The average attorney charges $313 per hour. A basic contract review runs $500 to $1,500. Most legal documents people need are not complex. They follow standard patterns. An NDA is an NDA. A lease is a lease. The clauses change, but the structure does not. That makes legal agreement templates one of the few places where a good starting point saves real money.
These 13 free legal document templates cover the situations that actually come up: renting property, protecting ideas, starting business relationships, and ending them cleanly. Each one links to a customizable prompt that generates a first draft tailored to your specifics.
Contracts and Business Agreements
Starting a Business Relationship Without a Written Agreement
Handshake deals work until they don't. The moment someone misremembers a price, a deadline, or a deliverable, the relationship turns adversarial. The Contract Template Generator builds a customizable agreement covering scope, payment terms, timelines, and termination clauses. Fill in the details. Get a document that holds up when memory fails.
A Former Employee Takes Your Clients
Non-competes are only enforceable if they're reasonable in scope, geography, and duration. Too broad and courts throw them out. Too narrow and they're useless. The Non-Compete Agreement Generator creates a template balanced enough to survive a challenge. You set the restrictions. It handles the language.
Your Website Has No Legal Protection
Every website that collects data, sells products, or hosts user content needs a Terms of Service. Most businesses copy one from a competitor and change the company name. That leaves gaps. The Terms of Service Generator builds one specific to your business type, covering liability limits, dispute resolution, and user obligations.
Protecting Confidential Information
Someone Sees Your Pitch Deck Before the Deal Closes
Sharing business plans, financials, or product details before signing protection is how trade secrets leak. An NDA is the standard fix, and 77% of Americans face at least one legal event per year that could benefit from a document like this (ABA Legal Needs Study, 2022). The Non-Disclosure Agreement Generator creates mutual or one-way NDAs with clear definitions of what counts as confidential. Specificity is what makes these enforceable.
A Contractor Shares Your Code with a Competitor
NDAs protect what people know. But what happens when they share what you built? Code, designs, proprietary processes. This is where contract templates and NDAs work together. Use the Contract Template Generator for the work agreement and the Non-Disclosure Agreement Generator for the IP protection. Two documents. One relationship covered.
Rental and Property Agreements
Your Tenant Stops Paying Rent
Late rent is the most common landlord problem. The response needs to be documented correctly or the eventual eviction gets delayed by months. The Eviction Notice Generator creates state-appropriate notices with the correct cure period and legal language. Starting the paper trail right matters more than starting it fast.
Renting Property Without Defining the Rules
A lease without clear terms is an argument waiting to happen. Pet policy, maintenance responsibilities, early termination fees. The Lease Agreement Generator covers all of it. For shorter arrangements, the Rental Agreement Generator creates month-to-month or fixed-term agreements with simpler structures. Both are customizable to your state.
Personal Legal Documents
Nobody Can Make Medical Decisions for You
If you become incapacitated and no power of attorney exists, your family goes to court. That process takes weeks. At $313/hour for the average attorney (Clio Legal Trends Report, 2024), the legal fees add up fast. The Power of Attorney Document Generator creates durable, financial, or healthcare POA documents. Choose the type. Name the agent. Define the scope.
Your Neighbor's Dog Won't Stop Destroying Your Garden
Not every dispute needs a lawsuit. A formal cease and desist letter often resolves the problem before it escalates. The Cease and Desist Letter Generator creates letters for harassment, copyright infringement, trademark violations, or property disputes. Professional tone. Clear demands. Deadline for compliance.
Workplace and Organizational Documents
Your Company Has No Written Behavioral Standards
"Everyone knows what's expected" is what companies say before the HR complaint. A code of conduct puts expectations in writing: anti-discrimination policies, conflict of interest rules, social media guidelines, reporting procedures. The Code of Conduct Creator builds one tailored to your organization size and industry.
Freelancers Work Without Signed Agreements
Freelancers lose an estimated 30% of their income to scope creep and unpaid invoices, according to a Payoneer Global Freelancer Survey. A contract fixes both problems. The Contract Template Generator handles freelance agreements with payment schedules, revision limits, and kill fees. The Non-Compete Agreement Generator adds protection if the freelancer works with your competitors.
Tips for Customizing Legal Templates That Actually Hold Up
Start with the right template type. A rental agreement and a lease agreement solve different problems. Leases are fixed-term with stricter obligations. Rental agreements are flexible and month-to-month. Using the wrong one creates enforcement gaps. The Lease Agreement Generator and Rental Agreement Generator both let you specify the exact arrangement you need.
Be specific about dates, amounts, and parties. Generic language is the number one reason legal documents fail in court. "Reasonable timeframe" means nothing. "Within 30 calendar days of written notice" means something. Every template on this list asks you to fill in the specifics, because specifics are what make a document enforceable. The Contract Template Generator and Terms of Service Generator both structure their outputs around concrete terms.
Layer your protections. Business relationships usually need more than one document. An NDA before the pitch. A contract when the work starts. A non-compete if they have access to your client list. The Non-Disclosure Agreement Generator, Non-Compete Agreement Generator, and Contract Template Generator are designed to work together. Each covers a different risk.
Customize for your state. Legal requirements vary by jurisdiction. Eviction notice periods range from 3 days in some states to 30 days in others. Non-competes are banned entirely in California. The Eviction Notice Generator and Power of Attorney Document Generator both ask for your state so the output reflects local rules.
Use templates as starting points, not final products. AI-generated legal documents give you a strong first draft. For high-stakes situations (real estate transactions, business formations, custody agreements), review it with a licensed attorney. The Cease and Desist Letter Generator and Code of Conduct Creator save you the $313/hour it costs to draft from scratch. The attorney review that follows costs a fraction of that.