Why is it so expensive to get the simplest cohabitation agreement drawn up and are there any affordable alternatives?

[stirling]

Hello,
My partner has moved in with me and pays towards bills. I don't want to sign a lodger agreement because he's a partner. Went through an extremely bitter divorce and hideous battle with a cheating, conniving ex husband a couple of years ago so my fingers are badly burnt and I've fought hard to keep the roof over my dcs and my head.

Needless to say, should dp and I split, I don't want to ensue another battle. He has come into this relationship pretty much without anything in terms of assets. He just pays his share of bills and towards food.

I just want the simplest, most basic document that states that if he leaves or we split, he cannot claim on my house.
He doesn't pay the mortgage or buy stuff for the house.

Why is this costing in excess of £1500??? For "all the work" that needs to be put into it? Is there a cheaper way? I'm in London. Had several over the phone estimates. Same cost.

I'm on a very low income.

Thank you

Is there a cheaper way?

Leaving it to chance.

If it's your house in your name - and the children are not his - and he doesn't pay the mortgage.. then he doesn't have a claim. .. just ensure he doesn't pay money to you that can be construed as ' contribution' towards the mortgage.. ideally he has a few bills in his name that he pays direct..

Most women on here who have been silly enough to have children without marriage and live in a partners house without their name on the deeds ,will tell you that there is nothing you can claim in the event of a split except child maintenance from a non resident parent. I doubt many have an agreement.
I certainly would bother for that price. ! If you have children together, maybe think again.

OK thanks very much. Perhaps I will leave it to chance after all. I felt more worried about a sum of money going into my account every month - its £570. - I wanted a back up document incase HMRC ever queried it.

Hi - just to dispute the previous poster but if you don't get something legal sorted at the start he could make a claim against the property even.

I can't remember the law but I made a claim against my ex husband when we separated and lodged a form with land registry to make a claim. My name wasn't on the deeds but I had paid the bills.

Once he is contributing he could claim it is for the mortgage if you were to split up.

Assume you have had legal advice to get a quote but shop around too see if you can get something cheaper - 1,500 is about three hours of legal work.

@welshladywhois40

That is slightly different though as you were married (if I've read your post right). You would have had rights as a spouse leaving the marriage.

The OP (again if I have read it right) is not married to her partner so he would not have any rights as a spouse leaving a marriage if he left. He may potentially claim that monies he has paid to the OP are contributions to mortgage payments so has a beneficial share in the equity due to that. The OP would need an agreement confirming that monies paid to her are not contributions to the mortgage and he would have no beneficial share in the property.

Or the OP could leave it to chance that he wouldn't make a claim or claim that the payments are for the mortgage. @stirling if the money paid to you is by bank transfer, could you ask your partner to label it as "utilities" or similar?

Welshladywhois40
The OP isn’t married she is talking about a partner not a husband
The reason you could make a claim against your husband house even though you were not on the deeds is because you were married
If you weren’t married you would have found it very hard to make a claim on his property
You could OP get him to put on the Standing Order The words Rent then it’s proof it’s rent not mortgage payments

If you leave it to chance maybe try finding a 'legal' document to copy from the internet and both sign it with witnesses? Keep records of what he pays and a breakdown of what it is towards then at least in his mind you are covering yourself so he may not even consider trying it on if the worst happens?

Just write it yourself if it is straightforward and have it signed and witnessed by both of you and an independent witness

Just type on up stating the position, who owns the house and that he will pay towards the bills only and not contribute to the house or claim on it.

Yes not as legally written but it still has legal standing and would be difficult to overturn. Is anything more complex then you can still write your own but the risks are slightly elevated.

Lots of people write their own wills and are fine for eg

Yes not as legally written but it still has legal standing

No it doesn't. To stand any chance of being accepted by the courts both parties must have independent legal advice and there must be full disclosure of finances. Of course, that doesn't matter if both parties honour the agreement as the courts won't get involved. But if there is a dispute, not using a lawyer when drawing up the agreement may prove to be a false economy.

@prh47bridge I'm sorry that is ludicrous. The advice you gave is relevant to a pre-nup but not as much to a cohabitation agreement. The issue if there is no independent legal advice, what weight a judge attaches to it?

The reality, as many women on here will testify is that even without a cohabitation agreement, they don't have a hope in hell of getting any money when their name isn't on the house or other assets, even with children. If there is an agreement, even without legal advice it demonstrates consideration by the parties of the issues.

Frankly the Op has very little risk as long as she keeps assets in her name and can prove he hasn't contributed....even if he has, and classed as rent he would be stuffed claiming.

Hence why the consistent advice from women who have had their fingers burnt is to get married because there is no such thing as a common law husband/wife except in people's minds.

The issue if there is no independent legal advice, what weight a judge attaches to it

If there is no independent legal advice a judge will not give it any weight. If there is independent legal advice an agreement is likely to be enforced. The advice I gave is as relevant to a cohabitation agreement as it is to a pre-nup.

The reality, as many women on here will testify is that even without a cohabitation agreement, they don't have a hope in hell of getting any money when their name isn't on the house or other assets, even with children

I'm not saying that he would definitely have a claim without a cohabitation agreement. That is dependent on the facts of the case. However, if the OP goes down the path you are suggesting the agreement would not be worth the paper it is written on as far as the courts are concerned.

If the OP wants certainty she needs a properly drawn up agreement. If she wants to take the risk of not having an agreement that is up to her and she may well be ok provided he doesn't contribute to the property. But advising her that a cohabitation agreement drawn up by non-lawyers would have legal standing is just plain wrong.

What is the money transferred to you for OP ? If it's for bills then just get him to pay these direct. Same with food. He/You go to supermarket and he pays direct.

Problem solved. No 'contribution' to you that could ever be considered to be towards the mortgage .

@prh47bridge what I'm suggesting is that if she can't have legal advice then something is better than nothing but clearly there are more risks without.

www.advicenow.org.uk/guides/how-make-living-together-agreement

£30 for the extended guide and templates
linked from CAB website

You can request the guide for free if you are on a very low income - see definition on the site

£30 for the extended guide and templates linked from CAB website

That isn't CAB, nor is it linked to by CAB. CAB correctly say that you need help from a solicitor if you want to make an agreement.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/living-together-marriage-and-civil-partnership/living-together-and-civil-partnership-legal-differences/

linked from this CAB page

You’re right MarieG10. It is useful and hell of a lot better than nothing provided both partners tell the truth when they make it. Living Together Agreements 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. It is not true to say they aren’t worth the paper they are written on - they very much are.
But If you are going to write it as a deed then you should both take legal advice first - although you can still use a template like the one Ruthieness linked to.

The law relating to constructive and resulting trusts and proprietary estoppel is complicated.
It's not something that anyone qualified would feel comfortable giving advice in soundbites on a public forum lest it be misconstrued by others and acted upon.

In law the assumption is that he doesn’t have any right to the house. It would be on him to rebut the presumption. A DIY signed agreement should be more than sufficient.

@Collaborate it’s pretty simply in cases like this though. It gets complicated when the intention is unclear or the financial situation becomes unclear (in particular payments for home improvements and the like).

@Velveteenfruitbowl So, a signed agreement saying what exactly? And what would it be sufficient to do? what about if there is a change of circumstances in the future? How would your agreement deal with that? Or would you have advice for the OP about how to order her financial affairs to minimise any risk of a claim?

And what would you do about claims under the Inheritance Act?

Couldn't you reconsider having him
Live with you as a lodger? Lodgers have no rights to remain in a property if you ask them to leave. You could ask for say £500 a month to rent a room and towards bills. He could then pay half towards the food costs

@Collaborate a signed agreement stating there is no intention to share the property regardless of contributions from her partner. Inheritance doesn’t seem to be something OP is concerned about at all. This is one of those things where it’s so unlikely to even become a dispute in the first place, and if it were to become a dispute they are very much stone extreme of the case law anyway that I wouldn’t bother with a lawyer. Obviously as a lawyer it wouldn’t be ideal but as a purely practical point I would consider it necessary. Of course there could be extenuating factors OP hasn’t mentioned like her OH bring an arsehole or what have you but I wouldn’t think an expensive (to some anyway) legal document would be necessary or helpful to most people living in this kind of arrangement.

The advicenow website recommends that you do get a Solicitor to check the document once you have filled it out which could be a lot cheaper than starting from scratch
Also suggests that in other cases before you see a Solicitor you could go through their checklist which is pretty comprehensive and take the time to discuss with your partner.

Of course independent advice is the gold standard.