Settlement Agreement / Release Form

A settlement agreement ends a dispute without a court deciding it. Both sides give way a little: one side usually pays an agreed amount, and the claims in question come to an end. A release is the part of the agreement in which a person gives up a claim, and promises not to bring it again.

This template calls the person who raises the claim the Claimant and the person who would pay the Respondent. You describe the dispute in neutral words, and if a payment is agreed you list each instalment in a table; the total is worked out for you. You then choose how far the release goes: only claims arising from this dispute, or all claims up to the date of the agreement, and whether it binds both sides or only the Claimant. Whatever the choice, the agreement leaves out obligations created by the settlement itself, claims that the law does not allow anyone to give up by agreement, and claims that arise later. The other clauses cover when the release takes effect, no admission of liability, withdrawing a court claim, confidentiality with a carve-out for reports to authorities, costs and taxes, and the governing law.

A switch adds the cautions of an employment settlement. Many countries protect an employee who gives up claims with special conditions: independent advice, a written form, time to think. The country selector points to them, for example the Employment Rights Act in the United Kingdom, but the form never states that those conditions are met; that is for the parties and their advisers to confirm. It is a general template, not legal advice.

• A customer, supplier or business partner and you want to close a disagreement for a payment.
• A court case or claim has started and both sides want to end it without a judgment.
• You are an employer or employee agreeing the end of a job and the claims that go with it.
• You want one document that records who pays what, by when, and what each side gives up.

1. Choose the country whose law applies and say whether it is a business or personal dispute or an employment dispute.
2. Enter the Claimant and the Respondent; the Respondent is filled from your saved company details.
3. Describe the dispute in neutral words and add a court or claim reference if proceedings have started.
4. Say whether anything is paid. If so, list each instalment with its date and amount and check the total.
5. Choose who gives up claims and how far, add any claims you keep, and decide on confidentiality and withdrawing a claim.
6. Check the law and courts, print the agreement, have both sides sign, and keep a copy each.

• Describing the dispute so vaguely that nobody can tell later which claims were settled.
• Using a general release when only the dispute was meant, and so giving up claims nobody had in mind.
• Paying before the release takes effect, or letting it take effect before the money has arrived.
• Putting a gag on reports to the authorities, which the law may not allow.
• Leaving out a tax question: the payment can be taxable, and who bears what is a separate matter.
• Treating an employee release like a business one, without the advice or the form that the country requires.

1. Fill in
2. Check the preview
3. Save as PDF, Word or Excel

Pick the country you need. Each version uses the wording and layout commonly found there; a version marked “check with local advice” should be read by someone who knows the local rules before it is used.

• International (XX): Written in English, Korean, Japanese, German
• United States (US): Written in English – check with local advice
• United Kingdom (GB): Written in English – check with local advice
• Korea (KR): Written in Korean, English – check with local advice
• Japan (JP): Written in Japanese, English – check with local advice
• Germany (DE): Written in German, English – check with local advice