Do You Have to Be a Lawyer to Write a Contract?

Generally, you don’t have to be a lawyer or attorney to write a legally binding contract. A contract can be either written or oral; complex or simple. Ultimately, a contract is an agreement between one or more parties. You can even have a valid and enforceable contract written on a napkin; it does not have to be on a standardized form or preprinted for it to be enforced in court. Parties can simply agree between themselves to create a contract. However, contract law requires that parties follow certain requirements to have a valid and enforceable contract.

You can have a lawful contract but not necessarily enforceable. You can have a verbal contract to buy real estate but it won’t be enforced in court if either party breaches. Therefore, you should always get your real estate contracts into writing. Another example is minors can legally enter into a legal contract but it won’t hold up in court.

Whether a contract is drawn up by a lawyer or anyone else, if it does not fulfill the requirements of a valid contract, it will not enforceable in court. Whenever you get into any type of agreement, make sure that it meets all the legal requirements.