What should I know about buying a home with a family member who is not my spouse?

Buying with a family member — a parent, sibling, or adult child — can be a practical way to enter the housing market, but the legal and financial structure needs to be thought through carefully from the start.

Unlike married spouses, non-spousal co-owners have no automatic legal protections if the relationship sours or one party wants out. If you and a sibling buy as tenants in common and later disagree about whether to sell, either party can apply to court for a partition and sale order — a court can force the sale of the property. This is an expensive and disruptive remedy.

A co-ownership agreement (sometimes called a co-habitation or co-ownership agreement) is a private contract that addresses how expenses are shared, how decisions are made, what happens if one party wants to sell or cannot contribute to the mortgage, and how disputes are resolved. It does not replace legal title arrangements but supplements them. Your lawyer should help you prepare one alongside the purchase, and each co-owner should ideally have independent legal advice before signing it.