End or alter business contracts

There is a wide range of contracts that often need to be used in the course of business. Ensure that you only use professionally written agreements to protect your business interests.

At the end of a contract, you'll need to give appropriate notice in a Contract termination letter. Alternatively, you may decide to transfer the benefits of a contract to another business using a Letter assigning a contract or to transfer your obligations under a contract to another business using a Novation agreement.

Just as new contracts are regularly formed in the course of business, sometimes they will have to be brought to an end. In order to successfully bring an agreement to an end, a Contract termination letter will help ensure that proper procedure is followed and the process is as straightforward as possible. The letter should provide notification of the termination of the contract, whether this is immediate (eg due to a default in performance of the contract) or requires a notice period, and will help to prevent any claims from being brought against you by the other business. It can also allow you to give notice of a problem to allow the other business to rectify things by a certain time before termination takes effect. For more information, read Ending a contract.

Occasionally businesses may wish to leave a particular contract and transfer their role to a different business This process is known as assigning a contract. It must be done properly in order to avoid any potential confusion and render the contract unenforceable. A professionally written Letter assigning a contract will help to ensure a smooth transfer of rights and responsibilities from one contracting party to another. This letter should be signed by all outgoing and incoming parties and protects outgoing parties with a promise by the incoming party to indemnify the outgoing party should anything go wrong in the future. For more information, read Assigning a contract.