What is a Nanny Agreement?
It is used by families and domestic or care workers who want the terms recorded before work starts or money changes hands, rather than reconstructed from memory afterwards. Putting it in writing is what turns an understanding into something either side can rely on.
13 details are captured across 5 areas: parties and contact details, scope and deliverables, payment and financial terms, dates, timing and duration, and legal protections and risk. Together they fix what the carer owes the family, measured in hours of care rather than in adjectives.
Where these agreements go wrong, it is usually a household worker paid as a contractor when they are an employee rather than a defect in the boilerplate. 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.
Fill in the form and the nanny agreement assembles as you type, so you can read the finished wording before you download it. The draft is a starting point built on standard contract structure — it is not legal advice, and for a high-value or unusual arrangement it is worth having an attorney check it against the rules in your state.
What matters most in a nanny agreement
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.
Notice, holiday and sick pay
Agree these upfront. Informal domestic arrangements without written terms are where most disputes in this area arise.
When you need a nanny agreement
- Before the carer starts: Put the nanny 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 pay period 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 carer and the family.
- 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 a household worker paid as a contractor when they are an employee 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 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 care work needs defining: Write down what is included and what is not. A specific description is what turns an extra request into a chargeable variation rather than an argument.
What to include in a nanny 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
Get these right before anything else. A dispute over the care work is unwinnable if the document names a party that does not legally exist.
- 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
Measure the care work rather than describing it. A scope stated in hours of care can be checked at each pay period; one stated in adjectives cannot.
- 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
Tie each payment to something observable — a delivered hour of care, a date, or each pay period — rather than to a general sense that enough has been done.
- 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
Use calendar dates, not relative triggers. "On approval" cannot be located on a calendar, which means it cannot be used to show that anyone is late.
- 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
These are the clauses nobody reads until something goes wrong, at which point they are the only clauses that matter.
- 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 nanny agreement
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.
Not stopping at each pay period
The payroll, tax and insurance duties that come with employing someone at home continues past that point. Give it its own clause, because obligations that are merely assumed to survive often do not.
Signing and keeping it
Every party named should sign and date, and each should keep their own copy. Electronic signatures are valid for the great majority of agreements — retain the audit trail showing who signed and when.
Attaching the written schedule of duties and hours
The written schedule of duties and hours carries most of the evidential weight here. Attach it as a schedule and refer to it by name in the body, rather than leaving it as an email nobody can find later.
Reviewing it against what actually happens
Arrangements drift. If the way the carer and the family work together has moved away from the wording, reissue the document rather than relying on a version that no longer describes reality.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Leaving the payroll, tax and insurance duties that come with employing someone at home to good faith. Good faith is not a plan. Write down what happens after each pay period, because that is the point at which the parties' interests stop being aligned.
- No inspection or review window. Give the family a defined period to check the care work and raise problems, with deemed acceptance after it. Otherwise work sits "under review" indefinitely and payment never falls due.
- Copying an agreement without changing the substance. The structure travels between deals. The description of the care work, the money and the dates do not — and those are precisely the clauses that get litigated.
- Keeping no running record. Track what is actually delivered as you go, hour of care by hour of care. Reconstructing the position at invoice time invites a challenge that a contemporaneous record would have prevented.
- Relying on the relationship. Private arrangements are agreed between people who trust each other and enforced between people who no longer do. Write it down while everyone is still friendly.
How to use this nanny agreement generator
- Fill in the form. Work down the 13 fields in order. The ones describing the care work carry the most weight, so give them more than a few words — everything else in the document refers back to them. Nothing is sent to a server — the document is assembled in your browser.
- Read the preview. Scan the preview for anything left blank or approximate. Dates, amounts and the description of the care work are the entries that get tested.
- Download and sign. Take the PDF for signing or the Word version for further edits. Make sure the signed copy reaches everyone named, since a document held by only one side is hard to rely on.
Nanny 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.
Can a nanny 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.
What usually goes wrong with a nanny agreement?
Household worker paid as a contractor when they are an employee. 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.
Which state's law should govern this nanny 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.
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.
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.
Is my information stored anywhere?
No. Everything you type is processed in your browser and the document is assembled on your own device. Nothing is transmitted to a server, saved to an account or shared, which is why closing the tab clears your entries.