Cohabitation agreement

[maccboy]

My daughter is about to complete on a house - with a large 'donation' from us. She will be living there with her boyfriend (who is 'tolerable'!!) and he will be paying her 'rent' to stay there.
He wasn't keen to participate in a mortgage.
I think most of his 'rent' will be repayments towards our contribution to the purchase of the house. Both my daughter and I want to protect our investment in the property by getting him to sign a Cohabitation Agreement.
Please could anyone on here advise me on what the agreement should/should not contain so that we can ensure that our money is safe, should the boyfriend/daughter relationship fall apart and he decides he's entitled to a share of the house?
Any advice would be really appreciated!

Thanks.

Edited by maccboy on Saturday 5th February 18:10

[Prohibiting]

I might be wrong here but if it’s classed as “rent” then she’ll have to declare it. Instead, class it as living expenses e.g contribution to household bills etc.

[Largechris]

I feel for you, must be a bit concerning to say the least.

I don’t know the legal answer, but if he pays a “reasonable amount” as it were, which would be half of the total expenses in my book, then, er, he may well have a future argument that he effectively helped buy the property (not including your contribution).

I’m on your side, I’m just trying to see it from his possible future point of view.

[Phil.]

Have you thought about making your contribution a zero interest loan to your daughter that has to be repaid if the house is sold for any reason? That way it remains part of your estate for now. You can always gift it later when things are more stable.

I suggest you speak to a solicitor and have a legal agreement drawn up. It will be worth the cost if things go wrong.

[Vasco]

See a solicitor. This could go horribly wrong.

[Sarnie]

Speak to a solicitor for sure.

Always ensure his contribution is down as rent.

And don't let him contribute to anything that might be construed as helping increase the value of the property Eg the cost of an extension or renovations etc etc.

I think you are right to be concerned given that he didn't want to be on the mortgage..........to me that says he's keeping his options open for a sharp exit if required......

[ClaphamGT3]

Gifts should be given freely....or not at all.

Your daughter is a grown woman; let her make her own decisions

[anonymous-user]

maccboy said:

My daughter is about to complete on a house - with a large 'donation' from us. She will be living there with her boyfriend (who is 'tolerable'!!) and he will be paying her 'rent' to stay there.
He wasn't keen to participate in a mortgage.
I think most of his 'rent' will be repayments towards our contribution to the purchase of the house. Both my daughter and I want to protect our investment in the property by getting him to sign a Cohabitation Agreement.
Please could anyone on here advise me on what the agreement should/should not contain so that we can ensure that our money is safe, should the boyfriend/daughter relationship fall apart and he decides he's entitled to a share of the house?
Any advice would be really appreciated!

Thanks.

Edited by maccboy on Saturday 5th February 18:10

The rent argument really doesn't work if they are clearly cohabiting.

If he isn't an owner the only way he can gain an interest in the property is by contributing to its maintenance, either financially or physically. So, he should only pay for a share of the costs of utilities etc, and should not undertake any decorating etc. The 'rent' repaying you would be a big no no.

It sounds ridiculous but I've been there done that and paid for the t-shirt.

[Simpo Two]

ClaphamGT3 said:

Gifts should be given freely....or not at all.

Your daughter is a grown woman; let her make her own decisions

Kind of, but decisions made by young adults in a relationship may later be regretted, hence a guiding hand from 'higher up' as it were could prove valuable. That's what parents are for (if not done to excess) - they have more experience of life and people.

[ClaphamGT3]

Simpo Two said:

Kind of, but decisions made by young adults in a relationship may later be regretted, hence a guiding hand from 'higher up' as it were could prove valuable. That's what parents are for (if not done to excess) - they have more experience of life and people.

It's the tone of the OPs post that sets alarm bells for me. He talks of a donation to his daughter's house purchase and then use terms like "our investment" etc.

I'd agree that a responsible parent might drop a subtle suggestion, accepting that, as an adult, it's for his daughter to form her own judgement on what to do. He comes across as a helicopter parent and the sort who is never going to let his daughter forget that he gifted her money for the house

[RUSTILLDOWN]

Think I’ve just seen your daughters post on spare room.co.uk regarding her plan to rent a room out

[98elise]

ClaphamGT3 said:

Gifts should be given freely....or not at all.

Your daughter is a grown woman; let her make her own decisions

May be he doesn't want to gift money to her partner if ever he becomes an ex.

I can completely understand and would make it an interest free loan drawn up by a solicitor. The only problem is mortgage companies don't like it.

[maccboy]

Thanks for all the replies - well, most of them! (interesting how some people view my house-buying assistance to my own daughter!).
As I suspected, I think it's a job for a solicitor. My daughter is going to mention it to her conveyancing solicitor to see if they can do the necessary or, if not, direct her to a solicitor that can.

[Andeh1]

When I was in a similar situation with a girlfriend back in the day, she paid for food & anything non material to the house! Basically nothing that tied her to a financial contribution to the house.

Ended up marrying & 20 years later here we are.