Sam checked the worksheet for accuracy, and Marcus reminded me not to turn general information into personal legal advice.

A dozen people came.

Most were women, though there were a few men too.

Some had spent their whole lives managing household bills.

Others had recently lost a spouse and were trying to understand paperwork for the first time.

I told them to keep copies of important documents somewhere they controlled, to ask questions before signing, and to be suspicious when someone insisted there was no time to read.

I told them that contributions to a family home could have very different legal consequences depending on what was written and recorded.