Co-Ownership Agreement Template: A General Guide

What is a Co-Ownership Agreement Template?

A co-ownership agreement template is a pre-formatted legal document that outlines the terms and conditions for jointly owning an asset(s) between two or more parties. These agreements address terms like ownership percentages, management responsibilities, operating capital and expenses, and right of first refusal if the asset was to be sold by a party of the agreement.

Given these are contract templates, this means a lawyer has drafted the agreement and left important fields to be filled in when the co-ownership agreements needs to be used. These fields include:

• Date of the agreement
• Names and addresses of the co-owners
• Percentage of ownership
• Description of the specific property being jointly owned
• Term of the agreement
• Manager of the jointly owned property
• Governing law and jurisdiction

What Are the Different Types of Co-Ownership Agreement Templates?

There are four main types of sponsorship agreement templates for sale in the ContractsCounsel template marketplace. These include:

• General Co-Ownership Agreement
• Real Estate Co-Ownership Agreement
• Investment Co-Ownership Agreement
• Intellectual Property Co-Ownership Agreement

General Co-Ownership Agreement Template

A general co-ownership agreement is a pre-formatted legal contract that sets the terms and conditions for two or more parties owning an asset jointly. This template will address the names of the owners, ownership percentage, management responsibilities, and first right of refusal.

General means it can be used across many different asset types, so it has been drafted in a more flexible way to apply to a wider range of assets.

Real Estate Co-Ownership Agreement Template

A real estate co-ownership agreement is a pre-formatted legal agreement that joint owners of a real estate property use to govern their relationship. This agreement defines the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of each party as it relates to the ownership, management, and eventual sale of the property.

This template is drafted specifically for the joint ownership of real estate

Investment Co-Ownership Agreement Template

An investment co-ownership agreement is a pre-formatted legal contract between the joint owners of an investment that governs the terms and conditions of their jointly owning the investment. The contract will address the names of the parties, ownership percentage, roles, and responsibilities, and how to handle the investment over time.

This template is specifically drafted for jointly owned investments.

Intellectual Property Co-Ownership Agreement Template

An intellectual property co-ownership agreement is a legal contract that governs the rights of the parties that jointly owners’ intellectual property – like trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. The agreement lays out the terms and conditions that govern the parties’ relationships and outlines how the IP is managed and what happens when it sells.

This template is specifically drafted for jointly owning IP.

What Are the Most Important Terms Included in a Co-Ownership Agreement?

Depending on the type of co-ownership arrangement, terms can slightly vary. However, below are some common and important terms you will find in these templates:

• Owner Names. The agreement will clearly outline the legal names and addresses of the parties involved in owning the asset.
• Ownership Percentage. The agreement will make clear the ownership percentage of each party. Example, 50%, 25%, 5%, etc.
• Clear Description of Property. The agreement will clearly state the description (i.e., address, company name, etc.) of the property so there is no question what property is jointly owned.
• Management Responsibilities. The agreement will assign and address how the property or asset will be managed, and what roles the owners have in that. Note, property may be managed by a third party.
• Operating Capital and Expenses. The agreement will address any operating capital accounts and how expenses are handled between the owners.
• Right of First Refusal. If the asset is ever sold, it is common to see a right of first refusal being granted to the co-owners, which gives them the right to buy out another co-owner before selling the property to a third party.

How To Fill Out a Co-Ownership Agreement Template

Here is a step-by-step guide to fill out a co-ownership agreement template for sale on ContractsCounsel.

Step 1: Date of Agreement

The first step is to fill in the effective date of the agreement, which is the date the agreement starts. You will find a field in the template which looks like this: [DATE].

Step 2: Co-Owner Names and Addresses

The next step is to fill out the co-owners’ legal names and addresses, which are the fields [NAME OF CO-OWNER] and [COMPLETE ADDRESS].

Step 3: Ownership Percentage

The next step is to fill out the ownership percentage for the co-owners, which you will see a field named [PERCENTAGE].

Step 4: Description of Asset or Property

The next step is to fill in the description of the asset or property, and it is good to use a unique identify like an address or business name. This field will look like [DESCRIBE THE SPECIFICS OF THE PROPERTY].

Step 5: Management

The next step is to specify who will be managing the property or asset. Note, this could be a co-owner or a third-party company. This field says [SPECIFY PERSON/COMPANY] and is in the Management section.

Step 6: Governing Law

The next step is to fill in the governing law field of the agreement, which is the state laws that will govern the agreement. This is indicated in the template with a [STATE] field.

Step 7: Signatures

The final step is to populate the signatures section and have the co-owner’s sign.