Business agreements are complicated things, and they must be written according to legal guidelines to make sure that they are valid, and that they remain valid. It is important to consult commercial lawyers when writing your business agreement to make sure that you don’t fall into problems further down the track. Unfortunately, a lot of people make business agreements which aren’t valid, but they don’t know this until a dispute arises.

What circumstances invalidate a business agreement?

There are a number of different things which can invalidate and led to the cancellation of a business agreement. These include:

When one party has broken a central part of the agreement – If one of the parties involved in a business agreement acts in a manner contrary to the terms set out in the agreement, the other party has reasonable cause to believe that the agreement is no longer valid. If you feel that your business agreement has been broken due to the way that the other party has acted, consult a commercial lawyer to determine whether you should take the matter to court.

When the requirements of the agreement have been fulfilled – Many business agreements have a specified end point. They often outline a point where the contractual and legal requirements of the agreement would have been fulfilled. When this point is reached, the agreement can be considered invalid unless it is updated with the aid of a commercial lawyer.

After a certain time period – In other cases, business agreements will be made to last for a pre-determined amount of time. Once the specified length of the agreement has passed, it will be considered invalid by the courts. Some agreements can be open ended – which means that they aren’t bound by time constraints. If your agreement is coming to the end of its time, you need to think carefully about whether you want to cancel or extend it. If you decide to extend it, then you need to enter into talks with the other party.

Legal cancellation – Sometimes business agreements can be legally cancelled without too many problems. This can happen in a number of cases – the most common being that both parties have come to an understanding that a business agreement no longer benefits anyone, and that it should be updated or cancelled. If you wish to cancel a business agreement, speak to a commercial lawyer about the required process.

Do you want to invalidate a business agreement?

In some cases, it could be beneficial to you and your business to show that a business agreement is no longer valid. The examples outlined above are just some of the ways that you can do this. Always seek the assistance of a qualified commercial lawyer before attempting to invalidate a binding business agreement.