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

Family lawyer here.

If you leave it to chance, if it is clear he has only ever contributed to utilities and food and there have been no discussions or agreement, or behaviour pointing towards an understanding, that the house is shared, and he has not relied on that to his detriment, then he has no claim. However, that doesn't mean he won't try. It will obviously cost you money at that stage to instruct a solicitor to deal with his "claim". You may find you are advised to make a "nuisance payment" to make him go away and avoid litigation.

The work involved in drawing up an agreement like this is very little. As it is in the case of (relatively speaking) pre-nups. However, the agreement saves you a LOT of money and aggro in the long run. When pre-nups became commonplace about 20 years ago I was working in London. Charging on a time-basis meant we charged very little for them, in comparison to the value gained by the client. We started to charge a fixed fee - for example we were charging £2,500 for prenups (as opposed to in America where you would be charged about 5-10 times that). Charging like this is very much a London thing.

Look for a lawyer outside of London. An agreement like this is more likely to cost you circa £300-400 if you do that. Your DP must also have independent advice to make the agreement watertight.

Even when you have an agreement, be aware that your conduct, post-agreement, may become relevant and could change things - eg if he starts contributing towards the mortgage/you have discussions which indicate there is an agreement/mutual understanding that he has acquired an interest and if he relies on any agreement/understanding to his detriment, or eg if he contributes to the cost of an extension/other improvements, or carries these out himself (I'm not talking about painting or decorating, but substantial work).

I'd have a joint account used solely for food and bills, into which you both pay a set amount. Make sure you pay the mortgage and buildings insurance from an account in your sole name.

My friend went to her solicitor and had a letter drawn up that her partner signed, mo way did it cost that sort of money

I looked into this when my partner moved in with me (and freaked me out by saying it potentially gave him a claim on the house). Decided not to bother but made sure not to let him make any contribution to the capital value of the house or mortgage. It worked fine until he proposed and I tried to get him to sign a prenup

Hi all
Thank you for the very helpful messages. Tootrusting, thanks for the legal input. I would have thought that something as simple as "you can't make a claim on the house if we spilt, there's nothing to share" would cost in the region of under 500, but perhaps its a London thing. Yes I'll try to find someone outside of London. Meanwhile I'll get him to mark the payments for what they are - good point. Occasionally he does make something for my house, (he's a carpenter) so there is that worry. My dad helped me this year because of my disability, by paying my mortgage off so there's no mortgage.
Dp is a lot older than me, approaching 60. Very passive. Gut feeling is telling me he'd never try something like that.
But you never know

Small repairs and DIY wouldn't count.
The agreement would have to be a bit more complex than ^^
Eg It would have to record the house is yours and he is not acquiring any interest in it by moving in. And recording that his contributions are for ordinary household outgoings, not property maintenance.

OK thanks tootrusting I'll bear that in mind :)

stirling, if your father made a loan not a gift to you it might always be wise to get that in writing that it is a loan so that if later your partner claimed at least that loan bit would not be included. I agree having a DIY agreement is better than nothing and that using a solicitor in a much cheaper legal area - try Leeds (or even Newcastle where I am from) might be a godd plan as lawyers will have lower over heads there.

His carpentry could be an issue (perhaps you need to pay him for it and keep records of the payments) as he might get a bit of a share of the property from it.

Do you have a will for your assets to go to your children ?

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