Document drafting and secure shredding · England & Wales
We draft your legal documents for you.
Tell us what you need and we draft it for you: prepared around your circumstances and your instructions, at a fixed price agreed before any work starts.
We also destroy them at the other end of their life: confidential shredding at your premises, with our truck coming to you.
We prepare and draft documents. We do not submit, file, register, lodge or serve them.
What we do, and what we don’t
A drafting service has a boundary, and it is better to know where it runs before you instruct anyone. Ours is here.
What we do
- Draft the document around your circumstances and your instructions
- Confirm the scope and a fixed price in writing before any work starts
- Explain, in plain English, what the document does and what it does not do
- Tell you exactly what you must do next — signing, witnessing, serving, filing or registering
- Make one round of amendments after you have read the draft
- Shred confidential paperwork at your premises, with our truck coming to you
What we don’t do
- Submit, file, register, lodge or serve anything on your behalf
- Give legal advice on your situation, or tell you which outcome to pursue
- Act as your solicitor — we are not a firm of solicitors and not SRA-regulated
- Act as a witness, executor, attorney, certificate provider or independent adviser
- Represent you in court, in a tribunal, or in negotiations with anyone else
- Tell you how long to keep your records, or write your retention policy
Where the stakes warrant it, take independent legal advice from a solicitor before you sign.
The kinds of documents we draft
Some of the work that comes through most often. Each one is drafted from scratch for the person instructing it.
Wills & Personal Affairs
Documents that set out what happens to your estate, your money and your care if you die or lose capacity.
- Last Will and Testament
- Property & Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney
- Health & Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney
- Advance Decision
- Prenuptial / Postnuptial Agreement
- Statutory Declaration
Property & Real Estate
Tenancy agreements, possession notices and ownership documents for landlords, lodgers and co-owners.
- Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement
- Declaration of Trust
- Lodger Agreement
- Section 21 Notice
- Section 8 Notice
Business & Corporate
The agreements that set out how a company is owned, run and protected, and how it deals with customers.
- Articles of Association
- Shareholders' Agreement
- Non-Disclosure Agreement
- Terms & Conditions
- Partnership Agreement
Employment & Contracting
Contracts and policies for taking people on, engaging contractors and parting company properly.
- Employment Contract
- Consultancy Agreement
- Settlement Agreement
- Staff Handbook / Workplace Policies
These are examples of documents we draft. They are not a catalogue and not a limit — if what you need is not shown here, tell us what it is and we will say whether we can draft it.
How it works
Four steps, and you know the price before the third one.
Tell us what you need
Send us a short enquiry describing the document and your situation. There is no charge for this and no obligation to go ahead.
We confirm scope and price
We reply with what we can draft, what falls outside the service, and a fixed fee. Nothing starts until you accept that quote in writing.
You complete a short questionnaire
We send a plain-English questionnaire covering the details we need. If anything you tell us suggests the document is the wrong tool for the job, we say so before drafting.
We draft and deliver
You receive the draft as an editable file and a print-ready PDF, with one round of amendments included and written notes on what you need to do next. Signing, witnessing, serving, filing or registering the document is yours to carry out.
What a quote includes
- A fixed price agreed in writing before any work starts
- A short questionnaire so we capture your instructions accurately
- The document drafted around your circumstances, not a blank template
- One round of amendments after you have read the draft
- Delivery as an editable file and a print-ready PDF
- Plain-English notes on what you need to do with the document once you have it
What it costs
Because every document is drafted around your circumstances, we quote on what you actually need. Tell us what you are looking for and we confirm the scope and a fixed price in writing. Nothing starts, and nothing is payable, until you accept it.
Some documents involve fees payable to somebody else — the Office of the Public Guardian, Companies House, HM Land Registry, or a solicitor or commissioner for oaths. Those are paid by you, directly to them. They are never paid to us and are never part of our quote.
Our other service
Confidential shredding, at your door
Our truck comes to you, anywhere in the country. Documents are destroyed at your premises, so nothing confidential leaves your site intact — and you can watch it happen.
How a visit works
Tell us roughly how much there is
Boxes, filing cabinets, sacks — an estimate is fine. We confirm what we can take and a fixed price before we come out.
We come to you
The truck arrives at your address at an agreed time. There is nothing to prepare beyond having the paperwork accessible: staples, paperclips and ring binders are not a problem.
It is destroyed on site
Your documents are shredded at your premises rather than being carted off to be dealt with later. You are welcome to watch the whole thing, and you get a certificate of destruction for your records.
What people use it for
- Office clear-outs, and archive boxes that are past the point of being needed
- Closing or moving a business, where years of paperwork have to go somewhere
- HR files, client records and finance paperwork that hold personal data
- Home offices and estates, where a lifetime of paperwork has built up
Where this sits with UK GDPR
UK GDPR requires personal data to be kept securely, and not kept for longer than it is needed. When paper records reach the end of their life, disposing of them securely is part of that duty — a skip or a recycling bin is not secure disposal, and a bin bag of old HR files is exactly the kind of thing that turns into a reportable personal data breach.
Shredding is how that duty is met in practice for paper. It is one part of your obligations rather than the whole of them: you remain the data controller for your records, and deciding how long to keep them is your call. We destroy what you instruct us to destroy, and we do not advise on retention periods or write your retention policy.
- Certificate of destruction
- Issued after every job, so you have written evidence that the records were disposed of securely.
- Nationwide
- Wherever you are, the truck comes to you.
- Businesses and households
- The same service whether it is an office archive or forty years of paperwork in a spare room.
- Nothing is kept
- The material is destroyed. Nothing is stored, returned or held on to afterwards.
Questions people ask first
- Are you solicitors?
- No. Docs4U is not a firm of solicitors and is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. We provide a document drafting service, not legal advice: nothing we produce is advice on your individual circumstances, and instructing us does not create a solicitor–client relationship. Where the stakes warrant it, take independent legal advice from a solicitor before you sign.
- Do you file or register the document for me?
- No — and this is the part worth reading twice. We prepare and draft; you sign, witness, serve, file or register. A lasting power of attorney has to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian by you or your attorney, amended articles are filed at Companies House by the company, a statutory declaration is made in person before a solicitor or commissioner for oaths, and a possession notice is served by the landlord. We tell you exactly what your document needs and what the step involves.
- What does it cost?
- Because every document is drafted around your circumstances, we quote on what you actually need. Tell us what you are looking for and we confirm the scope and a fixed price in writing. Nothing starts, and nothing is payable, until you accept it.
- How long does it take?
- Most documents are drafted within a few working days of us receiving your completed questionnaire, and we confirm the timescale in writing with your quote rather than leaving you guessing. If you are working to a deadline — a completion date, a wedding, a notice period — tell us at the enquiry stage and we will say honestly whether we can meet it.
- What if the document I need isn't listed?
- These are examples of documents we draft. They are not a catalogue and not a limit — if what you need is not shown here, tell us what it is and we will say whether we can draft it.
- Can you tell me which document I need?
- We can explain what a document does and what it is normally used for. We cannot advise you on your situation or tell you which course of action to take — that is legal advice, and we are not solicitors. If you are unsure, describe what you are trying to achieve when you enquire: we will tell you whether we can help, or whether you should speak to a solicitor first.
- Do you shred documents as well as draft them?
- Yes. Our truck comes to you and your paperwork is destroyed at your premises rather than being taken away to be dealt with later, so nothing confidential leaves your site intact. Staples, paperclips and ring binders are not a problem. Tell us roughly how much there is — boxes, filing cabinets, sacks — and we will confirm a fixed price before we come out.
- Do we get proof the documents were destroyed?
- Yes. A certificate of destruction is issued after every job, so you have written evidence that the records were disposed of securely rather than just your word for it. Keep it with your data protection records — it is the thing you produce if anyone ever asks what happened to a file.
- Does shredding make us GDPR compliant?
- Not on its own — no single service can do that, and be wary of anyone who says otherwise. UK GDPR requires personal data to be held securely and not kept longer than it is needed, and secure destruction is how that duty is met for paper at the end of its life. It is one part of your obligations. You remain the data controller for your records, deciding how long to keep them is your call, and we do not advise on retention periods or write your retention policy.
- Which parts of the UK do you cover?
- We draft under the law of England & Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own legal systems and different requirements, and we do not draft for them. If your matter is connected to more than one jurisdiction, take legal advice before instructing anyone.
Get a fixed quote
Describe the document and your situation. We’ll reply with what we can draft, what falls outside the service, and a fixed price.
Nothing starts, and nothing is payable, until you accept that quote.