Will a written agreement hold up in court if a lawyer was not involved? -

I am putting together a product and have need to bring in help for a specialized portion of it. Compensation is in the form of a cut of profits. Though I know using a lawyer is safest would a signed mutual agreement be legal. Just something typed up on the computer. If I am asking for it, does anyone know approximately what legal fees would be for that kind of documentation?

The best thing you can do, if you want to save is the above, make sure it is signed and dated, and agree with whoever is counter signing the document on 2 witness, who would also have to sign. This way if any legal problems do unfold, at least you have 2 witnesses. Ideally you should be able to get 2 witnesses for nothing, but there are people who consider themselves proffesional witnesses. Take a little look on google for more info.

It should stand up in court as long as it s professionally written, and very specific and clear what the document is intended to be stating. As the poster above said, additional witnesses would be a good choice as well. If you are talking about major money in this agreement, it really might be in your best interest to suck it up and pay to have it professionally put together by a lawyer. I would factor in to the equation as well-- do you think the other party(s) has the potential to go sour and try to twist things down the road? If so, even more reason to do this with a lawyer.