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Plain-English letters and checklists you can adapt yourself. They are starting points, not legal advice.

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What a template is, and what it is not

A template is a starting point. It is a general form holding the paragraphs most people need for a common problem, in the order a court, a tribunal or the other side expects. It saves you the blank page, and stops you leaving out the one fact that makes the document work, which is almost always a date, an amount or a deadline.

A template is not advice about your situation. Nobody who wrote these forms knows your dates, your contract or what the other side will say. A form cannot see the clause in your lease that changes everything. It cannot tell you that your claim has prescribed, that you are in the wrong forum, or that the sentence you are about to write admits something you should never admit.

So be clear about what you are downloading. These are general documents. The content on this site has been reviewed by Shephard Dube, who holds an LLB and is not an admitted attorney, and LawMatch is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Reading a general form for accuracy is not the same as reading the document you are about to sign, so treat every template as a draft you take responsibility for, and have it checked when the stakes are high.

How to fill one in properly

Most homemade documents fail for boring reasons. These steps avoid nearly all of them.

Replace every bracket. Anything in square brackets is a hole. [YOUR FULL NAME], [DATE], [AMOUNT]. A document arriving with a bracket still in it tells the reader nobody checked it. Read the finished document once looking for nothing else.

Delete what does not apply. Templates cover several situations at once. If a clause deals with part payments and there were none, cut it. A paragraph that does not fit your facts is worse than a gap, because it puts something untrue on the record.

Keep it factual. Dates, amounts, what was agreed, what was done, what was not. A document is strong when a stranger can follow it without knowing either of you. Every sentence should be provable.

Attach the proof. Number the attachments and refer to them by number. The invoice, the lease, the payslip, the messages. A demand with the agreement attached is a different document from one without it.

Check your own numbers. Go through your bank statements before you claim an amount. If the other side produces a payment you forgot, everything else you wrote becomes suspect. Then save the version you actually sent, as a dated file, not the draft.

Never send an angry letter

This is the most expensive mistake people make with a template, and it costs nothing to avoid. Whatever you send becomes evidence. It can be attached to court papers, handed to a commissioner at the CCMA, shown to an ombud or read out to a magistrate. A calm letter setting out dates and amounts makes you the reasonable party. A letter that calls the other person a liar, threatens what you cannot do, or wanders into what they did five years ago makes you look like the problem, even when you are entirely in the right.

Three rules. Do not threaten criminal charges to force payment of a civil debt. Do not claim a right you have not checked. Do not write anything about the other person you could not defend if they sued you for defamation. Then leave the draft overnight and cut every sentence about how you feel.

Proof of delivery decides most disputes

More small legal matters turn on whether a document was delivered than on what it said. The other side says they never received it. If you cannot show otherwise you are back at the beginning, and the deadline you were relying on has probably passed. Plan delivery before you write.

  • By hand. Take two copies. Ask the person receiving it to write their full name, sign and date one copy as received, and take that copy away. If they refuse, note the date, time, place and who refused.
  • By email. Use the address the other side actually uses, keep it in your sent folder, and ask for confirmation. Do not delete the thread.
  • By WhatsApp or SMS. Keep the message and the delivery indicator, and do not clear the chat before the matter is over.
  • By registered post. Keep the slip and the tracking record. Post takes time, so send it early.
  • To the address in the contract. Many agreements name an address for notices. Deliver there too, because delivery there usually counts even if nobody reads it.
  • By sheriff. Court process is served by the sheriff, not by you, and the return of service is the strongest proof there is.

Use more than one route, and write down the date. A file holding the letter, the proof it went and a note of when beats a better letter with nothing behind it.

When a template is enough, and when it is not

A template is usually enough when the facts are simple, the amount is modest, the other side is an ordinary person or a small business, and you only need to put something on the record: a first demand, a notice you must give, a complaint to a tribunal.

Stop and get an attorney when any of these is true. The other side already has one. You have been served with court papers, because a deadline is running whether you understand it or not. The amount is large enough to change your life. A child, a home or your liberty is involved. The document creates a lasting position, such as a will, a trust, an antenuptial contract or a property sale. Or you simply do not understand what you are signing. Read what legal help costs before you make that call.

Some documents must be signed in a particular way, or they are worthless

Two documents here are valid only if they are signed correctly. Right words, wrong signing, and you have nothing.

A will. The Wills Act 7 of 1953 sets out formalities that are not optional. You sign at the end of the will and on every other page. Two witnesses must be present at the same time when you sign, and must then sign in your presence and in the presence of each other. A witness must be at least fourteen and competent to give evidence in court. Nobody who benefits under the will, and no spouse of a beneficiary, should sign as a witness, because it can cost them the inheritance. Do not sign the pages on different days. A will that fails these formalities is usually treated as if it never existed, and the estate is divided under the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987 instead. Read how to write a valid will first.

An affidavit. An affidavit is a statement made under oath. It becomes one only when you sign it in front of a commissioner of oaths, who administers the oath and attests it with a stamp, full names, capacity, date and place. Commissioners are designated under the Justices of the Peace and Commissioners of Oaths Act 16 of 1963. Police officers of the right rank at any station can do it at no charge, and so can many attorneys. Never sign before you get there, and take your identity document. A false statement in an affidavit is a criminal offence, so include only what you know to be true, and say where something is what you were told rather than saw.

What to keep, and for how long

Keep the signed original, the version you sent, the proof of delivery and every reply in one folder in date order. Scan paper the day it arrives.

As a working rule, keep papers about a debt or a claim for at least three years after the matter ends, because that is the ordinary prescription period under the Prescription Act 68 of 1969 and disputes resurface. Keep employment records, leases and property papers for at least five years. Keep the original of a will, an antenuptial contract, a court order and a title deed permanently, and tell somebody you trust where the will is. Keep tax and company records for the period the relevant law requires. Never send your only original to anybody. Send a certified copy.

The templates, grouped by the problem they solve

Every template below is free.

Work. Grievance letter to your employer puts a problem on the record inside the company. Resignation letter with notice ends a job properly. CCMA referral checklist is what to have ready before you refer, with how to refer an unfair dismissal.

Money somebody owes you. Letter of demand for an unpaid debt starts almost every money claim, and the Small Claims Court checker says whether that court can hear it. Letter of demand for damages is for loss somebody caused rather than money they promised.

Debt collectors and your credit record. Prescription dispute letter to a debt collector answers a debt too old to enforce, with the prescription checker. Credit bureau dispute letter corrects a wrong listing.

Where you live. Residential lease agreement puts a tenancy in writing before anybody moves in. Notice to vacate ends a lease. Deposit refund demand to a landlord goes with the deposit calculator.

Children and maintenance. Maintenance application checklist is what to take to the Maintenance Court. Letter demanding unpaid maintenance covers arrears, with what to do when maintenance is not paid. Parenting plan template sets out care and contact.

Death and estates. Simple will template suits a straightforward estate, and the signing rules above decide whether it works. Deceased estate reporting checklist goes with how to report an estate.

Insurance. Insurance claim rejection appeal letter challenges a rejection before you go to an ombud, with my insurance claim was rejected.

Traffic fines. Representations to the RTIA disputes an AARTO infringement, with how to dispute a traffic fine. Driver nomination affidavit is for when somebody else was driving, and it needs a commissioner of oaths.

A criminal record. Criminal record expungement checklist lists what an expungement needs, with how to clear your record.

Immigration. Visa rejection appeal letter answers a Home Affairs refusal, with how to appeal a visa rejection. Read the refusal for its own deadline first.

Running a small business. Basic service agreement puts work on paper before you start. POPIA privacy notice is the notice the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 expects you to give people whose information you hold, with does POPIA apply to my business.

If your problem fits none of these, it needs a person rather than a form. Start with the free legal help page, because a great deal can be dealt with at no cost, and only then look for an attorney.

Not legal advice. LawMatch is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Information is general and may not apply to your situation.