Can I get out of a contract because I didn’t read or understand it?

August 24, 2025

By Nadia Cabrera-Mazzeo, Esq.

Short Answer: No, the burden is on you to make sure you know what you’re signing.

The Duty to Read

There’s a major rule in contract law called the “duty to read” which essentially holds people to the terms of the contracts they sign—whether or not they actually read them. When you sign a contract, you are making promises and agreeing to be legally bound by them—to face legal consequences if you don’t do what the contract says. The law puts the responsibility on you to know what you are agreeing to before you sign a contract.

This assumption that people who sign contracts know exactly what they’re agreeing to is part of what gives contract law its power.

Contracts would be much less useful if they were so fickle as to let anyone get out of their promises because they didn’t read the document.

With the bedrock doctrine of the duty to read behind them, business transactions can function smoothly knowing that there are legal consequences for breaking contractual promises.

What if I tried to read it but I don’t understand it?

Unfortunately, the law doesn’t care if you actually read the contracts you sign, much less if you understand them. If you don’t understand a contract, it is technically up to you to get a lawyer to help you understand it.

The thing about the duty to read is that it is out of sync with reality. The truth is that most people don’t read contracts. In a ​survey​ of over 1,000 consumers and 274 small business owners in the U.S., 70% of consumers and 62% of business owners admitted to signing contracts without reading them. The survey didn’t ask whether even those who read the contracts actually understand what they say. The top reason given for not reading contracts altogether is that they are too long and complicated.

So what are my options?

One option at your fingertips is to hire our attorney to review your contract! For an affordable, prorated per-page fee, our attorney will look for red flags in your contract, make recommendations, and explain tough sections. Start the process by sending your contract to nadia@honestcontracts.com (no attorney-client relationship will exist until you sign her engagement agreement).

Another solution to what’s known as the “no reading problem” especially in consumer contracts are AI tools. More and more tech tools are becoming available that automatically break down contracts, explain sections, and make recommendations. The survey cited above was conducted by Adobe Acrobat as part of the rollout of their new AI contracts assistant.

The real solution to the “no reading problem” in contracts is human

While AI might be useful when dealing with existing contracts that are generally unreadable, technology won’t solve the root problem that lawyers write contracts for the wrong audience. Small businesses and ordinary people suffer most when contracts require a legal education to understand. But there is no legal reason to break with tradition and write accessible contracts. After all, the duty to read puts the entire burden on the reader to figure out a way to understandwhat they’re signing.

The duty to read is missing its complement: a duty to write readable contracts. In most circumstances, especially in the small business world, the people using a contract are not lawyers. Like everything else in business, contracts should be written for their intended audience. This looks like:

   Thoughtful contract design that visually invites the reader to stay on the page;
   Plain language terms;
   Shorter, digestible paragraphs and sentences;
   Intuitive organization for easy reference; and
   When appropriate, use of visuals to enhance understanding and retention.

Law office of Nadia Cabrera-Mazzeo, Esq.

Small business and contracts lawyer

Based in Taos, serving clients throughout New Mexico

505 427 2025

nadia@honestcontracts.com

The information on this website is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The rates and fees listed on this website may not be the most up to date.