The agreement

A co-ownership comes into being without any paperwork: whoever buys a boat together with others is legally bound, whether anything was written down or not. The only difference is whether, in case of doubt, your arrangement applies or the statutory default.

First: which legal form

This is not a formality but the switch that liability, departure and sale depend on. The two forms below are the German ones; other countries have other rules and other names.

• Co-ownership by shares (§§ 741 ff. BGB) — each owns their share in the boat. Little effort, the usual route for private co-ownerships.
• Partnership (§§ 705 ff. BGB) — the boat belongs to the partnership as a whole. More effort, but more can be regulated; sensible as soon as the boat is chartered out or larger sums are involved.

Ten points that belong in it

1. Shares and contributions — who holds how much, and what was brought in: money, an existing boat, work.
2. Use and bookings — how the season is divided, how the high season works, whether the order rotates yearly.
3. Running costs — what is borne by share and what by use. A berth is something other than diesel.
4. Reserve — whether and how much is set aside for sails, engine and rig.
5. Upkeep — up to what amount one person may decide alone, from where a resolution is needed.
6. Own labour — whether hours are credited, at what rate and up to what annual ceiling.
7. Resolutions — does a vote count by share or by head, and which majority does which decision need.
8. Joining and leaving — valuation method, right of first refusal for the others, notice period, and what applies when nobody can take over.
9. Damage and insurance — who bears the excess, who may skipper the boat, who may take whom along.
10. Sale and dissolution — which majority decides, how the proceeds are divided, and what happens on the death of a holder.

Three points most often missing

From everything co-ownerships report, it is always the same three:

• What happens when nobody wants to take over a share. Without an answer, all that is left is selling the whole boat — or deadlock.
• Death. Otherwise heirs step in automatically, with no interest in sailing and no connection to the co-ownership.
• Who may skipper the boat. A question of insurance, not of trust — many policies require a certificate and experience.