Legal document

What is a legal document?

In short, a legal document by definition is one that outlines an agreement between two or more parties that has been signed by mutual assent and in all other respects can be relied upon in court. 

However, there are many other forms of documents that people will refer to as legal.  Such examples will be a contract, will, deed, trust and business arrangement. 

How does a legal document work?

A legal document works by outlining the legal terms and conditions of an arrangement detailed in the document. However, for that legal document to become legally enforceable it must also adhere to the elements that make it so. That is mutual assent, offer & acceptance, consideration, legality and capacity. 

That is not to say that legal documents are the only ones that have any legal standing. Often, documents that have been produced by Government authorities or trustworthy agencies can be used in legal proceedings or as a form of identity verification. In that way, a passport, a birth certificate or sometimes even a bank statement can be used as a document that is largely seen as authoritative and reliable.  

Advantages of a legal document 

The advantages of a legal document is that if it is a legally binding agreement which is detailed within it, legal remedy can be sought should there be a breach of that agreement. It means that a person can protect themselves against future harm by putting a legal document in place that outlines the terms and conditions as to how the other party should act in accordance with the arrangement. 

And, as there is some form of protection that a legal document provides, the strength of a relationship between the two parties on either side of the legal document is vastly improved and strengthened. That is because they both know they can rely on the legal document to protect them - which helps prevent breaches of the document occuring in the first place. 

Contractbook and legal document

Given the help that a legal document can provide both parties, making them as good as they can be from the outset is key as well as ensuring excellent storage when completed. That’s where Contractbook can help. Our software helps support effective and efficient legal document management through providing countless legal document templates for you to work from for your own legal needs. 

And then, when you have completed the document so that it supports both your side and the other relevant party, you can store it within our cloud based storage solution. Doing so not only means you can easily return to that document, but you can also use the data within it to help automate other legal document generation in the future.