How To Send A Legal Notice For Breach Of Contract?

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1) There are four ways so as to Breach of Contract:

2) What is a legal notice for Breach of Contract/Agreement?

3) Essentials point to include in a Legal Notice for Breach of Contract

4) When a legal notice is sent to the other party?

In India, all the agreements and contracts are governed by the Indian Contract Act, 1872. Often, before entering into any business relationship or service arrangement various agreements, contracts and memorandum of understanding is signed. All the agreements and contracts signifies and confines the role of action of either party to avoid any act which would lead to the breach of contract.

In legal parlance, Breach of contract is a type of civil wrong, where a binding agreement is not honoured by one or more of the parties to the contract, which ultimately entails a legal course of action. It occurs when a party fails to fulfill the obligations of the contract in part or full, or when the party to contract shows an intent not to perform the obligations of the contract in the future, or the fulfillment of the obligations of contract becomes impossible on the defaulting party’s own act.

Therefore, whenever a contract is breached, a party can send a legal notice for the non-fulfillment of the obligations of the contract under the Civil Procedure Code.

There are four ways so as to Breach of Contract:

Minor breach: Minor breach is also referred to as a partial breach. It is subordinate in nature of severity and it gives the righteous to harmed party to bring an action for the damages but does not usually lowdown the either party from further performance.
Material breach: Material breach is a total breach of the contract, in terms of serious violation of the terms and conditions of the contract. Material breach wipes out the main purpose of the said contract. The non-breaching party is then excused from having to perform their portion of duties of contract.
Anticipatory breach: Anticipatory breach of contract is the non-fulfillment of the obligations of the contract by one party. An anticipatory breach gives the other party right to terminate the contract and sue for the damages incurred.
Actual breach: An actual breach of contract means failure to meet the obligations mentioned in the contract. It can occur by failing to meet the contractual deadlines or by non-performance of the obligations of the contract.

What is a legal notice for Breach of Contract/Agreement?

Legal notice for a Breach of contract is a formal written document which is sent by a party to a counter party, with respect to the grievances, stating, that they have not upheld the said agreement at their bargain, i.e., by not fulfilling the obligations of the contract. It is a simple document in which the basic details of the contract and what led towards it breach is mentioned. The legal notice is sent to the person or the party that has caused problem with the contract and it specifically reserves the innocent party with all the further legal rights to be pursued, meaning if further actions required. The document includes everything a breaching party needs to know.

This legal document can be issued for any party in any contract, whether it be a complex as a contract, for a corporate dealing or it can be for a simple service agreement.

Essentials point to include in a Legal Notice for Breach of Contract

Before sending a legal notice for the breach of contract, some essential points to be taken care of are as follows:

Make the dates clear: The date serves one of the most important aspect in the breach of contract for keeping an official record. It’s the date when the agreement was finally made and also when the counter party is informed officially for the breach of the contract. This date becomes very important when the legal notice if fast-forwarded to the court as a lawsuit.
Name and Description of the parties to the contract: The legal notice for breach of contract must contain the name of the parties to the contract and all the description about them, their address of residence/office.
Mention the notice clause: Mostly, contracts have a notice clause which stipulates that how the communication of the breach of the contract should be notified to the counter party. For example, the notice needs to be sent by fax, email, registered post, etc. If the procedure so, described in the notice clause is not followed duly, then, it may not be considered as a valid legal notice, which would then become advantageous for the breaching party.
Describe the reason of the breach: The counterpart should be well informed about the breach of the contract by quoting the specific clause and conditions which led to the breach of the contract. The notice should indicate what part of the contract was breached. No matter, why the breach occurred, all the clauses should be listed in the notice with the strongest claims.
Giving importance to Material Breach of contract: A notice may be sent for any type of breach of contract, but, in the courts, importance is given to the material breach of contract, because it wholly destroys the value of the contract.
Mention the consequences and the relief sought: The legal notice for breach of contract is a remedy generally, before taking it to the court, so it must be conclusive of the detailed course of actions which the breaching party should do, also with mentioning the consequences and the remedies available as per the terms of the contract.
Other minor points to be taken care of are:

1. Offering the counterpart a reasonable time, i.e. 15-30 days to settle the matter.
2. All the previous communications regarding the contract should be made clear.
3. The language of the legal notice should be clear and crisp, there should be no ambiguity in the language.
4. The legal notice should be addressed formally and respectfully to the breaching party.
5. The notice should be duly signed by the Lawyer.

When a legal notice is sent to the other party?

The legal notice for a breach of a contract is only sent to the counterpart when there is breach of any of the terms and conditions mentioned in the contract duly signed by both the parties, primarily, oral or written warnings can be given to the other party to rectify the breach, but after the warning, if the desired action is not taken by the counterpart to rectify the mistake, then, the legal notice for the breach of the contract is sent to the breaching party.

The draft for the legal notice is attached herein:

LEGAL NOTICE

Date- __/__/____

To,

_________

__________

Subject- Breach of Contract

Dear Sir,

Under instruction and on behalf of my client Ms. A, Resident House No. _____, I do hereby serve you with the following notice:-

That my Client Ms. A entered into an agreement with you dated ____ (hereinafter the Agreement)

That in terms of the said agreement you are required to _______________, as per clause ___ of the contract.

That it has come in Notice to my client that you have breached the contract in the following manner-

_______________________

___________________________

That the specific clause which are violated or breached significantly are “________________________________________”

That you are further requested to refer the attached documents proving the breach of the contract on your part.

That on behalf of my Client I demand that you rectify the breach immediately and take the following steps on your part to make good the breach done by you-

_______________________________

_______________________________

Within the time period of 15-30 days, you are required to take above specific actions.

That on failing to take the above stated steps, I will take appropriate legal action against you seeking all remedial and punitive remedies that are available under the applicable laws.

Name and Signature

______________

Advocate[1