What is a Personal Assistant Agreement?
Having it in writing gives families and domestic or care workers a single reference point if expectations later diverge — which is precisely when memories of what was agreed stop matching.
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 support work do the most work, because every later clause about price, timing and completion refers back to them.
The recurring failure in this kind of arrangement is hours quietly creeping past the retainer. 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 personal assistant 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 personal assistant agreement
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.
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.
When you need a personal assistant 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 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 more than one person is involved: Where several people share the obligation, the personal assistant agreement should say whether they are liable together, separately, or both. That single word decides who can be pursued for the whole amount.
- When hours quietly creeping past the retainer 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 money changes hands: Record what the client owes, when each hour falls due, and what follows a late payment. These are the clauses relied on most often and left vague most often.
- Before the assistant starts: Put the personal assistant 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.
What to include in a personal assistant 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
Everything else in the document hangs off these names: the assistant carries the obligations, the client carries the payment, and both need identifying precisely enough to be found later.
- 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
This is the section that decides arguments. Describe the support work in hours and against the agreed task list and hours, so that whether it has been delivered is a question of fact rather than opinion.
- 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
Payment terms are relied on more often than any other clause and left vague more often than any other clause. State the amount, the trigger, the deadline and what follows a late payment.
- 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 billing period 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 support work 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 personal assistant agreement
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.
Naming the assistant and the client properly
Use full legal names — the registered entity, not a trading name. These are the names that must match if the document is ever relied on in a dispute or filed with a registry.
Defining each billing period
Say what has to be true for each billing period to have happened and who confirms it. An undefined completion test is the reason obligations sit open long after the work is finished.
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 personal assistant agreement.
Planning around hours quietly creeping past the retainer
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.
Common mistakes to avoid
- No route out. Agree how the arrangement ends while the assistant and the client still get on. Exit terms negotiated during a dispute rarely favour anyone, and they cost far more to settle.
- Forgetting the return of logins and files the assistant was given. The agreement should not go quiet at the point each billing period arrives. The return of logins and files the assistant was given is the part people assume is understood, and it is where the late arguments come from.
- Leaving confidentiality out. Both sides usually see something they should not repeat. A short confidentiality clause that expressly survives the end of the agreement covers it.
- 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.
- Pricing only for the smooth version. Estimates are built on everything going to plan. Where hours quietly creeping past the retainer is a live possibility, build it into the timetable and the fee rather than absorbing it later and resenting it.
How to use this personal assistant agreement generator
- Fill in the form. Enter the 13 details requested. Where an entry depends on a count — hours, 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.
- Read the preview. The preview updates as you type and is editable, so you can adjust the wording before downloading — useful where hours quietly creeping past the retainer needs a sentence of its own that the standard clauses do not cover.
- 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.
Personal Assistant 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 personal assistant agreement?
The assistant and the client, 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 personal assistant 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 personal assistant 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.
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.