Memorandum of Understanding Template

Be it a private business house or government organization, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has become an integral part of many partnerships and agreements. As the name suggests, it is nothing but a document that shows the agreement between two or more parties on a certain clause, condition, or event. It shows the consensus between the parties that indicates collaboration between the same. It is generally used when two or more parties wish to offer something to the other party and also wants to receive something in return. In simple words, it is like a mutual give and take document. When parties cannot create legally enforceable contract or cannot imply legal binding, they prefer to go for memorandum of understanding, aka letter of intent, aka gentlemen's agreement. This article provides you with a template that would give you a clear idea about what constitutes the MoU.

An Overview

To make the concept more easy for you to understand, I will give you an example of an international MoU of the Oil for Food Program, created in 1995. This MoU was signed by United Nations and Iraq, wherein, Iraq was allowed to sell oil to the entire world in exchange of humanitarian help for its civilians, including food, drugs, and medicines etc. The MoU lasted only till 2003 because, according to United Nations, Iraq started to rebuild the military which was not allowed by the MoU and hence it was terminated. Well, the MoU don't have to be signed always on the bigger scales, smaller companies can and do go for it for business partnerships or joint ventures etc. The basic memorandum of understanding should include the following things:

• Date of Signing the MoU - You must write the date on which the MoU is signed.
• Name and Contact Details of Two or More Parties - You must provide names and contact details of all the parties, including their complete names, address, phone numbers, and emails, etc.
• Purpose and Scope of the MoU - You must mention why you are signing the MoU and how it would work.
• Background, Situation, and Status of the Parties - Here you must mention about the background of the parties and their work profile etc.
• Duties and Responsibilities of All the Parties Involved - In this section, all the agreed duties and responsibilities should be mentioned clearly.
• Trial Period - Also mention if the MoU will work for any trial period.
• Changeable Articles - Mention about the articles that can be negotiated later or are subject to change under specific conditions etc.
• Non Changeable Articles - Discuss articles that would be rigid and would not be considered for any kind of change in the future.
• Revival Date of the MoU - Mention the date on which the MoU would be revived or discussed once again.How Disputes Would be Resolved - If any disputes occur between the parties, make arrangements to solve them effectively in advance and also mention how they would be resolved.
• Compensation Details - This segment basically includes information on how the MoU will function including financial matters.
• Miscellaneous Details - Mention if there are any other causes, limitations, obligations, or responsibilities etc. on either or both the parties.
• Term of Agreement - Information, such as, when the agreement will come in force, when it shall terminate, under what circumstances it shall be terminated, how it shall terminate, and what will be the situation when it terminates etc. will be included in this section.
• Effective Date and Signature - Mention the date on which the MoU will be in force and signatures of the parties are required that would complete the process.

These were some of the details which every template should include. But, remember that the template is subject to change as per the nature of the agreement. You may need to add or remove some other sections as per your needs and requirements. To view the MoU template, read further.

Template for Memorandum of Understanding

Given below is the MoU template that would give you a clear idea about, how the MoU template should be drafted:

Memorandum of Understanding Between Name of the Party A Address Contact And Name of the Party B Address Contact We, Party A and Party B, have come together to collaborate and to make an agreement for MoU. The partners entering the MoU have agreed to form a collaboration and so agree to the following articles and clauses: Article I) Purpose and Scope: Article II) Background: Article III) Roles and Responsibilities of Party A: Article IV) Roles and Responsibilities of Party B: Article V) Issues of Mutual Understanding: Article VI) Compensation Details: Article VII) Miscellaneous Details: Article VIII) Term of Agreement Article IX) Effective Date and Signatures (Party A) (Party B) _______________________ ________________________

From the above information, you might have realized how foolproof the memorandum of understanding should be. Make sure that you use a simple and clear language throughout the MoU, so that even a third party should be able to read and understand the document easily. I hope, the above information was resourceful for you.