Roles, Rights, Responsibilities

Many co-owners defer discussions around individual rights and responsibilities.

Depending on your circumstances and preferences, you may choose to be more or less prescriptive.

Co-owners should define responsibilities

In any joint venture, setting basic ground rules or expectations is a good idea.

Most folks don't need to define who takes the trash out! But there are other, larger, responsibilities involved with co-owning a home:

• Bills
• Payments
• Expense tracking
• Taxes
• Home maintenance
• Repairs
• Cleaning
• Documentation

These are just a few of the fun tasks you'll get to split.

Co-owners should define rights, too

Some of the most common things co-owners agree on here include:

• Spatial rights (access to bedrooms, parking, shared spaces)
• Guests
• Time rights
• Financial rights, including whether co-owners can take a loan against the home