Co-Living Agreement Example
When it comes to having your young adult live at home, whether they are returning from college, withdrew from college, or never went to college - you’ll want to make sure you have a formal, written agreement around expectations for your young adult living back at home. If you don’t, you are inviting the parent-child dynamic back into your living environment, which can sour very quickly. The fastest resource to get all expectations on living under one roof again is to create a Co-Living Agreement. This is where I will suggest that going to an AI to find a template can be useful! Don’t reinvent the wheel when it’s already available to you, right? See below for an example of what you could customize for your own co-living situation.
I typed into Gemini “create a customizable co-living agreement template to share with parents of young adults” and the above is what was produced. This is awesome. What’s important is that you don’t need to make your agreement identical to this. What to do, however, need to specific details regarding core competencies that will make your co-living situation harmonious, and ensure your young adult doesn’t become stuck living in your home. Those core competencies need to include:
Financial Contributions and Boundaries
Household and Shared Responsibilities
Household Expectations around Guests, Substance Use, and Quiet Hours
Academics, Employment, and Volunteering Expectations
How to Handle Non-Compliance + Deadline for Review, Extensions, or Evictions
When expectations are unsaid, it becomes a set-up for failure and frustration. Everything needs to be laid out with as much specificity as possible. In the end, your child doesn’t have to agree to any of this. If they don’t, they have a choice to live elsewhere. If they agree to this document and live with you, but don’t uphold it, you have grounds to transition them out of your house. If you want to set up the boundaries and not uphold them, that’s on you as a parent. The expression “you made your bed, now you have to lie in it” rings true more than ever in this scenario.
For questions or comments contact Joanna.
