There are umpteen situations where a person may be forced to take legal action against a company or another person. Legal action may be taken in cases like divorce, property disputes, cheque bounces, consumer grievances and so on. The initial step in taking legal action against any person or company is to inform, that you are planning to take legal action against them. But, how do you inform them? This is when a legal notice comes into play. If you want to take legal action against anyone, you must first send a notice to them.

What is a Legal Notice?

A notice is a written document sent to a person or company, telling that you have faced some grievances and you are planning to take legal action against them. In India, sending a legal note is the primary step of any legal proceeding. It is like a warning sent to the receiver which lays down some conditions, which the receiver must follow. If the receiver fails to follow the rules and conditions, legal action will be taken.

Who can send a Legal Notice?

The person who has faced any legal issues can send the notice to the company or a person, which is infringing on his/her legal right. it can be sent online or physically/in-person.

When to send a Legal Notice?

1. Property disputes.
2. Notice for divorce.
3. Notice to the cheque issuer in case of cheque bounce.
4. Notice to the company on a faulty product, faulty services, false advertisements and so on.
5. Notice can be sent to an employee, if he leaves the job without a resignation notice or if he violates HR policies or employment agreements.
6. It can be sent to employers in the situation of unpaid salaries, violation of HR policies, wrongful termination of a job and so on.

How to send a Legal Notice?

If you are not familiar with Indian laws, you can take the advice of a lawyer to send a notice. A lawyer can help include all necessary information that has to be covered in the notice. Once you send it to the opposite party, you cannot make changes to it. So, be very careful while sending a legal notice. It should include the following details:

1. Legal notice should contain all important facts which led to your grievance and subsequent claim.
2. The action and relief sought from the receiver of the legal notice.
3. The laws under which relief is sought or action that is required to be taken from the receiver of the notice.

Steps to be followed while sending a notice

1. a) To send a legal notice to a person or company, you must first hire a professional civil lawyer who can draft the notice on your behalf.
2. b) Legal notice must contain the necessary information like grievances caused, date and time when the grievance was caused, name, address and contact details of people involved and previous attempts made to contact the person or company to resolve this issue.
3. c) This notice must also contain the necessary documents or evidence in relation to the grievance.
4. d) It should be sent in a language that can be understood by both the sender and receiver.
5. e) Along with the reason for sending a legal notice, the lawyer will also include the conditions to be followed within a reasonable period of time.
6. f) Notice is usually drafted on the lawyer’s letterhead and before sending, it will be signed by both the lawyer and the person who sends the notice.

Sending a legal notice is really helpful as many a time, a person or company, take it seriously and resolves the issue, even before matters are taken up in court.