Contract Withdrawal
Do you want to withdraw from a contract, or is the other side threatening to withdraw from theirs? I will explain the difference between statutory and contractual withdrawal, advise on deadlines, and help with returning what was exchanged.
Free consultation →What I will do for you
Withdrawing from a contract is a powerful tool, but it must be used correctly and in time. I will assess your situation, warn you of the risks, and prepare the withdrawal so that it is legally effective and will hold up in any dispute.
- ✓Assessing whether you have the right to withdraw from the contract
- ✓Drafting a withdrawal notice that will hold up in court
- ✓Withdrawal for material breach of contract by the other party
- ✓Exercising the fourteen-day period for distance purchases
- ✓Recovering returned performance if the other party does not comply
- ✓Defense against an unjustified withdrawal by the other party
Withdrawal cancels the contract from the outset
Withdrawal cancels the obligation from the outset, except for rights that by their nature must survive, typically a claim to a contractual penalty, default interest, or damages already arising from the breach (Sections 2004 and 2005 of the Civil Code). This is exactly why it matters whether you actually have the right to withdraw in your situation, the form and content of the withdrawal decide whether the other party will accept it or whether you will end up in court.
Statutory withdrawal, or a contractual arrangement?
You can withdraw from a contract for two reasons: either the law allows it directly, or the parties agreed to it themselves in the contract (Section 2001 of the Civil Code). Both routes have different rules and a different level of risk:
- ✓Statutory withdrawal typically applies in the case of a material breach of contract by the other party, or in situations expressly listed by law, such as the fourteen-day period for a consumer.
- ✓Contractual withdrawal is agreed by the parties themselves, for example a break fee for withdrawing without giving a reason, a repurchase option, or a right to withdraw if a specific condition is not met (financing not secured, a building permit not issued).
A contractual arrangement provides greater certainty, because it precisely defines when and how withdrawal is possible, but it must be drafted carefully. A vaguely worded withdrawal clause is one of the most common causes of the disputes I handle.
Withdrawal for material breach of contract
Under Section 2002 of the Civil Code, a party may withdraw from a contract without undue delay if the other party breaches it in a material way. A breach is considered material if the party that committed it knew or must have known, already at the time the contract was concluded, that the other party would not have entered into the contract had it foreseen this breach.
If the breach is not material, the law does not allow immediate withdrawal; in the case of a debtor’s delay, the other party must first, under Section 1978(1) of the Civil Code, be given a reasonable additional period to remedy the situation, and withdrawal is only possible after this period expires without success. In practice, the severity of a breach is also often assessed differently than a party expects, so I always recommend getting advice before sending a withdrawal notice, to confirm the breach really reaches the intensity of a material breach.
Withdrawal must be made "without undue delay", that is, soon after you learn of the breach. Waiting too long to withdraw can later be interpreted as tacitly agreeing to continue with the contract anyway.
14 days to reconsider: distance purchases and off-premises contracts
If you are a consumer and concluded the contract at a distance (online store, telephone, e-mail) or away from the trader's business premises (doorstep selling, a sales event), under Section 1829 of the Civil Code you have the right to withdraw from the contract within 14 days, without giving a reason and without any penalty. For goods, the period runs from when you receive them, for services, from when the contract is concluded.
The law does allow exceptions where you do not have this right, for example for goods made to your specifications, perishable goods, or goods in sealed packaging that you have unsealed for hygiene reasons (Section 1837 of the Civil Code). Before deciding whether you can withdraw from a particular purchase, I recommend having the exceptions checked, traders sometimes invoke them even where they do not actually apply to your case.
You can withdraw through any unambiguous statement of intent to the trader, a written form is not mandatory, but I always recommend it, as evidence of the withdrawal and the date it was sent.
What happens after withdrawal: returning what was exchanged
Withdrawal cancels the contract from the outset, so the parties must return to each other everything they provided under it. For consumer withdrawal within 14 days, precise deadlines apply: the trader must refund all money received within 14 days of the withdrawal (Section 1832 of the Civil Code), and the consumer must send back or hand over the goods within the same period (Section 1831 of the Civil Code). The cost of returning the goods is borne by the consumer, if the trader informed them of this in advance.
In other cases of withdrawal, mutual settlement is governed by the general rules on unjust enrichment, and if the breach of contract caused damage, it can be claimed separately alongside the return of performance. If the other party does not voluntarily return the money or the goods, I will help you recover it, if necessary through a lawsuit.
Who will handle your case
Ing. Mgr. Tomáš Beneš
Attorney registered with the Czech Bar Association, based in Prague.
Law degree from Charles University. I focus on business law, real estate and employment disputes. I handle every case personally, no assistants.
More about me →How we will work together
Describe your case
Fill in a short form or send me an e-mail. A few sentences about what happened and what you need to resolve are enough.
Send your documents
Attach the relevant documents (contracts, correspondence, notice of termination…). I accept everything securely online.
We'll discuss it by phone
I will study your case and call you within 48 hours with a proposal for the specific next steps, including the price.
You'll receive the solution by e-mail
You will receive the contract, filing or legal analysis by e-mail. Everything is done quickly and without unnecessary meetings.
Withdrawal is not termination by notice: common mistakes
The most common mistake I see clients make is confusing withdrawal with termination by notice. Withdrawal cancels the contract from the outset, as if it had never existed. Termination by notice, on the other hand, ends the contract only for the future, performance already exchanged remains valid.
- ✓for a lease, you give notice with a notice period, not withdrawal
- ✓for an indefinite-term energy supply contract, notice is normally used, withdrawal only in exceptional statutory cases
- ✓for a service subscription or an insurance contract, it depends on what the contract and the relevant law specifically require for that type of relationship
If you send a "withdrawal" where the law or the contract expects a notice of termination, you risk the act being interpreted differently than you intended, and the contractual relationship may not end when you expected. The exact wording and correct naming of the legal act is therefore always worth checking in advance.
Energy scammers and contracts concluded by phone
Energy supply contracts concluded by telephone or through doorstep selling are, from a legal point of view, distance contracts, so the fourteen-day withdrawal period without penalty and without giving a reason applies to them as well. If you miss this period, the Energy Act additionally gives you the right to terminate such a contract without penalty, no later than the 15th day after the supply begins (Section 11b(1) of the Energy Act).
For contracts agreed by telephone, the trader must also send the consumer written confirmation of the offer after the call, a verbal "yes" given over the phone alone does not bind the consumer to the contract without this written confirmation. If the caller tells you that you have already "bindingly" concluded the contract just by saying yes on the phone, do not let that discourage you from withdrawing.
I recommend never confirming anything by phone without written documentation, and acting quickly if in doubt, whether the 14-day period or the subsequent 15-day option to terminate is running from a clearly determined date. You can find a detailed step-by-step guide in my Consumer Claims and Withdrawal guide.
Need advice?
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