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FixMyContract

Guides

Understand contracts, clause by clause.

Practical, plain-English guides for freelancers and small businesses — how to read a contract, the red flags that quietly favor the other side, and exactly what to negotiate before you sign — and the read is taken from your side of the deal.

64 guides

Contracts (20)

Contracts4 min read

Can a contract shorten the time you have to sue?

A contract can usually shorten the time to sue if the period is reasonable. Some states limit this by statute. Maryland is a recent example.

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Contracts5 min read

How to Get Out of a Contractor or Realtor Contract

Roofing, remodeling and listing agreements: check the cancellation clause, the 3-day rule for home sales, and what ending early can cost.

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Contracts5 min read

Contract Review Checklist: 15 Things to Check

A 15-point contract review checklist: parties, scope, payment, term, termination, liability, IP, confidentiality, disputes, and the signature block.

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Contracts6 min read

What Is an NDA? A Plain-English Guide for the Person Signing

An NDA is a contract to keep someone's information secret. What it is for, when you get asked to sign one, and how its parts fit together.

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Contracts5 min read

Is There a Non-Compete Hiding in Your NDA?

An NDA is about secrets, but some also limit who you can work for or hire. Where these promises hide, the words that give them away, and what to ask.

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Contracts5 min read

Can ChatGPT Compare Two Contracts? What It Gives You (2026)

Yes, you can give ChatGPT two versions and ask what changed. How to do it well, what to check yourself, and when a clause-by-clause comparison helps.

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Contracts3 min read

What Is an Early Termination Fee?

An early termination fee is what a contract charges for ending it before the agreed date. How the formula reads, and how U.S. courts test these fees.

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Contracts10 min read

What Is an AI Clause in a Contract? The 4 Types (2026)

An AI clause sets how you may use AI on the work: disclose it, don't use it, keep data out, or promise a human made it. What each means before you sign.

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Contracts7 min read

How Do You Cancel a Contract? (2026)

Four ways to end a contract: let it expire, use a termination-for-convenience clause, terminate for breach, or agree to end it early — and how each works.

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Contracts9 min read

Is Anything You Type Into an AI Confidential? (2026)

A US court ruled AI chats are not attorney-client privileged. Here is what that actually means for anyone using AI to understand a contract.

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Contracts8 min read

Auto-Renewal Clauses: How They Work & How to Cancel (2026)

Auto-renewal clauses turn silence into a new contract term. Here's how the notice window works and how to cancel one properly.

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Contracts6 min read

What Happened to ReviewMyContract? (2026)

ReviewMyContract.ai is no longer accepting new reviews. Here's what we verified, and how to evaluate an alternative.

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Contracts7 min read

How Does a Deemed Acceptance Clause Actually Work? (2026)

What starts the acceptance clock, what counts as a written objection, and how deemed acceptance plays out across freelance, service, and vendor contracts.

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Contracts6 min read

Can You Dispute Deemed Acceptance After the Deadline? (2026)

How to object while you're inside the window, and why 'the deadline passed' isn't automatically the end of the conversation.

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Contracts9 min read

What Are the Most Common Risky Contract Clauses? (2026)

The ten clauses that most often work against the signer — across freelance contracts, leases, job offers, and NDAs — and what to ask for instead.

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Contracts7 min read

What Happened to Clausely? Choosing an Alternative (2026)

Clausely's domain now redirects to Inkvex, a tool focused on acquisition diligence. Here's what verifiably changed, and how to pick a new tool.

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Contracts8 min read

How Much Does a Lawyer Cost to Review a Contract? (2026)

What a lawyer's contract review costs in 2026: the average US hourly rate, flat fee vs hourly billing, and what drives the price up.

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Contracts8 min read

Can ChatGPT Review My Contract? (An Honest Answer, 2026)

Yes, you can paste a contract into ChatGPT — useful for a quick gut check. Here's where it falls short, and when a purpose-built review earns its keep.

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Contracts7 min read

What to Watch for in an NDA Before You Sign (2026)

NDAs look like boilerplate, but a few clauses can bind you for years. Here's how to read one, the red flags to catch, and what to ask for.

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Contracts8 min read

Red Flags in a Service Agreement (and How to Fix Them, 2026)

The clauses that quietly favor the other party in a client or service agreement — what they look like, and the exact language to ask for instead.

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Contract Basics (11)

Contract Basics6 min read

Is a DocuSign Contract Legally Binding? (2026)

In the US, an e-signature usually binds you like ink. What the law requires, the documents it doesn't cover, and when a signature can be challenged.

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Contract Basics4 min read

What Does This Clause Mean? How to Read Legal Wording

A five-step method to work out what a contract clause means: find the defined terms, the duty, the trigger, the exceptions and the consequence.

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Contract Basics4 min read

Is My Contract Legally Binding? A Six-Point Check

A contract binds when it has offer, acceptance, consideration, intent, capacity and clear terms. Six checks, and what can make it unenforceable.

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Contract Basics4 min read

Is a Verbal Contract Legally Binding?

Most spoken agreements can be binding contracts, but some deals must be in writing, and proving what was said is the hard part. What to know.

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Contract Basics4 min read

Can I Cancel a Contract After Signing? Cooling-Off Periods

There is no general right to cancel a signed contract. Cooling-off periods exist for certain sales: 3 business days in the US, 14 days in the UK.

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Contract Basics7 min read

What Makes a Contract Void? Void vs Voidable

Generally, a contract is void — treated as if it never existed — when it has an illegal purpose or lacks something essential.

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Contract Basics2 min read

What Is Breach of Contract?

A breach of contract is when one side doesn't do what the contract says — pays late, delivers less, or doesn't deliver at all.

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Contract Basics7 min read

Is This Contract Fair? How to Tell Before You Sign

No law labels a whole contract fair. Four checks for a freelance or any contract: who holds each right, how common a term is, the worst case, your side.

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Contract Basics5 min read

What to Check Before You Sign Any Contract (2026)

A type-agnostic checklist for any contract — lease, freelance agreement, job offer, or vendor deal. The seven things worth reading twice before you sign.

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Contract Basics6 min read

What Is a Contract? The Basics Everyone Should Know (2026)

Not every agreement is a contract. The four elements that make one enforceable — and why a handshake can count while a signed letter may not.

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Contract Basics6 min read

How to Sign a Contract the Right Way (2026)

Signing wrong can cost more than signing something risky. What to check as you sign, how e-signatures really work, and the exceptions to watch.

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Employment (11)

Employment5 min read

How to Work Out Your Notice Period (and Your Last Day)

In Great Britain, your contract sets your notice and the law sets a minimum. How the two fit together, when notice starts, and the last day counted out.

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Employment5 min read

Non-Compete Clauses in Australia and Canada (2026)

Ontario has banned most employee non-competes since 2021; Australia plans a ban for workers earning up to $190,100. What applies to you now.

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Employment5 min read

Job Contract Red Flags: 10 Clauses to Question

Vague pay, unpaid overtime, broad non-competes, clawbacks and one-sided IP terms: ten employment contract red flags and what to ask instead.

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Employment5 min read

Can My Employer Change My Contract or Cut My Pay?

Changing pay, hours or duties usually needs your agreement in the UK, Canada and Australia; in the US at-will rules differ. What to check and do.

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Employment6 min read

Signing an NDA as an Employee: What to Check

An employee NDA often bundles invention, property and hiring promises. What each part covers, when you get it, and what to check before signing.

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Employment6 min read

How to Negotiate an Employment Contract

Salary is one line. When contract terms are open, who can change which of them, and how an agreed change ends up in the signed version.

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Employment2 min read

Should I Sign an Arbitration Agreement?

An arbitration agreement moves disputes out of court to a private arbitrator. What to check before signing: fees, location and a class-action waiver.

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Employment2 min read

Should I Sign a Severance Agreement?

A severance agreement usually trades money for giving up claims against the employer. What to check before signing, and the time you have to decide.

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Employment2 min read

Can I Back Out of a Job Offer After Signing?

Often, yes — but the offer letter may include terms that cost money, such as repaying a signing bonus or relocation costs. What to look for.

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Employment4 min read

Are Non-Competes Still Enforceable in 2026?

There is no federal non-compete ban, so whether your non-compete holds up depends on your state. What changed in 2026, and how to read yours.

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Employment9 min read

How to Review a Job Offer & Employment Contract (2026)

An offer letter is more than the salary line. Here's how to read an employment contract clause by clause — equity, non-competes, termination.

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Renting (7)

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Renting5 min read

Tenancy Agreements in Canada: Ontario, BC and Alberta

Ontario's standard lease, BC's half-month deposit cap, Alberta's one-month cap: what a Canadian residential lease can and cannot ask for in 2026.

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Renting5 min read

Can My Landlord Do That? Rent, Deposits, Eviction

Can a landlord raise the rent, keep your deposit, evict you or change the locks? The usual answers in the UK, US, Australia and Canada, and what to check.

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Renting5 min read

Lease Security Deposit Clause: What It Says

The deposit clause in a lease, read from the tenant's side: the amount, what it can be used for, fees that look like deposits, and how it comes back.

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Renting6 min read

Lease Renewal and Notice Periods, Explained

How a fixed-term lease ends, renews or rolls into month-to-month, and the notice dates on both sides that decide which of those happens to you.

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Renting3 min read

What Is a Lease Addendum?

A lease addendum is a separate document that adds to or changes an existing lease — for example, a pet agreement, a parking space or a rent concession.

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Renting2 min read

How to Get Out of a Lease Early

Start with the lease itself: look for an early-termination clause, a buyout fee, sublet or assignment rules, and the notice you have to give.

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Renting8 min read

How to Read a Lease: 7 Red Flags Before You Sign (2026)

Before you sign a rental lease, learn the seven clauses that most often catch tenants out — what each means and what to ask for instead.

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Freelancing (5)

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Freelancing4 min read

Do Freelancers Need a Written Contract?

California, Illinois and New York require a written freelance contract above a dollar threshold and set a 30-day default when no payment date is named.

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Freelancing5 min read

What Is an Independent Contractor Agreement?

The contract between a business and someone who works for it on their own account: what it is called, how it is put together, and what it covers.

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Freelancing5 min read

How to Negotiate a Freelance Contract

The terms are half of it. The other half is when you raise them, whose document you start from, and what you offer in return for what you ask.

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Freelancing9 min read

How to Read a Freelance Contract (Before You Sign, 2026)

A clause-by-clause guide for freelancers: what each part of a client contract means, the red flags to catch, and what to fix before you sign.

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Freelancing8 min read

How to Get Paid On Time as a Freelancer (2026)

Late payment is the freelancer's biggest cash-flow risk. Here's how to structure your contract — deposits, milestones, net terms — so you get paid.

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Negotiation (4)

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Negotiation5 min read

How to Negotiate an NDA Before You Sign

NDAs arrive early and are called standard, but they can be changed. How to work out your side, pick what to raise, and handle a take-it-or-leave-it form.

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Negotiation2 min read

Can You Negotiate a Lease? What to Ask For

Often, yes — especially before you sign. Rent is one lever; fees, the length of the term, renewal notice and repair duties are others.

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Negotiation6 min read

How Do You Ask for Changes to a Contract? (2026)

You don't quietly edit a contract and send it back — you tell the other side what you want changed and why. How to phrase the request and send it.

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Negotiation8 min read

7 Things to Negotiate Before You Sign a Contract (2026)

A practical negotiation checklist for freelancers and small businesses — the seven terms worth pushing on, and copy-paste scripts to ask for each.

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Small Business (3)

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Small Business5 min read

Unfair Contract Terms: Australia and the UK

Australia bans unfair terms in standard form consumer and small business contracts, with penalties since 2023; the UK has the CRA 2015 and UCTA 1977.

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Small Business6 min read

MSA vs SOW: How the Two Documents Fit Together

A master services agreement sets the rules; a statement of work describes one project. How they fit together, which one wins, and what to check in each.

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Small Business8 min read

How to Review a Vendor Agreement Before You Sign (2026)

A vendor or supplier contract is a small business's biggest hidden liability. Here's how to read one clause by clause before you sign.

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Tool comparisons (3)

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Tool comparisons7 min read

Free AI Contract Review: What You Actually Get (2026)

"Free" means something different at every AI contract review tool. What eight free tiers actually include, and where the paywall really sits.

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Tool comparisons8 min read

Best AI Contract Review Tools for Small Businesses (2026)

Seven AI tools for reviewing vendor, client and hiring contracts — compared on team pricing, seats, and what each provider actually publishes.

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Tool comparisons9 min read

Best AI Contract Review Tools for Freelancers (2026)

Eight AI tools that review freelance contracts, compared on price, free tier, and whether findings are tied to a quote from your own document.

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Comparisons

How FixMyContract compares

Honest, side-by-side looks at the other tools people consider — what each one is actually good at, and where we would send you elsewhere.

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