What to include in a couples agreement: the full checklist

What to include in a couples agreement: the 12 sections

Knowing what to include in a couples agreement is the hard part. This checklist for unmarried couples in England and Wales splits a complete one into 12 sections, plus being open about money, independent advice, signing with a witness, and schedules listing your money.

You may also see it called a cohabitation agreement, a living together agreement or a house buying agreement. The checklist is the same:

Section	The question it answers
1. You and the home	Who are you, and which home?
2. What each put in	Who paid what to buy it?
3. Your shares	How is the money split if you sell?
4. Mortgage, rent, bills	Who pays what each month?
5. Big one-offs	Does a new kitchen change shares?
6. Savings and debts	What is yours, mine or ours?
7. If one earns less	How does money work then?
8. Moving on	Do shares carry over?
9. If you split up	Who stays, and how fast?
10. Things bought together	Who keeps the car or the dog?
11. Standard terms	Missed payments, disputes, wills, marriage
12. Review	When do you look again?

Each section below gives the question to answer, the common options, and why it matters. If you are choosing between templates rather than checking what goes in one, see our guide to a couples agreement template.

What goes in the first sections: you, the home and the money you put in?

1. Who you are, and the home

The question: who is making the agreement, which home is it about, and whose name is (or will be) on it?

Common options: buying together, renting together, one of you owns the home, or about to move in. On the title: both of you, one of you, or not buying.

Why it matters: if you both own it, you own it either as joint tenants (equal rights to the whole home, which passes to the survivor) or as tenants in common (shares that can be unequal and left in a will), says GOV.UK. If only one of you is named, Advicenow says the other has no automatic right to any of the home’s value if you separate. A share in the home itself is recorded in a declaration of trust, a separate signed document. Read joint tenants or tenants in common? if you haven’t chosen yet.

2. What each of you put in

The question: how much did each of you put towards buying the home?

Common options: about the same, one of you more, or family money involved. Write down the amounts, including buying costs like Stamp Duty Land Tax (Land Transaction Tax in Wales) and legal fees if you count them. For family money, say who gave it, to whom, and whether it is a gift or a loan.

Why it matters: this is the number every later section builds on, and it is easiest to record while you both remember it the same way. Tell your conveyancer about any family money before you buy. Our guide to a gifted deposit or family loan explains the difference.

3. Your shares, and how they are worked out

The question: if you sell, or one of you buys the other out, should the extra one of you put in come back to them first?

Common options: yes, all of it (deposits back first, then the rest split equally); partly (a fixed amount comes back first); no, we share equally; or doesn’t apply. Define “net proceeds” (usually the price less the mortgage and selling costs), and say what happens if there isn’t enough to pay both deposits back.

Why it matters: for a home in joint names with nothing written down, the Supreme Court says the starting point is equal shares, and the partner claiming more has to prove you both intended something different. HM Land Registry records who the owners are, not your shares, so the register won’t show that one of you paid more. Compare the options with your numbers in the deposit split calculator.

How do you cover the money while you live there?

4. The mortgage, rent and bills

The question: how do you split the monthly mortgage or rent, and separately the bills and food?

Common options: equally, by what you earn, one of you pays, or another split you set as percentages. Also say whether paying more each month changes your shares, for example that it doesn’t unless you both agree in writing.

Why it matters: your split is between the two of you. Citizens Advice says that if you are both named on the mortgage you are both responsible for the payments, and if you are both named on a tenancy you are both expected to pay the rent. For council tax, a couple living together are usually both responsible for the whole bill, whoever is named on it.

5. Big one-offs and improvements

The question: who pays for big costs like a new boiler, a kitchen or a roof, and does paying change how you share the money if you sell?

Common options: shared, with no change to your shares; whoever pays gets it back first; or decide each time and write it down. Set a threshold, for example any single cost of £2,000 or more, so small repairs don’t count.

Why it matters: these costs can run to thousands, and one of you may pay. A dated, signed list saves guessing later. If your shares are already recorded in a declaration of trust, ask a conveyancer or solicitor before you rely on a change to them.

6. Savings and debts

The question: which savings and debts are yours, mine or ours?

Common options: all separate, all shared, or a mix, with a list marking each one.

Why it matters: whatever you agree, lenders follow the name on the debt. Citizens Advice says you are not responsible for debts only in your partner’s name, but you may be responsible for the whole of a debt in joint names. Say what happens to any joint account too.

7. If one of you earns less for a while

The question: if one of you earns less, for example to look after children, study, or because of illness, how will the money work?

Common options: keep the same split; adjust the split to what you each earn; or one of you covers more for a set time. If one of you covers more, say whether it is a loan or not, and whether it changes your shares.

Why it matters: Citizens Advice says unmarried partners have no legal duty to support each other financially. So if one of you steps back from work, only what you agree covers it. This section can be what makes an agreement fair to the partner who earns less. It does not change what either of you must pay to support your children.

What about moving on, splitting up and your things?

8. Selling, and moving on together

The question: if you sell and buy another home together, do your shares carry over?

Common options: yes, what each of you would have got from the sale counts as what you put into the next home; start again equally; or decide then.

Why it matters: without a rule, who put in what is argued again at your next purchase, when memories are older. Update the agreement and tell your conveyancer before you buy again.

9. If you split up

The question: who can stay, how is the home valued, and how soon does the other get their share?

Common options: one stays and buys the other out; sell and split; or decide then. For a buy-out, agree how the home is valued (for example by a RICS valuer you both choose), who goes first if you both want to stay, and a time limit, with a sale if it runs out. Also say who pays the mortgage until then.

Why it matters: if joint owners can’t agree, either of you can ask a court to decide what happens to the home. Citizens Advice says a lender will usually want to check that the one who stays can afford the whole mortgage alone, so build in time for that. Our guide to what happens to the house if you split up goes through the options.

10. Things you buy together

The question: who keeps the car, the furniture and the pets?

Common options: whoever paid; split fairly (about half the total value each, with a buy-out of single items); or decide then. Things you owned before living together usually stay yours, and a gift from one of you to the other usually belongs to the one who received it. Say who is responsible for anything on finance.

Why it matters: Citizens Advice says the person who bought an item generally owns it, and something bought from a joint account is probably owned jointly. For a pet, a line about putting its welfare first can save a painful argument.

Which standard terms should every couples agreement have?

11. Standard terms

These don’t depend on your answers, but a complete agreement includes them:

• If one of you stops paying. Tell the other as soon as you can and agree a plan. Say whether missed payments the other covers are paid back, and when.
• Sorting out disagreements. Talk first, then try mediation before court, unless that would not be safe. Advicenow suggests including a clause like this.
• It is not a will. An unmarried partner does not inherit under the rules that apply when there is no will. A home owned as joint tenants passes to the survivor automatically; a share owned as tenants in common passes under its owner’s will. So make wills that fit what you agreed.
• If you marry. Different legal rules apply to married couples and civil partners. Agree to look at the agreement again, and take advice.

12. Looking at it again, and making changes

The question: when will you review the agreement, and how do you change it?

Common options: every year; when something big changes; or no set review, with either of you able to ask at any time. Agree that changes are only made in writing, signed and dated by both of you.

Why it matters: Advicenow says to update your agreement when your circumstances change, for example a child, a big change in pay, losing a job or serious illness. An out-of-date agreement records what you used to intend.

What else makes the agreement complete?

The 12 sections are what you agree. These parts are how you make it, and they affect how much weight it carries. See how your agreement counts for the four steps.

• Being open about money. Each of you sets out your income, savings, debts and anything else of value before you sign. Advicenow says courts usually follow an agreement if what you agreed is fair and you were both honest and open about your money.
• Independent advice. Record whether each of you took your own legal advice. Advicenow says a court is even more likely to follow the agreement if you did. Make sure neither of you signs under time pressure.
• Signing with a witness. Each of you signs in front of a witness, who adds their signature, full name and address. The same person can witness both signatures, says Advicenow.
• Schedules. A first schedule lists each person’s money when you sign. A second records each big one-off as it happens, initialled by you both.
• What it is not. Say plainly that it is not a declaration of trust, does not change who is on the title or what you owe your lender, and is not a will. The Law of Property Act 1925 says a declaration of trust over land must be in signed writing, and Citizens Advice suggests making one alongside a living together agreement.

There is one thing you can’t put in. Parents cannot opt out of supporting their children, the Law Commission says, and under the Child Support Act 1991 any term that tries to stop either of you applying for a child maintenance calculation is void. You can still write down what you intend to pay towards your children’s costs. For more on how courts treat the whole document, read is a couples agreement legally binding?

What does a filled-in checklist look like?

Alex and Jordan aren’t married. They buy a £300,000 home in both names. Alex puts in a £40,000 deposit and Jordan £10,000. Here is a summary of their checklist:

Section	What Alex and Jordan agreed
1. The home	Both names, tenants in common
2. Put in	Alex £40,000, Jordan £10,000
3. Shares	Deposits back first, rest equal
4. Mortgage and bills	Mortgage equal, bills by earnings
5. Big one-offs	Decide each time, write it down
6. Savings and debts	A mix, listed in Schedule 1
7. If one earns less	Alex covers more, up to 12 months
9. If they split up	Buy-out within 6 months, or sell
10. Things bought	Split fairly
12. Review	Every year

Illustration only. It leaves out sections 8 and 11, ignores selling costs and tax, and doesn’t account for who paid the mortgage.

Their shares in numbers. Say they sell for £330,000 with £230,000 of mortgage left, so £100,000 is left. Alex gets their £40,000 back and Jordan their £10,000, then the other £50,000 is split equally: £65,000 to Alex and £35,000 to Jordan. With nothing written down, the starting point would be £50,000 each.

If prices fall. If only £40,000 is left, there isn’t enough to pay both deposits back. Their agreement says they share what there is in proportion to their deposits (80/20): £32,000 to Alex and £8,000 to Jordan.

Fair to Jordan too. Jordan plans to take parental leave, so section 7 says Alex covers more of the mortgage for up to 12 months, not as a loan, with no change to their shares. And if they split up, section 9 gives either of them the chance to stay and buy the other out at a valued price. Try your own figures in the deposit split calculator.

What should you do next?

1. Go through the checklist together. CoHabit’s free 10-minute conversation asks the questions behind sections 1 to 10 and 12, and whether you both have a will (up to 16 in all), side by side, and your answers stay on your device. Start free, together.
2. Work out your numbers. Put your deposits into the deposit split calculator and pick a split you both think is fair.
3. Gather your money details. Income, savings and debts for each of you, for the first schedule.
4. Write it down. Use a template, a solicitor, or CoHabit’s written agreement, which is coming soon and covers these sections (see pricing). Our couples agreement for buying a house guide compares the routes.
5. Sign it, each in front of a witness.
6. Tell your conveyancer how you will own the home and in what shares, and ask about a declaration of trust.
7. Make wills that fit what you agreed.
8. See a solicitor if large sums or family money are involved, one of you won’t be on the title or mortgage, one of you has children from a previous relationship, either of you has a large pension or a business, or either of you feels unsure or under pressure.