What is a Chore Agreement?

This template is written for housemates, co-owners and people sharing costs, so that both sides can see what was promised, what it costs, and what happens if circumstances change.

There are 13 fields here, grouped into 5 areas — parties and contact details, scope and deliverables, payment and financial terms, dates, timing and duration, and legal protections and risk. Each is a term that causes argument when left unstated, which is why the generator asks for it rather than leaving a gap in the document.

The written instructions and emergency contacts is what settles most disagreements here, which is why it is worth attaching rather than leaving in an inbox. Private agreements between people who trust each other are the ones least likely to be written down and most likely to end a relationship when they go wrong. The written record is the point.

Complete the fields, read the assembled chore agreement in the preview panel, then download it in PDF or Word format. The document follows widely used contract conventions, though it cannot account for every state rule or industry requirement — professional review is sensible before signing anything substantial.

What matters most in a chore agreement

Put the split and the due date in writing

Shared costs are the leading source of housemate and co-owner conflict, almost always because the arrangement was only ever verbal.

Booking and use for shared assets

Where an asset is shared, a booking system and priority rules prevent conflict over peak periods.

Maintenance and unexpected costs

Agree how repairs and unforeseen expenses are approved and divided, including a threshold above which everyone must consent.

When you need a chore agreement

  • When either side may need an exit: Agree how the arrangement ends while both parties are still on good terms. Exit clauses negotiated during a dispute rarely favour anyone.
  • When the parties are in different places: Naming the governing law and the forum in advance prevents a costly preliminary fight about where any dispute is even heard.
  • When an emergency with no authority to spend or act is a realistic prospect: If this is the way the arrangement usually goes wrong, it belongs in the document. Allocating that risk in advance is much cheaper than allocating it afterwards.
  • When the arrangement will repeat: For a relationship that runs across several jobs or periods, agree the standing terms once and let each instance sit under them rather than renegotiating from scratch.
  • When who pays for veterinary or emergency costs incurred has value: Where something is still owed after each visit, that obligation needs its own words. Anything expected to survive the end of the agreement has to say so.
  • When each visit matters to someone else: Where a lender, insurer, landlord or regulator will want to see the arrangement, it needs to be written to be read by them, not only by the provider and the householder.

What to include in a chore agreement

This generator collects 13 details. Here is what each group covers and why it matters when the document is relied on.

Parties and contact details

These entries decide who can enforce and who can be enforced against. Where either side is a company, use the registered name — a trading name is not a party.

Party A Name
The full legal name of the first party. Where a party is a company, name the entity rather than an individual employee.
Party A Address
The first party's address for service of notices under the agreement.
Party B Name
The full legal name of the second party bound by the agreement.
Party B Address
The second party's address for notices and correspondence.

Scope and deliverables

Set out what the provider is delivering and, just as importantly, what is excluded. Most of the cost overruns in this kind of work start as an unstated assumption here.

Purpose of Agreement
Why the parties are entering into the agreement. This helps a court interpret ambiguous clauses in line with the parties' actual intent.
Responsibilities
What each party must do, provide or approve, allocated by name so no obligation is left unowned.

Payment and financial terms

Say what happens when the householder pays late. Without interest and a right for the provider to suspend, the deadline is a suggestion.

Amount or Property
A precise description of the money or property being transferred, with quantities and identifying details.
Payment Terms
The invoicing cycle, payment window, accepted methods and consequences of non-payment.

Dates, timing and duration

These dates decide when obligations start, when they end, and when someone is in breach. Each visit in particular should have a date and a test attached to it.

Effective Date
The date the agreement takes effect. This can differ from the signature date, and it is the date obligations start running from.
Schedule
The agreed timetable of dates, sessions or milestones.
Notice Period
How much warning a party must give before ending the agreement, and how notice must be delivered to count.

Legal protections and risk

Decide who carries which risk and who insures it before an incident, not after. Afterwards, both readings of the silence are self-serving.

Default Terms
What counts as a default, any cure period, and the remedies available to the non-defaulting party.
Governing State
The state whose law governs the agreement. Choose a state connected to the parties or the work, as a wholly unconnected choice may not be respected.

Completing this chore agreement

Checking the consents

Where a landlord, lender, insurer or licensing body has to approve the arrangement, obtain that approval before each visit rather than assuming it will follow as a formality.

Reading it as the other side would

Before signing, read the chore agreement from the counterparty's position and look for anything you would exploit. If you find something, so will they.

Keeping the version straight

Date the document and mark superseded drafts clearly. Two unlabelled versions in circulation is a surprisingly common cause of genuine, honest disagreement.

Recording where this applies

If the parties are in different states, name which state's law applies and where any dispute would be heard. Adding one line now avoids a preliminary argument later.

Making the counts checkable

Where the price depends on visits, keep a contemporaneous record as they are delivered. A count reconstructed at invoice time invites a challenge that a running record would have prevented.

Common mistakes to avoid

  1. Leaving out the governing law. Where the provider and the householder are in different places, naming the law and the forum in advance avoids a preliminary fight about where the dispute is even heard.
  2. No mechanism for changes. Things change after signature. A short variation clause — changes in writing, signed by both, priced before they start — costs nothing to include and settles the argument before it begins.
  3. Treating each visit as self-evident. State exactly what has to be true for each visit to have been reached, and who confirms it. Without a test, one side thinks the obligation is discharged while the other is still waiting.
  4. Keeping no running record. Track what is actually delivered as you go, visit by visit. Reconstructing the position at invoice time invites a challenge that a contemporaneous record would have prevented.
  5. No independent advice. Where the arrangement affects family finances materially, separate advice on each side is what makes it hold up if it is ever challenged.

How to use this chore agreement generator

  1. Fill in the form. Enter the 13 details requested. Where an entry depends on a count — visits, dates, amounts — put the number in rather than a description of it. Nothing is sent to a server — the document is assembled in your browser.
  2. Read the preview. Check the preview against the written instructions and emergency contacts. Where the two disagree, the document is the version that will be relied on, so fix it here.
  3. Download and sign. Download the PDF for signature, or the Word file if you want to keep editing. Every party should sign, date and keep a copy — including whatever covers who pays for veterinary or emergency costs incurred.

Chore Agreement — frequently asked questions

How should shared costs be divided between housemates?

However you agree, so long as it is written down with a due date and a method of payment. Equal splits are simplest; splitting by room size or income is fairer in some households. What matters more than the formula is recording it, naming who pays the provider directly, and stating what happens if someone pays late — because that is the point at which shared living arrangements usually break down.

What usually goes wrong with a chore agreement?

Emergency with no authority to spend or act. It is the recurring failure in this kind of arrangement, and it is rarely addressed in the document because both sides assume it will not happen to them. Name it, say who bears the cost, and the negotiation happens now rather than from a weak position later.

What records should I keep alongside the chore agreement?

The written instructions and emergency contacts, the signed document itself, and a contemporaneous note of anything agreed afterwards. Most disputes turn on what was agreed at the time, and the party who can produce a dated record is the party who wins that argument.

Which state's law should govern this chore agreement?

Choose a state with a genuine connection to the parties or the subject matter — where a party is based, or where the work or property is located. A choice with no connection at all may not be respected, and for property or employment the local state's rules will often apply regardless of what the contract says.

How is notice properly given under this agreement?

Follow the notice clause exactly: use the stated method, send it to the address named in the agreement, and keep proof of delivery. Notice given informally — a text message, or an email to the wrong person — is frequently challenged, and a defective notice can leave the agreement running on.

What if the borrower stops paying?

Send a written demand referring to the default clause first, as this is often enough and preserves the relationship. If it does not work, small claims court handles modest sums without a lawyer. Keep every payment record, since documentation decides these cases.

Is a loan agreement between family members legally enforceable?

Yes. A loan between relatives is as enforceable as any other, provided the essentials are present: identified parties, a stated sum, a repayment obligation and signatures. Being related does not make it a gift — but without documentation, a court or tax authority may treat it as one.

Is this chore agreement free to use?

Yes. Every template on the site is free to complete and download as PDF or Word, with no account, no email address and no payment. There is no premium tier holding back clauses, and you can generate as many versions as you need.