We recommend that you use this checklist together with our downloadable template (Extended guide) or alternatively to discuss all the issues with your partner, note down your agreements, and take it to a solicitor to have drawn up into a living together agreement or Deed. We do not recommend that you try to make your own agreement without using our template.
For most people it will be easiest for you to print this page off and make notes on it as you discuss the issues with your partner.
Date *essential
If you are writing your own agreement using the template put the date in section 1.
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 *essential
Names and dates go in section 2 of the template agreement.
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.
Telling each other about your finances
Transfer these details to Schedule A in the template agreement.
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.
Children
If you are using the template agreement, transfer names and dates of birth to section 4. Financial arrangements go in section 13
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 (perhaps from a previous relationship), does that other parent support the children financially? 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?
Your home
If you are using the template agreement, put details of how you paid for the home in Schedule B. Details of your agreement about the house go in Section 5.
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:-
- One of you owns the home in his or her name only 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.
- 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. You can find a good family solicitor near you by going to Resolution.
- You own the home between you - as joint tenants. This means that you own all the home equally - not in shares that can 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 should 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.
- 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. Making a will enables you to decide who will inherit your share. In many situations you will want this to be your partner you own the home with. If you don’t have a will, the intestacy rules will apply and your partner will not get your share. Instead it will go to a family member, in line with the intestacy rules.
Endowment policies
If you are using the template agreement, put these details in section 9 of the template. If you don’t have an endowment policy, delete section 9.
Few people have an endowment policy that backs their mortgage these days. But if you do, you need to think about whose name it is in (one or both of you?), and whether you will share it 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.
Household expenses and debts
If you are using the template agreement, put these details into section 10.
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 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 sometime you have probably already organised your finances in some way. If you have, all you need to do is just note 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, electricity 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.
Savings
Put these details in section 11 of the template agreement. If you don’t have a savings account, delete/ignore section 11.
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.
Ownership of contents and other personal possessions
If you are using the template agreement transfer this information to section 12.
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 is 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.
Transfer this information to Schedule C in the template.
Cars
Put this information in section 13. Repeat section 13 if you have more than one car, or delete it if you don't have a car.
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 makes a contribution, they won’t gain a share in return.
Pensions
Transfer these details to section 15 of the template agreement.
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 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.
Ending the agreement
If you are using the template, put these details in section 16.
This agreement will end if your relationship ends. Or if you die or marry as the law will take over.
Transitional arrangements
Transfer these details to section 17 of the template agreement.
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 below 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. 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 or into other shares.
Renegotiations
Transfer these details to section 18 of the agreement.
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 gave 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.
Signing and dating the agreement *essential
Add your signatures to section 19 of the template 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.
This checklist (and the template agreement available in the extended guide) are only to be used in the way described. The law is detailed and complicated. If in doubt, get expert advice.
