Joint ownership agreement: car or vehicle

About this document

Whenever you would like to share ownership and use of a car for leisure or business use. Perhaps you race the car in your spare time, or perhaps you have a hire business for weddings, or perhaps another arrangement. Whatever your purpose, this agreement will suit.

Ownership - legal matters:

First, think about the most suitable structure for your sharing relationship.  If there are likely to be, say ten or more parties, it is better to hold the property in a limited company and buy and sell shares in it.  That way, ownership of the property itself never changes. However, running a company does cost money and requires formal documents and procedures to be made and carried out.  If you chose the more informal agreement, a document like one of these is perfect.

Even if ownership of your car is registered in a company, the company documents will not record the shares in which the car is held.  If you own 60% and I own 40% we have to record that in another document.  If we do not the law will assume we own in the shares in which we contributed to the purchase price.  These Net Lawman agreements specifically record the shares, so they are also incredibly useful even if you choose the company option.  They also record shares which may be owned by someone who is not a registered owner. This is called a beneficial interest or fractional ownership.

Application and features

• Suitable where any two parties want to share ownership and use of a car;
• Sensible, practical provisions for easy use;
• Comprehensive document to record the ownership;
• Document written in plain English;
• Complete with explanatory notes.

Contents

• Terms of beneficial interest - beneficial trusts provision;
• Price and payment for the car;
• How many people allowed in the car at one time and who they may be;
• Who and how will manage payment of expenses;
• Purchase of accessories for the car – how they are purchased, whom they belong to;
• Management of the car, including operating costs;
• Undertakings by the parties;
• Alternative exit strategies;
• Management structure;
• Timetable in the form of a schedule to allow you to arrange who will have the car when;
• Effect of termination;
• Insurance;
• Other legal provisions.