How to Write Any Legal Document
Step by step guides to every document on LegalDoc. What each question is asking, what a good answer looks like, and what to do once you have it.
75 guides
How to Respond to a Demand Letter
Ignoring a demand letter is the worst option available. A measured reply protects your position and often settles the matter at a fraction of the amount claimed.
Read the guideHow to Write a 24 Hour Notice to Enter
A landlord who needs access tomorrow still has to ask properly. This notice is the short form version, and a day is about the least warning that counts as reasonable.
Read the guideHow to Write a 48 Hour Notice to Enter
Two days notice suits planned work: contractors, viewings and anything a tenant needs to prepare for. It is the version that keeps tenancies pleasant.
Read the guideHow to Write a Billboard Lease Agreement
A landowner rents out space for advertising. Regulatory permits and who insures the structure are the two answers that decide the risk.
Read the guideHow to Write a Bill of Sale for a Car
A bill of sale proves a vehicle changed hands, on what date and for how much. Sell without one and the car stays yours on every record that matters.
Read the guideHow to Write a Brand Influencer Agreement
This agreement sets what an influencer will post, when, and for how much. The deliverables answer is what stops the argument after the first post.
Read the guideHow to Write a Caregiver Agreement
Somebody is being trusted with a vulnerable person, their home and sometimes their money. The employment status question decides who carries what.
Read the guideHow to Write a Child Support Agreement
A child support agreement records what one parent pays the other for the children. Written down, it stops being a monthly negotiation.
Read the guideHow to Write a Child Support Demand Letter
This is the formal request for child support that has stopped arriving. It creates the record, and it is the step before going back to court.
Read the guideHow to Write a Codicil to a Will
A codicil amends a will without replacing it. It needs the same witnessing formalities as the will itself, and for big changes a new will is cleaner.
Read the guideHow to Write a Commercial Lease Agreement
A commercial lease covers business premises, where the money is bigger and the terms run longer. These are the questions that decide what it costs you.
Read the guideHow to Write a Company Resolution
A resolution is the written record of a decision the company formally made. Banks, registries and buyers all ask for one, usually at short notice.
Read the guideHow to Write a Consent to Sublet
A consent to sublet is the landlord's written permission for a tenant to bring in a sub tenant. It protects all three parties and it should come before anybody moves in.
Read the guideHow to Write a Consulting Agreement
Consultants sell advice, which is harder to define and easier to dispute than a deliverable. This agreement is where you make it concrete.
Read the guideHow to Write a Cookie Policy
A cookie policy explains the small files your site stores on a visitor's device and what they are used for. Work through the form with this beside you.
Read the guideHow to Write a Copyright Infringement Notice
Somebody is using your work without permission. This notice tells them to stop, and it is the step that resolves most infringements without a court.
Read the guideHow to Write a Copyright Licence Agreement
This agreement lets somebody use work you own without giving away ownership. The territory and the payment are the two answers that matter.
Read the guideHow to Write a Deed of Assignment in Nigeria
A deed of assignment is what actually transfers land from a seller to a buyer. Every answer here ends up on the document a court or a registry will read.
Read the guideHow to Write a Demand Letter
A demand letter is the formal request that comes before a lawsuit. Most debts are recovered at this stage, which is why it is worth writing properly.
Read the guideHow to Write a Disclaimer
A disclaimer limits what people can hold you to for the information, reviews and links you publish. Here is what the form is really asking at each step.
Read the guideHow to Write a Divorce Settlement Agreement
A settlement agreement records what a separating couple have agreed about money, property and children. In Nigeria only a court dissolves the marriage.
Read the guideHow to Write a Farm Lease Agreement
Farmland is leased on longer terms because crops take seasons. Who holds title to the land is the question to answer before anything else.
Read the guideHow to Write a Football Player Contract
A club employs a player for a number of seasons at a stated salary. Registration with the league is what actually makes the player eligible.
Read the guideHow to Write a Founders Agreement
A founders agreement settles equity, roles and what happens when somebody leaves, while everybody still likes each other. That is the only time it can be written.
Read the guideHow to Write a Franchise Agreement
A franchise licenses a whole business system, not just a brand. The franchisor controls how it is run, and the fees are how they earn from it.
Read the guideHow to Write a Freelance Agreement
A freelance agreement settles scope, money and deadlines before the work starts. Freelancers who skip it end up arguing about all three.
Read the guideHow to Write a Grant Agreement
A grant agreement records money given for a purpose rather than in exchange for something. Unspent funds usually go back, which is the clause to read.
Read the guideHow to Write a Job Offer Letter
An offer letter is what a candidate reads before resigning from their current job. Make it complete enough that they can decide on it.
Read the guideHow to Write a Joint Venture Agreement
A joint venture is two or more businesses combining for one project without merging. The obligations clause is what stops it becoming an argument.
Read the guideHow to Write a Lease Agreement
This lease covers the detail a short tenancy agreement leaves out: late fees, bounced cheques, subletting and pets. Each answer settles an argument in advance.
Read the guideHow to Write a Letter of Intent
A letter of intent records a deal in principle before the contract exists. Whether it binds you is a question you answer, not one you discover.
Read the guideHow to Write a Letter of Intent for a Property Purchase
A letter of intent records what buyer and seller have agreed in principle, and buys the buyer time to check the title before committing.
Read the guideHow to Write a Letter of Intent for a US Transaction
The US version of a letter of intent, with state fields throughout. The state you choose decides which law reads the document later.
Read the guideHow to Write a Licensing Agreement
A licence lets somebody use what you own while you keep owning it. Territory, exclusivity and the royalty are where the money is.
Read the guideHow to Write a Loan Agreement
Money lent to a friend or a business without a written agreement is money you may not see again. This is the document that changes that.
Read the guideHow to Write a Month to Month Lease Agreement
A month to month lease renews automatically until either side gives notice. This form uses US states, so Nigerian lettings need a tenancy agreement instead.
Read the guideHow to Write a Music Recording Contract
A label funds and releases an artiste's recordings in exchange for a share of what they earn. The royalty split is the deal, and the master ownership question is the one the form does not ask.
Read the guideHow to Write an Airline Complaint Letter
Delayed, cancelled or mishandled. Nigerian passengers have enforceable rights, and a specific written complaint is how you actually use them.
Read the guideHow to Write an Employee Handbook
A handbook answers the questions staff ask repeatedly: when is payday, how do I book leave, what do I wear. Writing it once saves answering it forever.
Read the guideHow to Write an Employee Warning Letter
A warning letter records a problem, says what has to change, and gives the employee a chance to fix it. Skipping it is what makes dismissals go wrong.
Read the guideHow to Write an Employment Contract in Nigeria
Nigerian law requires a written statement of terms within three months of starting. This is that document, and these are the questions behind it.
Read the guideHow to Write an Independent Contractor Agreement
This is the agreement for somebody who works for you without being your employee. Get the substance right, because the label alone does not decide it.
Read the guideHow to Write an LLC Operating Agreement
An operating agreement governs how a US limited liability company runs. Nigeria has no LLC, so a Nigerian business needs articles of association instead.
Read the guideHow to Write a Nominee Shareholder Agreement
A nominee holds shares in their name for somebody else. CAMA now requires beneficial ownership to be disclosed, so this arrangement is not what it once was.
Read the guideHow to Write a Non Compete Agreement
A non compete restricts where somebody can work after leaving you. Nigerian courts are sceptical of these, and an overreaching one is worth nothing.
Read the guideHow to Write a Non Disclosure Agreement
An NDA protects information you are about to share with somebody who has no reason to keep it secret otherwise. It is short, and the duration is the part people get wrong.
Read the guideHow to Write a Notice of Termination of Contract
Ending a contract badly turns your exit into their claim. The clause you rely on, and the notice you give, decide which one this is.
Read the guideHow to Write a Partnership Agreement
Partners are personally liable for the partnership's debts, including ones the other partner ran up. That is the fact the agreement has to be written around.
Read the guideHow to Write a Personal Guarantee
A guarantor promises to pay if the tenant does not. It is a short document with a long reach, and guarantors rarely understand what they are signing.
Read the guideHow to Write a Photography Release Form
A release is permission from the person in the photograph to use their image. Copyright covers the picture; this covers the person in it.
Read the guideHow to Write a Power of Attorney
A power of attorney lets somebody act for you. It delegates authority and transfers nothing, which is the point Nigerian land buyers most often get wrong.
Read the guideHow to Write a Prenuptial Agreement
A prenuptial agreement records what each person brings to a marriage and what happens if it ends. Nigerian courts are not bound by it, but they can consider it.
Read the guideHow to Write a Privacy Policy
A privacy policy tells people what personal data you collect, why, and what they can do about it. Here is how to answer the form honestly, question by question.
Read the guideHow to Write a Purchase Order
A purchase order is the buyer's formal instruction to a supplier. Accepted, it becomes a contract, which is why the numbers on it matter.
Read the guideHow to Write a Quitclaim Deed
A quitclaim deed transfers whatever interest the grantor has, with no promise they have any. Nigeria uses a deed of assignment instead.
Read the guideHow to Write a Quit Notice in Nigeria
A quit notice ends a tenancy and starts the clock on recovering possession. Get the notice period wrong and you start again from the beginning.
Read the guideHow to Write a Real Estate Agency Agreement
This is the agreement between a property owner and the agent selling for them. Written down, the commission argument never happens.
Read the guideHow to Write a Remote Work Agreement
Remote employment needs the ordinary employment terms plus answers to the questions distance creates: hours, equipment, expenses and office days.
Read the guideHow to Write a Resignation Letter
A resignation letter needs to do three things: state that you are leaving, give the date, and keep the relationship intact. Everything else is optional.
Read the guideHow to Write a Return and Refund Policy
A return and refund policy tells buyers when they can send something back and when they get their money. Each question below is a commercial decision before it is a drafting one.
Read the guideHow to Write Articles of Association
Articles of association are the rulebook for how a company runs: meetings, quorums, directors and the financial year. CAMA supplies defaults, and these override them.
Read the guideHow to Write Articles of Incorporation
Articles of incorporation bring a company into existence and fix its share structure. Nigeria uses a memorandum and articles filed at the CAC, so read this before choosing.
Read the guideHow to Write Articles of Organization
Articles of organization create a US limited liability company. Nigeria has no LLC, so a Nigerian business registers with the CAC instead.
Read the guideHow to Write a SAFE Agreement
A SAFE takes investment now and converts it to equity later, without setting a valuation today. It is a US instrument, and that matters for Nigerian founders.
Read the guideHow to Write a Sale of Goods Agreement
This agreement covers a sale of specific goods between two parties, including the two questions people forget: what happens if payment is late, and if delivery is.
Read the guideHow to Write a Service Level Agreement
An SLA turns a vague promise of good service into a measurable standard with a consequence attached. Without the measurement, it is just a services contract.
Read the guideHow to Write a Shareholders Agreement
A shareholders agreement governs the relationship between owners, privately, covering the things the public articles do not. Dividends are where most start.
Read the guideHow to Write a Share Purchase Agreement
A share purchase agreement transfers shares from one owner to another. The buyer takes the company as it stands, which is why what is not in the document matters.
Read the guideHow to Write a Shipping Policy
A shipping policy tells buyers when their order will be processed, how it will reach them and what happens when it does not. This walks through the form one question at a time.
Read the guideHow to Write a Sublease Agreement
A sublease lets a tenant rent out space they hold under someone else's lease. The head lease decides whether you can, and the sublease decides on what terms.
Read the guideHow to Write a Tenancy Agreement in Nigeria
A tenancy agreement sets out who is renting what, for how long, and on what terms. Here is what each question on the form is asking, and what a good answer looks like.
Read the guideHow to Write a Travel Consent Letter for a Child
Immigration officers stop children travelling without both parents. This letter is what gets them through, and the detail on it is what makes it credible.
Read the guideHow to Write a Vehicle Lease Agreement
Leasing a vehicle rather than selling it keeps ownership with the lessor. Record the condition and the odometer, because both are disputed at the end.
Read the guideHow to Write a Will in Nigeria
A will decides who gets what when you die. Without one, the law decides instead, and in Nigeria that answer varies by state and by the type of marriage.
Read the guideHow to Write Terms and Conditions
Terms and conditions are the contract between you and everybody who uses your site or app. Below, every question on the form, in order, with the reasoning behind it.
Read the guide