diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index cb4e32a..d6345a9 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Package: ohcleandat
 Type: Package
 Title: One Health Data Cleaning and Quality Checking Package
-Version: 0.2.5
+Version: 0.2.6
 Authors@R: c(
     person("Collin", "Schwantes", email = "schwantes@ecohealthalliance.org", role = c("cre", "aut"), comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0003-4014-4896")),
     person("Johana", "Teigen", email = "teigen@ecohealthalliance.org", role = "aut", comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0002-6209-2321")),
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Description: This package provides useful functions to orchestrate analytics and
 License: MIT + file LICENSE
 Encoding: UTF-8
 LazyData: true
-RoxygenNote: 7.3.1
+RoxygenNote: 7.3.2
 Suggests: 
     knitr,
     rmarkdown
diff --git a/R/create_rules_from_template.R b/R/create_rules_from_template.R
index 6ab64fb..26bb4f7 100644
--- a/R/create_rules_from_template.R
+++ b/R/create_rules_from_template.R
@@ -1,16 +1,18 @@
-#' Title
+#' Create a "rules" file from a template
+#'
+#' Creates a rules file from a template to show general structure of the rule file.
+#'
 #'
 #' @param name String. Name of rule set function e.g. create_rules_my_dataset
 #' @param dir String. Name of directory where file should be created. If it
 #' doesnt exist, a folder will be created.
 #' @param open Logical. Should the file be opened?
 #' @param showWarnings Logical. Should dir.create show warnings?
+#' @param overwrite_file Logical. Should a rules file with the same name be overwritten?
 #'
 #' @return String. File path of newly created file
 #' @export create_rules_from_template
 #'
-#'
-#'
 #' @examples
 #' \dontrun{
 #' # create a ruleset and immediately open it
@@ -21,9 +23,11 @@
 #'     create_rules_from_template(name = "create_rules_lab_data",
 #'     dir = "/path/to/rulesets" open = FALSE)
 #'     }
-create_rules_from_template <- function(name, dir = "/R", open = TRUE, showWarnings = FALSE){
+create_rules_from_template <- function(name, dir = "R", open = TRUE,
+                                       showWarnings = FALSE,
+                                       overwrite_file = FALSE){
 
-  dir.create(here::here("/R"),showWarnings = showWarnings, recursive = TRUE)
+  dir.create(here::here(dir),showWarnings = showWarnings, recursive = TRUE)
 
   template_text <- sprintf('%s <- function(){
     ## each rule should be named after the column its validating
@@ -55,14 +59,21 @@ create_rules_from_template <- function(name, dir = "/R", open = TRUE, showWarnin
 
   file_name <- sprintf("%s.R",name)
   file_path <- paste(dir,file_name,sep = "/")
+
+  status_prelim <- file.exists(here::here(file_path))
+
+  if(status_prelim & !overwrite_file){
+    rlang::abort("File already exists. Set overwrite_file = TRUE to
+                create the file.")
+  }
+
+
+  file.create(file_path,showWarnings = showWarnings)
   cat(template_text, file = file_path)
   if(open){
     utils::file.edit(file_path)
   }
 
-
-  return(file_path)
-
   status <- file.exists(here::here(file_path))
 
   if(!status){
diff --git a/man/create_rules_from_template.Rd b/man/create_rules_from_template.Rd
index adf7dab..c3f0be3 100644
--- a/man/create_rules_from_template.Rd
+++ b/man/create_rules_from_template.Rd
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 % Please edit documentation in R/create_rules_from_template.R
 \name{create_rules_from_template}
 \alias{create_rules_from_template}
-\title{Title}
+\title{Create a "rules" file from a template}
 \usage{
-create_rules_from_template(name, dir = "/R", open = TRUE, showWarnings = FALSE)
+create_rules_from_template(
+  name,
+  dir = "R",
+  open = TRUE,
+  showWarnings = FALSE,
+  overwrite_file = FALSE
+)
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{name}{String. Name of rule set function e.g. create_rules_my_dataset}
@@ -15,12 +21,14 @@ doesnt exist, a folder will be created.}
 \item{open}{Logical. Should the file be opened?}
 
 \item{showWarnings}{Logical. Should dir.create show warnings?}
+
+\item{overwrite_file}{Logical. Should a rules file with the same name be overwritten?}
 }
 \value{
 String. File path of newly created file
 }
 \description{
-Title
+Creates a rules file from a template to show general structure of the rule file.
 }
 \examples{
 \dontrun{