Creating a formal agreement through a contract form helps provide clarity in operations and services among businesses. And, lacking it may end up in serious legal battles. An example involves two of the highly recognizable toy companies, Mattel and MGA, with the Barbie versus Bratz trade case. Carter Bryant, who used to work under Mattel (owner of Barbie), came up with the idea of doll designs featuring different races of bratty-looking girls in 2000. His plan didn’t push through as Barbie typically has the perfect blonde girl theme before. When Bryant moved to another toy company MGA, he shared his concept until MGA commercialized the Bratz dolls with the big pouty lips and risky fashion-forward outfits in 2001. Mattel later sued MGA since Bryant shared those ideas with Mattel first. If a confidential contract got set between Mattel and their ex-employees about not sharing their creative works, then this war could have been prevented.
FREE 32+ Contract Forms in PDF | MS Word | XLS
1. Standard Contract Form
2. Renovation Contract Form
3. Industrial Contract Form
4. Contract Agreement Form
5. Tender Contract Form
6. Land Contract Form
7. Standard Contract Form
8. Contract Approval Form
9. Direct Contract Form
10. Sponsorship Contract Form
11. Contract Request Form
12. Simple Contract Form
13. Space Contract Form
14. Contract Training Form
15. Contract Buyout Form
16. Contract Application Form
17. Study Contract Form
18. Contract Registration Form
19. Contract Sale Form
20. Legal Contract Form
21. Supervision Contract Form
22. Contract Transmittal Form
23. Owner Contract Form
24. Contract Routing Form
25. Contract Renewal Evaluation Form
26. Contract Short Form
27. Speaker Contract Form
28. Contract Signature Authority Form
29. Limited Contract Form
30. Contract Checklist Form
31. Major Contract Form
32. Contract Payment Form
33. Contract Review Form
What Is a Contract Form?
A contract involves a legal agreement between parties that if both sides put their signatures on its document, then both parties will have to comply with the regulations, conditions, or terms stated on the contract. According to Chron.com, parties commit a legal relationship in a contract while violators can get sued. The form marks as the instrument under the agreement, and it contains vital information about the whole deal.
What Are the Benefits of Contract Forms?
Inevitably, a contract involves perks in any business because involving no proper agreement on companies may invite conflict after a while, and business relationships could end in poor shape without addressing this well. In creating a professional printable contract form, rest assured you can find these benefits:
Protection Against Litigation
As arguments between parties that clash can become an endless ride, it is more formal and reasonable to proceed with business litigation instead. In court, the contract serves as strong evidence among legal forms to check which side of the party is on the wrong or correct path. This idea is why any person should reread and understand any form first before placing his/her signature because nobody wants to sign on something that can leave you with regrets afterward.
Misinformation Prevention
Anyone from a business might become unsure of what service to give or not through operations, and contract forms better state such details clearly so nobody ends up misinformed. Basing on assumptions is never a good thing because you might do something that leaves with consequences once done. By handling assessments, you can tell whether something is confirmed or not later.
Documentation Purposes
There are many cases wherein a contract is needed, and a courtroom session is just one example. This documentation could get asked during employment or when the proof is necessary to show that an agreement got settled. Besides the toy company trade fiasco stated earlier, contracts also work in different businesses like in construction, events, or a business proposal.
Clarity
Everything comes down to precision because nobody wants to rely on words or promises only without a written contract. A person can change his/her mind anytime, so you remain careful about who to trust. For example, someone might stop funding a specific project, but it states in the form that completing the funds on time is required. A violation happens if what’s against the agreement occurs. Clear intentions and information in a document will promote a positive relationship between businesses, too, and it’s better to maintain that than create problems.
What Are the Standard Components of a Contract?
A lot of formats are available for contract forms. Moreover, looking closely at every example you can find grants you realization about common denominators from such documents. It’s essential for anyone who has plans to create contracts to be aware of the crucial components found there and to ensure you don’t forget the vital parts. Lacking some elements might make up a weak form wherein details are incomplete or inaccurate. The well-known components are as follows:
Introduction
Introductions usually begin with greetings, but you need not create lengthy or flowery words to greet. Don’t forget that greetings are part of business etiquette too. Nevertheless, the most critical message you deliver is by stating that such a form is a legal contract. Forgetting to mention those keywords may have other parties to assume that the document isn’t a contract. You can make it clear by providing definitions as well.
Parties
Stating the names, contact info, and related details between parties are part of the deal. It would be wrong to sign at forms if there’s not any proper mention of your information because that document may be used against you, considering that you placed your signature there. Thankfully, an evaluation can help correct the details for each party.
Consideration
All agreements should be fair, and that statement gets proven through consideration. This part should mention what every party can gain from the contract. Directly benefiting one business will be unfair to the other anyway. Are you looking for an example? Think of barbershops. In its scenario, a client would receive a new hairstyle while barbers earn the payment.
Body
This central part contains all the information about the entire contract. It should be complete wherein anyone who reads the form needs not to ask tons of questions after. Besides completeness, you must ensure to keep it understandable too. A party might reject signing if the content is too vague.
Rules
Setting rules avoid conflict, and you can start mentioning everything allowed and prohibited around this section. It should indicate what consequences will happen if anyone fails to commit to some tasks mentioned in the form. At least you can set limits already because someone might dare to get too comfortable on the job that he/she no longer performs tasks carefully.
Sneaky Contracts Alert!
Any person expected to sign a form should be careful of traps because many sneaky businesses try to take advantage of others. Some of its content may contain alterations already, and you take note of such revisions because there could be something you actually will disagree with if you find out about it. Yet, you end up agreeing to it. Others are wise to edit by hiding the bad news while you end up seeing the beautiful highlights of the program only. Don’t fall into those cheap tricks because you will suffer perhaps in signing recklessly.
Getting your copy of the contract is a wise move so that the changes made from the other party will not matter because you still have the original or unedited format. Maybe you agreed for a particular assignment, but the task changed on the altered form already. Once you find some signs of scams, you report immediately to authorities so you won’t fall for it, and others don’t have to fall victim from it too. Consequently, sneaky businesses will finally receive a taste of karma.
How To Create a Contract Form
Contracts are easy to create after finding the right format and template to use. Also, it’s better if you explore different models ahead to compare which ones are great to use or avoid. The crucial part is deciding what to include in the content of a contract. You can’t only rush the process because an unimpressive output might happen. You should consider familiarizing these easy steps to make the form successful:
1. Divide the Info into Categories
A contract may contain a lot of information that you have to group accordingly based on categories to simplify the result. A common way to achieve this is by having one section to mention the parties’ background information specifically. Another set tackles on the description of work and more. This idea helps structure all details instead of an all-over-the-place kind of info.
2. Provide Blanks
Most contracts got blank spaces provided to write down details. This tip is essential when you are still unsure about what to offer or when unexpected changes occur. You should also mind the spacing here because some forms have very little space provided that it is almost impossible to write down the full details. This note also tells you to pay attention to the measurements of the format.
3. Make It Understandable
It’s difficult sometimes to judge if all the sentences you made will be understandable for the public. The key is to reread everything and check if you understand the message from that form easily. The problem with finding a hard time to decipher what the whole content is about is that you will also give that same problem to the other party. Using too many fancy words is unnecessary anyway because an agreement should be brief.
4. Be Careful on the Data
Upon providing the schedules, terms, conditions, and more significant info, you can’t forget about observing accuracy. There could be slight mistakes on the numbers of dates or spelling of some words. You won’t be late in recognizing the errors by staying cautious of everything. For example, a schedule may mention 01/02/2020. The conventional way to read that is January 2, 2020, but there are few formats out there that read it as February 1, 2020. Clarify it instead of letting the reader guess if the day or month got interchanged.
5. Review and Edit
Before sending out the form to whoever signs it, you better conduct an analysis first. This practice enables you to review and check if anything needs to be changed or not. The name of the contractor possibly could be misspelled, or you find incorrect information on the form Don’t forget that editing helps transform a standard contract into being close to perfect, so you need to spare time in checking the content.
FAQs
In what form should a contract be?
There is no specific form for all businesses to follow, as it depends on what form the parties agree on. However, you can identify two crucial points that should be present among contracts or forms. The parties must have communicated and agreed ahead about the deal for confirmation that an agreement got settled. The next one is to ensure there are goods or services exchanged. Remember, contracts are a two-way process.
What makes a contract void?
Different examples and scenarios can happen for contracts to be considered void or null. A notable example involves contracts that don’t mention the parties involved in its terms. Maybe the issue has something to do with an illegal agreement, so you need to stay wary of the current laws and prohibitions in your area to identify what form is accepted or not.
Why is the contract important?
Contracts help finalize expectations and minimize assumptions. It allows every party to finally be aware of expectations on what to establish or prevent to avoid violations. If there is a payment to settle, then it’s finally clear if payment confirmation is stated in the form. If you are in double whether something is right or not, then that’s finally answered by contracts. The written document also reminds you of the details anytime in case you forget anything.
Any business should not ignore contracts because its purpose may not matter to you now, but it can be relevant in the future. How advantageous or disadvantageous the arrangement is can depend on the parties in the first place. If a contract is created poorly, then the mistake goes to the party that made it. Proper contract forms could be useless if the parties involved barely obeyed and complied with the information inside. In short, everyone should keep track of their responsibilities to make the contract goals work.
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