you have.

The first thing to check is the ‘death-in-service’ benefit. Pension schemes through your employer will generally pay out a lump sum if you die before you retire. You can choose who you want to get this money. This is called ‘nominating’. You will generally be given a form to complete when you join a pension scheme so that you can do this. If you have done this a long time ago and can’t remember whom you nominated, contact the Human Resources department of your employer and check it. You can change a nomination if you want to. You should also check with the HR department whether the trustees of the pension scheme will agree to pay the death in service benefit to your unmarried partner.

You can nominate the payment to go wholly to one person, or be divided between a few people. For instance, you could nominate your partner to get 50% and the rest to be divided equally between your children.

List here your pension schemes and what you have found out about whether your partner can benefit from them.

Decide whether you are going to nominate the scheme in favour of your partner, wholly or in part.

Transfer these details to section 15 of the template agreement if you are writing the agreement yourselves.



= Or insert the correct ratio.

Ending the agreement

This agreement will end if your relationship ends. Or if you die or marry as the law will take over.

Decide whether you want to include the sentence about trying to use mediation or solicitor negotiation to solve any disagreements, rather than go to court. This is a good idea as it will save you money and help you to sort things out more quickly.

If you are writing the agreement yourselves transfer these details to section 16.

Transitional arrangements

This sounds rather grand but it just means what will happen while you are sorting out your split. There are a number of suggested clauses in section 16 of the agreement that you might want to use. You probably don’t want to tie yourself down too tightly at this stage because you can’t predict what the future would hold, but you might want to use some of the suggested clauses to indicate the way you both feel you should go about dealing with a split, if it did occur. For example, you might want to say you’ll try to divide the furniture and things you bought together equally, or that you will aim to sell the home as soon as possible and divide the money equally.

Decide which of the agreements below you want to include.

If our relationship ends (except by death or our marriage):

•We will stop paying into the joint household account YES / NO

•We will pay any outstanding bills out of the joint household account YES / NO

•We will divide any balance left over between us equally=

•We will divide up any furniture and other items that we have bought together. We will try to achieve an equal= split by either dividing the items up, or one person giving the other a payment in compensation.

•[thenon-owner] ........................................... will leave the home as soon as possible/as soon as possible after ........ wks/mths.

•We will sell the home as soon as possible and divide the proceeds of sale (after paying the mortgage, the estate agents’ and solicitors’ costs, and any other costs of sale) between us equally.=

Transfer these details to section 17 of the template agreement.

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• If, instead of a sale of the home, one of us wishes to buy the other’s share, we will have the home valued by a local valuer. We will choose the valuer together and give joint instructions, and split any cost of the valuation equally. We will use this valuation to work out how much the share is worth.

• If we cannot agree about the choice of valuer we will ask the President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors to appoint a valuer.

If you own your home as Tenants in Common, or if only one of you owns the home it is vital that you make a will. If you will not be leaving your share of the home to your partner in your will, would you like to include in this agreement the promise that you will instruct the executors that if you die before your partner, s/he must be allowed to stay in the home for up to 6 months? YES / NO

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Renegotiations

Agreements like this can go out of date. If it seemed fair not to share everything equally when you were both working and making unequal contributions, it may need to change if one of you gives up work to look after a new baby, for example. You don’t have to change it, but it is a good idea to keep it under review. You might want to say that you will check it formally every three years, for instance.

Do you want to agree now that you will change the agreement when your circumstances change? For example, if:

•you have a[nother] child.

•your wages change significantly.

•one of you becomes unemployed.

•one of you (or a child) becomes seriously ill, or disabled.

Transfer these details to section 18 of the agreement.

How to make a Living Together Agreement • www.advicenow.org.uk




Signing and dating the agreement

Once you have got all the details into the agreement and are both happy that it is correct you need to sign it in front of a witness.

You should fill in your full names and sign to the right hand side of the page. Your witness should add their signature and then their full name and address.

You don’t have to both sign the document at the same time.

The same person can witness both your signatures.

Once you have both signed the document you should put the date on the front.

Add your signatures to section 19 of the agreement.

If you want to make sure that the document is enforceable

If you want to make sure that the document is enforceable it is a good idea to make it in the form of a deed. You do this by including the words ‘as a deed’ so it reads “SIGNED AS A DEED” above your signatures. It is advisable to do this if you want to make sure that the agreement about the ownership of the home is binding, for instance, or if one of you is promising to pay something to the other.

We strongly advise you to each take legal advice if you are going to make the agreement in deed form. You could do nearly all the work yourselves to save costs and ask a solicitor to check the draft that you have prepared.

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* Delete the word(s) that do not apply.


Living Together Agreement template

1 THE DATE OF THIS DEED OF AGREEMENT is

.......................................................................................................................................

2 THE TWO PEOPLE MAKING THIS AGREEMENT ARE:

1. Name....................................................................................................................

Address...............................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

who is referred to in the rest of the document as:

.................................................................................................................................

2. Name....................................................................................................................

Address...............................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

who is referred to in the rest of the document as:

.................................................................................................................................

3 THE BASIS OF OUR AGREEMENT:

(a) We have decided to live together OR We have been living together since*

...............................................................................................................................

(b) We want to enter into an agreement that sets out our rights and duties to each other

(c) We intend that this agreement shall be legally binding on both of us

(d) We have both taken legal advice about making this agreement*

(e) We have honestly and frankly told each other about our individual financial positions and have set out this information in Schedule A at the end of this agreement


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4 INFORMATION ABOUT OUR CHILDREN:

[Choosetheoptionbelowthatdescribesyoursituationanddeletetheothers.]

We have no children at present OR We have the following children of whom we are both parents: [inserttheirfullname(s)anddate(s)ofbirth]

.................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. ..................................................................................................................................

AND/OR ..................................................................................................................................

already has [a] child[ren] from a previous relationship: [inserttheirfullname(s)anddate(s)ofbirth]

.................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. ..................................................................................................................................

The other parent [inserthisorhername]............................................ is still alive / has died*.

AND/OR

..................................................................................................................................

already has [a] child[ren] from a previous relationship: [inserttheirfullname(s)anddate(s)ofbirth]

.................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. ..................................................................................................................................

The other parent [inserthisorhername]............................................ is still alive / has died*.




5 INFORMATION ABOUT OUR HOUSING

We [intend to*] live at [inserttheaddressofyourhome]..................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................

which is referred to as “the Home” in the rest of this agreement.

The Home is rented / owned* in our joint names / ..........................’s sole name*.

The way in which it was purchased is set out in Schedule B at the end of this agreement.

6 THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS SET OUT WHAT WE HAVE AGREED WITH EACH OTHER

7 OWNING THE HOME

[Choosetheclausethatdescribeswhatyouwanttodoanddeletetheothers.Ifyouareunsure,itisimportantthatyoutakelegaladviceaboutthis.Ifyoumakeamistakeatthisstageitcouldproveveryexpensivelateron.]

•We [will] own the Home in our joint names as a joint tenancy. We intend to continue to have equal shares in the Home even if we do not make equal contributions.

•We [will] own the Home in our joint names as a tenancy in common.

– We [will] own equal shares and we intend to continue to have equal shares in the Home even if we do not make equal contributions OR

– We [will] own the following shares: ........................................................... : .........% ........................................................... : .........%1

• ......................................................................... owns [will own] the Home in his/her sole name and [thenameofthenon-owner]

......................................................................... understands that s/he will not get any share in the Home or any rights over the property even if s/he makes a contribution to paying for the Home or the household.

1 If this is the case you should make sure that a solicitor has drawn up a declaration of trust for you that is kept with the deeds of the home.


essential



8 BUYING A NEW HOME

If we decide to sell the Home and buy another we will own the new property on the same terms, or we will renegotiate the terms on which we hold it.

9 ENDOWMENT POLICY**

Any surplus profits from the endowment policy with [insertname

ofinsurancecompany]................................................................................

in the name[s] of ........................................ [and] ........................................

are to belong to ............................................................jointly/solely*

10 HOUSEHOLD EXPENSES AND DEBTS

[Choosetheoptionbelowthatdescribesyouragreementanddeletetheothers.]

We have opened/will open* a joint bank account with

........................................................................................................ Bank

Sort code: ....................... Account number: ..............................................

We [will] pay the following amounts into this account:

[name] ........................................................... : £ .......... a month/week*

[name] ........................................................... : £ .......... a month/week*

[We regard these as equal contributions.**]

[We agree to hold any balance in equal shares.**]

[We will hold any balance in the following shares:

[name] ........................................................... : ..........%

[name] ........................................................... : ..........%**]

Either of us may draw cheques on this account with/without* the signature of the other.

Out of this account we will pay the following household bills2:

•water rates

•council tax

•gas(continued)

* Delete the word(s) that do not apply.** Read the notes on page 17. Delete the clauses you do not need.2 Add or delete items to make the list complete.



•electricity

•telephone

•television licence

•Satellite/cable television

•broadband

•buildings insurance

•contents insurance

•mortgage repayments

•endowment payments

•rent

•food and household necessities

•decoration of the home

•repairs to the home

•ground rent and service charge

• items of furniture and equipment for the home

OR

We have agreed that we will individually be responsible for the following payments:

[name]......................................................................................................................

will pay for .............................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................

[name]......................................................................................................................

will pay for .............................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................

OR

We have been living together since .......................................................... We have always pooled our finances in a joint account and have paid for everything jointly.

DEBTS

We agree and understand that we will each remain liable for any debts that we have incurred individually, and that we cannot be made liable for each other’s debts, (except for utilities bills and Council Tax where the law gives the supplier of the service the right to pursue anyone who uses the service.)



11 SAVINGS

[Choosetheoptionbelowthatdescribesyouragreementanddeletetheothers.]

We have a savings account/ISA with

........................................................................................................ Bank


The account is in [name]..................................................................’s name.

[[name].................................................. alone owns the contents of the account.]

[We agree to hold any balance in equal shares.]

[We agree to hold any balance in the following shares:

[name] ........................................................... : ..........%

[name] ........................................................... : ..........% ]

We have another savings account/ISA with

........................................................................................................ Bank


The account is in [name]..................................................................’s name.

[[name].................................................. alone owns the contents of the account.]

[We agree to hold any balance in equal shares.]

[We agree to hold any balance in the following shares:

[name] ........................................................... : ..........%

[name] ........................................................... : ..........% ]

12 OWNERSHIP OF CONTENTS

These are the rules that we intend to apply to items of personal property and contents of the home:

• If one of us owned something before we lived together, it belongs to that person

• If one of us bought something with his or her own money, it belongs to that person

• If either of us inherited something, or was given it as a gift, it belongs to that person

(continued)



12 • If one of us buys something and gives it to the other it belongs to the person to whom it is given

• If we buy something out of a joint bank account it belongs to us equally / in the shares in which we hold the account*

• If we buy something together but each contribute different amounts to the price it belongs to us equally / in the shares in which we contributed to the purchase*

• If we want to make particular arrangements about the ownership of a piece of property we will write the details into Schedule C at the end of this agreement

• If there are particularly precious items that belong to one of us that s/he wants to make absolutely sure that the other has no claim to, we will list them in Schedule D at the end of this agreement.

13 CAR[S]

[Choosetheoptionbelowthatdescribesyouragreement,orwriteoutanotherarrangement.]

The car [makeandregistration]....................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................

registered in the name of .................................................................................

belongs to ................................................................................................................

alone and will continue to do so even if ...................................................

contributes to its maintenance, repair or running costs.

OR

The car [makeandregistration]....................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................

registered in the name of .................................................................................

belongs to us both jointly and equally and will continue to do so even if we do not make equal contributions to its maintenance, repair or running costs.




14 CHILDREN

[Choosetheoptionbelowthatdescribesyouragreement,orwriteoutanotherarrangement.]

•While our child/ren* are under the age of ....... , ............................... will not work/not work full time* outside the home but instead will bring up the child/ren* and look after the home. We intend to treat this as a contribution equal in value to the financial contribution of ................................... during this period.

•While ................................... is not working because of child-care responsibilities ................................... will maintain her/him* as far as s/he is able.

•While our child[ren] are under the age of ..................... we both intend to work part-time so that we can share child-care, and during this period we will treat each other’s contributions both in earnings and child-care and domestic responsibilities as being of equal value.

•Since [insertname[s]ofchild[ren]] .........................................................

..................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................

is/are* not [insertnameofstepparent] ............................................’s

children and [insertnameofparent] .....................................................

receives maintenance for them, we agree that3

• If we have [a] child[ren] it is our intention to share Parental Responsibility and so [nameofmother] ............................................ will ensure that [nameoffather] ............................................ is registered as each child’s father on the birth certificate. Failing this we will make a Parental Responsibility Agreement.

3 Here you will need to add any particular financial arrangements that you want to put in.


29

15 PENSIONS

We each will/have* nominate/nominated* each other to receive ...........% of the pension and death in service benefits to which we may each be entitled under any pension scheme.

If this agreement ends for any reason we shall both be free to cancel these nominations.

16 ENDING THIS AGREEMENT

This agreement shall come to an end if any of the following events happens:

•One of us dies.

•We get married.

•We make a joint decision to stop living together. If this happens the transitional arrangements set out below will apply.

•One of us gives the other notice in writing that s/he wants to end the agreement. If this happens the transitional arrangements set out below will apply.

•One of us leaves the home and ends the relationship in this way. If this happens the transitional arrangements set out below will apply.

If we cannot agree on any of these issues, we intend to try to sort things out using mediation or solicitor negotiation initially, rather than using the court.

17 TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

[Choosewhichofthepossibilitiesbelowyouwanttouseanddeletetheothers.Oryoumaywanttowriteoutanotherarrangement.]

These are the transitional arrangements that we will put in place if our relationship ends (except by death or our marriage):

•We will stop paying into the joint household account.

•We will pay any outstanding bills out of the joint household account.

•We will divide any balance left over between us equally.=

(continued)

= Or insert the correct ratio.* Delete the word(s) that do not apply.





•We will divide up any furniture and other items that we have bought together. We will try to achieve an equal= split by either dividing the items up, or one person giving the other a payment in compensation.

•[thenon-owner] ........................................... will leave the home as soon as possible/as soon as possible after ......... wks/mths.*

•We will sell the home as soon as possible and divide the proceeds of sale (after paying the mortgage, the estate agents’ and the solicitors’ costs and any other costs of sale) between us equally.=

• If, instead of a sale of the home, one of us wishes to buy the other’s share, we will have the home valued by a local valuer. We will choose the valuer together and give joint instructions, and split any cost of the valuation equally. We will use this valuation to work out how much the share is worth.

• If we cannot agree about the choice of valuer we will ask the President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors to appoint a valuer.

We have also agreed the following arrangement if one of us dies:

•4[insertnameofownerofthehome]...................................................

promises that s/he will instruct the executors of his/her* will

that if s/he dies before [insertnameofnon-owner] ......................

........................................... they must allow her/him* a period of six months before s/he has to leave the home.

18 RENEGOTIATIONS AND CHANGES

We will reconsider the terms of this agreement from time to time and change them if appropriate. We will also do this if:

•we have a[nother] child.

•either of our wages change significantly.

•either of us becomes unemployed.

•either of us (or a child) becomes seriously ill, or disabled.

If we make changes to this agreement, we will write them down.

4 You can use this clause if the home belongs to one of you and you have agreed that the other will not have a share in it. If this is not your situation, delete or cross it out.

* Delete the word(s) that do not apply.= Or insert the correct ratio.



19 SIGNED

by the said: [insertfullnameoffirstpersonandtheirsignature]

......................................................................................................................................

in the presence of:[hereawitnessshouldwritehis/hername,signatureandaddress]

......................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................

SIGNED

by the said: [insertfullnameofsecondpersonandtheirsignature]

......................................................................................................................................

in the presence of:[hereawitnessshouldwritehis/hername,signatureandaddress]

......................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................

essential



Schedule A We have told each other all about our finances as follows: [Insertthelistthatyouhavebothpreparedfrompage 9]

[name] ......................................’S FINANCIAL DETAILS

Income:Salary before tax per year: £

Take-home salary per month: £

Any other income: £

£

£

£

£

Capital:Value of your share of house or flat: £

Savings: £

Shares: £

Value of car: £

Value of contents £

Any other capital: £

£

£

£

£

Debts:Outstanding mortgage: £

Amount owed on credit or store cards: £

Amount owed on any hire purchase agreements/installment plans: £

Amount owed on any loans: £

Any other amount owed: £

£

£

£

£



[name] ......................................’S FINANCIAL DETAILS

Income:Salary before tax per year: £

Take-home salary per month: £

Any other income: £

£

£

£

£

Capital:Value of your share of house or flat: £

Savings: £

Shares: £

Value of car: £

Value of contents £

Any other capital: £

£

£

£

£

Debts:Outstanding mortgage: £

Amount owed on credit or store cards: £

Amount owed on any hire purchase agreements/installment plans: £

Amount owed on any loans: £

Any other amount owed: £

£

£

£

£



Schedule B HOW THE PURCHASE OF OUR HOME WAS FINANCED

The purchase price was £ .................

This was raised by a mortgage of £ .................

with [insertnameoflender] ............................................................................

And other amounts as follows: [listthevarioussumsthatwentintothepurchaseandwheretheycamefrom]

The solicitors’ bill was paid by: ....................................................................

The removal costs were paid by: ................................................................

If you needed to pay for any repairs or improvements when you first moved in, you could list these below as well.



Schedule C Items that we have bought together for which we want to make special arrangements about ownership

Item Price Date How we want bought to own it

Schedule D Property that belongs to one person over which the other will gain no property rights at all.


Budget helper

Item £ per month

ACCOMMODATION COSTS

Mortgage/Rent £

Endowment policy linked to mortgage £

Council tax £

Water rates £

Electricity £

Gas £

Service charge £

Ground rent £

Oil/Solid fuel £

HOUSEHOLD EXPENSES

Food/housekeeping £

House insurance £

Contents insurance £

T.V. licence £

Telephone/cable £

CAR

Insurance £

Road tax £

Maintenance £

Petrol £

Loan for car purchase (will end 20 ) £

CHILDREN

School expenses

Travel to school £

School dinners £

Uniform £

Outings and trips £

Other school expenses (contributions to cooking etc) £

£

£

Budget helperWhen you fill this in, please remember that there are 4.33 weeks in a month, not just 4.


Budget helper

Item £ per month

Out of school

Clothes and shoes £

Nappies/wipes/creams £

Clubs and after school classes £

Childminder/nanny (gross cost) £

Breakfast and after school clubs £

Hairdressing £

Books and toys £

Christmas and birthdays £

Presents for their friends’ birthdays £

PERSONAL EXPENSES

Mobile phone £

Clothes and shoes £

Hair £

Dentist £

Optician £

Prescription charges £

Travel to work £

Lunches at work £

Entertainment £

Make up and toiletries £

Dry cleaning £

Holidays £

Subscriptions £

£

£

£

Other items £

£

£

£

£

TOTAL £

The information in this guide applies to England and Wales only. The law may be different if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

The law is complicated. We have simplified things in this guide. Please don’t rely on this guide as a complete statement of the law. We recommend you try and get advice from the sources we have suggested.

The cases we refer to are not always real but show a typical situation. We have included them to help you think about how to deal with your own situation.

If you would like this guide in another format please email [email protected]

This guide was written and produced by Law for Life’s Advicenow project. Advicenow would like to thank all those who provided feedback on this guide.

Updated by Law for Life – April 2017.

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Documents

Make a Living Together Agreement - Law for · PDF file2 How to make a Living Together Agreement t Who is this guide for? If you are living with your partner and aren’t married, this