How do we protect unequal deposits when buying a house together in NZ?

With a contracting out agreement that records each partner's contribution and says what happens to it, typically contributions repaid first on any sale or separation, remaining value shared. Registered ownership shares alone do not override the Act's family home rules.

Is a 50/50 title with a 70/30 deposit a problem?

Only if you never write down what the 70/30 means. Couples routinely register equal titles for lending simplicity while an agreement protects the true contributions. Without the agreement, the equal title plus the family home rules point everything to 50/50.

My parents are gifting part of my deposit. What should they do?

Document the advance on their side and encourage an agreement on yours that classifies the gifted deposit as your contribution. Parents' lawyers increasingly require this before the money moves, and it protects the whole family cleanly.

We already bought without an agreement. Too late?

No. An agreement made now can still record the historical contributions and set the rules from here; it simply needs both partners' honest disclosure and independent advice, and the earlier it happens the cleaner the record.

Buying a house together with unequal deposits

Updated 2026-08-09. General information, not legal advice.

Buying a house together with unequal deposits is how most NZ couples buy a first home: one partner brings $150,000 of savings or family money, the other brings $40,000, and the mortgage covers the rest. Here is what the law does with that if you do nothing: the house becomes the family home, and once the Act applies, generally at about three years, the family home is shared equally, deposits and all. The difference between the deposits, $110,000 in that example, simply stops being anyone's. Protecting it takes one document, signed around settlement.

Doesn't the title protect the shares?

Less than people assume. Registering ownership as tenants in common in unequal shares records intent and matters between you day to day, but the Act sits above the title: the family home is generally relationship property shared equally regardless of registered shares or who paid. The reliable way to make unequal contributions stick is a contracting out agreement that says exactly what happens to them.

The two structures couples actually use

Contributions back, then split the rest. If the house is sold or you separate: sale costs first, then the mortgage, then each partner's documented contribution comes back, and whatever remains, the growth you built together, is divided equally. A loss, if values fall, is shared equally too. This is the structure most couples consider fair, and it is the pattern our drafting process supports directly.

Contributions back plus equal shares of principal and growth. The variant for couples paying the mortgage equally: contributions return first, then the principal repaid during the relationship and the increase in value are shared equally. Which variant fits depends on who services the loan and how you run money; both need the deposit amounts documented, in the agreement's schedules, at settlement time, while the figures are certain.

Family money deserves its own line

Where a deposit is really a parent's gift or loan, two protections stack: the parents document their advance (a gift declaration or loan agreement on their side), and the couple's agreement classifies what it bought as the receiving partner's contribution. Increasingly, parents helping with deposits make the help conditional on an agreement existing, which takes the awkwardness out of raising it: blame the bank of mum and dad. Trust-owned family money adds its own layer and belongs in the disclosure either way.

Timing: sign before or at settlement

The agreement is easiest exactly once: when the contributions are fresh, documented and undisputed, and the relationship is happy. You will already each have a lawyer for the conveyancing; the independent advice and certification the agreement needs can ride alongside settlement rather than being a separate project later. Signing years afterwards is possible but harder: memories of who paid what soften, and equal sharing interests may already have arisen.

Common questions

How do we protect unequal deposits when buying a house together in NZ?: With a contracting out agreement that records each partner's contribution and says what happens to it, typically contributions repaid first on any sale or separation, remaining value shared. Registered ownership shares alone do not override the Act's family home rules.
Is a 50/50 title with a 70/30 deposit a problem?: Only if you never write down what the 70/30 means. Couples routinely register equal titles for lending simplicity while an agreement protects the true contributions. Without the agreement, the equal title plus the family home rules point everything to 50/50.
My parents are gifting part of my deposit. What should they do?: Document the advance on their side and encourage an agreement on yours that classifies the gifted deposit as your contribution. Parents' lawyers increasingly require this before the money moves, and it protects the whole family cleanly.
We already bought without an agreement. Too late?: No. An agreement made now can still record the historical contributions and set the rules from here; it simply needs both partners' honest disclosure and independent advice, and the earlier it happens the cleaner the record.

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Sources

All information published on prenup.nz, including this guide, is general information only and is not to be construed as legal advice. We strongly recommend seeking independent legal advice about your own situation. A contracting out agreement only binds you once each partner has taken independent legal advice and a lawyer has witnessed and certified each signature, as section 21F of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 requires.