What is a House Sitting Agreement?

This template is written for families and domestic or care workers, so that both sides can see what was promised, what it costs, and what happens if circumstances change.

The form collects 13 details across 5 areas: parties and contact details, scope and deliverables, payment and financial terms, dates, timing and duration, and legal protections and risk. The entries describing the arranged service do the most work, because every later clause about price, timing and completion refers back to them.

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 house sitting 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 house sitting agreement

Household workers are often employees

Regular nannies and carers usually meet the test for employment, which brings payroll tax, minimum wage and overtime obligations that many families overlook.

Emergency authority and contacts

Record medical consent, emergency contacts, allergies, medication and what the carer is authorised to do in a crisis.

Access, keys and security

Set out key arrangements, alarm codes and the return obligation when the engagement ends.

When you need a house sitting agreement

  • When the counterparty is new to you: With no track record between the parties, the written terms do the work that familiarity would otherwise do. That is exactly when precision pays for itself.
  • When risk needs allocating: Decide who carries which risk and who insures it before an incident rather than after one. Afterwards, both readings of the silence are self-serving.
  • 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.
  • Before the provider starts: Put the house sitting agreement in place before anyone relies on it. An agreement signed after work has begun is far harder to enforce on the terms you actually intended.
  • 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.
  • When money changes hands: Record what the householder owes, when each visit falls due, and what follows a late payment. These are the clauses relied on most often and left vague most often.

What to include in a house sitting 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

Naming the governing law and the forum here avoids a preliminary fight about where a dispute over the arranged service is even heard.

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 house sitting agreement

Getting the numbers right

Write key figures out in full where the amount is central, and state the currency if either party is outside the country. Both are cheap precautions against an expensive misunderstanding on a house sitting agreement.

Planning around an emergency with no authority to spend or act

Since this is the common failure in this kind of arrangement, decide now who absorbs it. A clause of two sentences here is worth more than a page of general good intentions.

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.

Reading it as the other side would

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

Dates that drive obligations

Use calendar dates rather than relative triggers such as "on approval", which cannot be measured. Dates determine when obligations start, when they end, and when someone is late.

Common mistakes to avoid

  1. Pricing only for the smooth version. Estimates are built on everything going to plan. Where an emergency with no authority to spend or act is a live possibility, build it into the timetable and the fee rather than absorbing it later and resenting it.
  2. 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.
  3. Nothing in writing about ending it. Say how the arrangement stops and what is owed at that point. Informal arrangements tend to have no ending, only a falling-out.
  4. Letting the agreement lapse quietly. Where the arrangement rolls on, diarise the notice deadline the day it is signed. Renewal clauses work exactly once against the party who forgot them.
  5. No cap on liability. An uncapped exposure on a modest fee is a bad trade for the provider. Set a cap that reflects the real value at stake, and carve out the things that should never be capped.

How to use this house sitting agreement generator

  1. Fill in the form. Fill in the 13 fields, starting with the parties. Have the written instructions and emergency contacts to hand before you begin, because several of the entries will be taken directly from it. Nothing is sent to a server — the document is assembled in your browser.
  2. Read the preview. Scan the preview for anything left blank or approximate. Dates, amounts and the description of the arranged service are the entries that get tested.
  3. Download and sign. Export as PDF to sign, or as Word to keep working on it. Store the signed version somewhere both the provider and the householder can find it, along with the written instructions and emergency contacts.

House Sitting Agreement — frequently asked questions

Is a nanny an employee or a self-employed contractor?

Almost always an employee. The family sets the hours, directs the work and provides the workplace and equipment, which points firmly to employment — regardless of what the parties call the arrangement or whether the nanny works for other families too. That brings payroll registration, tax withholding, minimum wage and often insurance obligations, and getting it wrong can be costly.

Who should sign the house sitting agreement?

The provider and the householder, through someone with authority to bind them. Where either is a company, that means a director or an officer with delegated authority — a signature from someone without it is a defence waiting to be raised.

Can a house sitting agreement be changed after signing?

Only by agreement, and the change should be recorded in writing and signed by both sides. Once amendments start being made by phone or in passing, the written document stops describing the arrangement, which defeats the purpose of having one.

Which state's law should govern this house sitting 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 interest rate can I legally charge?

State usury laws set the ceiling, and it varies widely. Some states also treat loans differently depending on whether the lender lends regularly. Check your state's limit before setting a rate, since exceeding it can cost you the interest and occasionally more.

Does this document need to be notarised?

For most private agreements, no — signatures from both parties are enough. Notarisation is worth it for larger sums, anything secured against property, or where you anticipate the document being challenged, because it makes the signature very difficult to deny.

Do both parties need to sign the house sitting agreement?

Yes — every party named should sign and date it, and each should keep a copy. Electronic signatures are legally valid for the great majority of agreements under the ESIGN Act and equivalent laws, so signing digitally is fine provided you retain the audit trail.