What this tool is for

Legal documents have a habit of using words that made sense in the 1800s and have stuck around ever since. This tool takes any bit of legal text, whether it is a single term, a phrase from a letter, or a paragraph from a court order, and rewrites it in everyday English so you can work out what is actually being said.

It is meant as a starting point to help you understand what you are reading, not as a substitute for proper legal advice on your own case.

When it might help

It is aimed at people who are dealing with the courts or legal paperwork without a solicitor, or who have a solicitor but want a second read of something before they sign or respond. That might be a tenant who has been sent a possession notice, a parent reading a family court order, someone replying to a small claim, or a witness trying to make sense of a statement they have been asked to sign.

It is also useful if you are helping a friend or relative with their paperwork, or if you work or volunteer somewhere like a Citizens Advice office and want a quick way to explain a term to someone in front of you.

How to use it

Paste the word, phrase, or chunk of text into the box and submit it. You will get back a plain English version that explains what the term means, how it is usually used in a UK court or legal context, and anything worth watching out for. You can run as many phrases through it as you like. Nothing you type is saved to your account or shared, so you can drop in wording from a letter without worrying about it being kept. If the text is very long, break it into smaller sections and translate them one at a time, which tends to give clearer results than a single large block.