diff --git a/src/registrar/forms/application_wizard.py b/src/registrar/forms/application_wizard.py
index a1d454f74..3c1f0cc9c 100644
--- a/src/registrar/forms/application_wizard.py
+++ b/src/registrar/forms/application_wizard.py
@@ -137,14 +137,14 @@ class RegistrarFormSet(forms.BaseFormSet):
             # matching database object exists, update it
             if db_obj is not None and cleaned:
                 if should_delete(cleaned):
-                    if hasattr(db_obj, "has_more_than_one_join") and any(db_obj.has_more_than_one_join(rel, related_name) for rel in reverse_joins):
+                    if hasattr(db_obj, "has_more_than_one_join") and db_obj.has_more_than_one_join(reverse_joins, related_name):
                         # Remove the specific relationship without deleting the object
                         getattr(db_obj, related_name).remove(self.application)
                     else:
                         # If there are no other relationships, delete the object
                         db_obj.delete()
                 else:
-                    if hasattr(db_obj, "has_more_than_one_join") and any(db_obj.has_more_than_one_join(rel, related_name) for rel in reverse_joins):
+                    if hasattr(db_obj, "has_more_than_one_join") and db_obj.has_more_than_one_join(reverse_joins, related_name):
                         # create a new db_obj and disconnect existing one
                         getattr(db_obj, related_name).remove(self.application)
                         kwargs = pre_create(db_obj, cleaned)
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ class AuthorizingOfficialForm(RegistrarForm):
         if not self.is_valid():
             return
         contact = getattr(obj, "authorizing_official", None)
-        if contact is not None and not any(contact.has_more_than_one_join(rel, "authorizing_official") for rel in self.REVERSE_JOINS):
+        if contact is not None and not contact.has_more_than_one_join(self.REVERSE_JOINS, "authorizing_official"):
             # if contact exists in the database and is not joined to other entities
             super().to_database(contact)
         else:
diff --git a/src/registrar/models/contact.py b/src/registrar/models/contact.py
index 4352e0a16..483752c56 100644
--- a/src/registrar/models/contact.py
+++ b/src/registrar/models/contact.py
@@ -54,23 +54,29 @@ class Contact(TimeStampedModel):
         db_index=True,
     )
 
-    def has_more_than_one_join(self, rel, related_name):
+    def has_more_than_one_join(self, all_relations, expected_relation):
+        """Helper for finding whether an object is joined more than once.
+        all_relations is the list of all_relations to be checked for existing joins.
+        expected_relation is the one relation with one expected join"""
+        return any(self._has_more_than_one_join_per_relation(rel, expected_relation) for rel in all_relations)
+    
+    def _has_more_than_one_join_per_relation(self, relation, expected_relation):
         """Helper for finding whether an object is joined more than once."""
         # threshold is the number of related objects that are acceptable
         # when determining if related objects exist. threshold is 0 for most
-        # relationships. if the relationship is related_name, we know that
+        # relationships. if the relationship is expected_relation, we know that
         # there is already exactly 1 acceptable relationship (the one we are
         # attempting to delete), so the threshold is 1
-        threshold = 1 if rel == related_name else 0
+        threshold = 1 if relation == expected_relation else 0
 
         # Raise a KeyError if rel is not a defined field on the db_obj model
         # This will help catch any errors in reverse_join config on forms
-        if rel not in [field.name for field in self._meta.get_fields()]:
-            raise KeyError(f"{rel} is not a defined field on the {self._meta.model_name} model.")
+        if relation not in [field.name for field in self._meta.get_fields()]:
+            raise KeyError(f"{relation} is not a defined field on the {self._meta.model_name} model.")
 
         # if attr rel in db_obj is not None, then test if reference object(s) exist
-        if getattr(self, rel) is not None:
-            field = self._meta.get_field(rel)
+        if getattr(self, relation) is not None:
+            field = self._meta.get_field(relation)
             if isinstance(field, models.OneToOneField):
                 # if the rel field is a OneToOne field, then we have already
                 # determined that the object exists (is not None)
@@ -79,7 +85,7 @@ class Contact(TimeStampedModel):
                 # if the rel field is a ManyToOne or ManyToMany, then we need
                 # to determine if the count of related objects is greater than
                 # the threshold
-                return getattr(self, rel).count() > threshold
+                return getattr(self, relation).count() > threshold
         return False
     
     def get_formatted_name(self):