How do I end a freelance contract?

Follow the termination clause you signed. Most freelance papers offer two exits: termination for conveniencetermination for convenienceTermination for convenience means one side can end the contract without claiming the other side did something wrong, usually after giving notice.More in the glossary on notice, and termination for material breach if the other side breaks a named term and does not fix it. Give the notice in the way the contract says — often email to a named address — and say which exit you are using.

Then deal with money and files:

• invoice for work done, including any kill feekill feeA kill fee is a payment due to a creator or supplier when a client cancels a project before it is finished.More in the glossary the paper names
• stop work on the date the notice takes effect
• do not hand over source files if rights pass only on full payment
• return or delete their confidential information as the paper requires

What goes in a freelance or contractor agreement is the wider drafting page. This one is the exit.

Termination for convenience is an ending because someone wants out, not because anyone broke the deal. It needs a notice periodnotice periodA notice period is the time that must run after a valid notice before termination, a price change or another named event takes effect. In England and Wales, a notice is construed as a reasonable recipient would read it: Mannai Investment Co Ltd v Eagle Star Life Assurance [1997] AC 749. Serve it in the form the notices clause requires.More in the glossary — 14 or 30 days is common — and a rule for work in progress. A kill fee or a sliding cancellation charge belongs here, not as a surprise invoice.

Material breach is an ending because a term that matters was broken: non-payment, a missed delivery that goes to the heart of the job, a confidentiality leak. The clause usually gives a short window to fix the breach after written notice. If they fix it, the contract continues. If they do not, you can end it.

Do not label a convenience exit as a breach to sound tougher. The tone of the letter is evidence later. Keep convenience factual: you are ending under clause X, the last day is Y, here is the invoice for work done.

If they cancelled a booked job and you are holding a depositdepositA deposit is money paid up front, before the main work or the final invoice.More in the glossary, that is Client cancelled: can you keep the deposit?, not this page. If they ended the chat and did not pay, that is Client won't pay.

Name the contract, the clause, the last day, and the money. Send it the way the notices clause requires if you have one. Keep a copy.

A working convenience notice covers:

• the date
• the agreement you are ending, by date and parties
• the clause you rely on
• when the notice period starts and when work stops
• what you will invoice, and by when
• what you will deliver, and what you will not, if invoices are still open
• where to send a reply

A breach notice adds the facts of the breach, the fix you want, and the deadline in the clause. Do not mix a without-prejudice settlement offer into that letter. The open notice is the one you may later show a court.

If nothing was written down, you can still agree an end by email: last day, final invoice, who keeps which files. In many cases that exchange is itself a contract to wind the job up. Check local law. It is weaker than a signed termination clause, which is why the next job should have one.

The contract should say. A workable split:

• Work done. Paid at the rate in the paper, or a named percentage of the remaining fee as a kill fee.
• Work not done. Not invoiced, unless a non-refundable deposit or booking fee says otherwise.
• Files. If IP assignment or the licencelicenceA licence is permission to use work in an agreed way, without taking ownership away from the person who made it.More in the glossary passes only on full payment, unpaid work stays yours. Do not send source files to “be nice” while an invoice is open.
• Their materials. Return or delete briefs, logins and confidential information.

For a UK business client, an unpaid final invoice can still carry statutory interest at 8% above base rate. We do not print the current base rate. See payment terms and the unpaid-invoice guide.

In England and Wales, an action on a simple contract cannot be brought after six years from when the cause of action accrued; a claim on a deeddeedA deed is a formal written document that meets special signing rules, commonly used where one side gives nothing in return.More in the glossary has twelve. Do not sit on a final invoice until that window is a guess. The limitation clock is not a reason to delay the notice itself.

If extra work was done without a signed change, ending the job will not invent a fee for it. Get extras onto paper next time — Client keeps adding extra work.

Yes, in the sense that you can stop work and say so in writing. The hard part is money and files, because nobody agreed a notice period, a kill fee or an ownership line.

Write once:

• you are stopping on a named date
• the fee you say is due for work already done, with the brief and emails attached
• that copyright in unpaid work has not been assigned
• a request that they confirm or dispute by a short deadline

In many cases a contract was still formed by emails and the work. Check local law. What that trail rarely contains is a 14-day notice clause. You are negotiating an end, not enforcing one you already signed.

The next job starts with a freelancer agreement, a consulting agreement or a retainer that already has a termination clause. Sign it before day one — Should I start work before the contract is signed?.

On Contracts.io the exit is written before anyone wants out. Both sides draft, negotiate and e-signe-signatureAn e-signature is any electronic way of showing agreement to a document, such as a typed name, a drawn signature or a click.More in the glossary one shared contract, so the notice period, the kill fee and the unpaid-files line are the version you both signed. Describe the job in a sentence. Lex drafts. You share one link. The client can Accept, Counter or Decline, then you both e-sign. The other side never pays and does not need an account.

That does not send the notice for you. It does mean clause X is a clause they signed, not a line you added after the relationship soured. Start from the AI contract generator or the contract generator. Free £0, then paid plans from £15 a month — see /pricing.

Try it on contracts.io: put the termination clause on the same contract as the job, and e-sign it before you need it.