What Is Legal Document Preparation?
Legal document preparation covers a wide variety of services. While the definition sounds straight-forward, legal document preparation is vague enough to cause some confusion for the consumer. Many people think legal document preparation is simply filling in forms, like other services offering completed paperwork. However, there are many forms that require legal interpretation to properly complete. This is one reason why most legal document preparers are required by statute to carry a surety bond to protect the customer from loss. This means even incomplete or improperly completed forms are normally corrected without additional cost to the client.
Of course , this varies by state. There are states, such as Kentucky, that have very detailed requirements regarding the use of legal document preparation services. Common legal documents include: Family law documents such as divorce agreements and paternity agreements are common, as well as guardianship agreements and wills. Other common documents include powers of attorney and promissory notes. Essentially, any document that is created without legal representation will eventually require legal document preparation.
Advantages of Local Legal Document Preparation
When it comes to legal matters, having support nearby is critical. The problem is that we live in an increasingly globalized world and the majority of information on the internet comes from places far away from where you actually live. This can mean that it’s more difficult to find good information or services that you can trust. This can be the case with legal document preparation services. So how do you focus in on the best opportunities within your geographic region? You start by finding all of the legal document preparation services near you, asking the right questions for making comparisons, and narrowing it down to one that provides the best services and prices.
One of the primary benefits of local legal document preparation is convenience. Simply put, it is easier to schedule an appointment or to walk into a physical office to get help with legal documents than to do everything online or over the phone. If there is an issue with your request or some other type of problem, it can be much easier to work out the issues through face-to-face communication.
Likewise, because a local legal document preparation service has no choice but to serve a specific area, they have much more incentive to provide a high level of service. A person or a business that does poor work will quickly garner a reputation as an unreliable source of documents or legal advice. Conversely, this means that local services will work much harder to build reputation and provide the high level of customer service and care to ensure that you are happy with your documents and your experience.
How to Pick the Right One
Here are some key factors that you need to consider when choosing a legal document preparation service:
Experience and expertise: You’ll always want to work with a company that has a solid stream of experience and expertise on staff, especially regarding your specific needs. How long has the company been in business? Do they have experience with your particular type of business and legal documents?
Customer reviews: Before you start working with a legal document preparation service, be sure to take a look at some of the reviews they have received online. If it’s primarily negative, it’s likely that this is not the sort of service you want to be associated with. Otherwise, positive reviews from happy customers tend to be a good sign.
Pricing structure: The rates you’re being charged for legal document preparation services must also be reasonable. Compare the rate being offered by a company with the prevailing market rate in your area, and investigate whether the company charges unusually low or high fees. Typically, an unusually low fee for such services could end up costing more in the end, such as in cases where there is a problem with a filing or other legal documentation that leads to additional expenses you might be responsible for as the result of a careless preparation from someone who cut corners to provide the initially cheaper quote.
Questions to Consider with Your Provider
Once you find quality legal document preparation services near you, it’s a good idea to ask some basic questions before hiring them. Consider getting clarification on these questions:
How do I start the process? What will be your role?
This is critical because legal document preparation services should be able to identify the best pathway for completing your legal documents once you provide them with all of the necessary information.
How will we stay in contact with one another? How long will the process take?
Being able to reach your legal document preparation services provider and having an idea of turnarounds and timelines goes a long way toward a satisfying experience. However, just because they say your paperwork will be finished in 24 hours doesn’t mean it will be — but if it takes longer than anticipated, they should be able to explain why.
What happens if your service makes a mistake in my paperwork? Am I protected in any way?
This one’s pretty self-explanatory. Ask about their policy on making errors in clients’ documents and follow up with this question: what if I’m not the one who finds it?
Typical Legal Documents and How They Are Prepared
The most common legal document prepared by a legal document preparer is a will. A will dictates the disbursement of all of your assets upon your death. Many people think that only wealthy individuals need a will, but in actuality everyone needs a will. A will also allows you to specify a guardian and conservator for your children if something were to happen to you and your spouse.
A more flexible document that can be used instead of a will is a revocable living trust. A revocable living trust can be changed during your lifetime. With a will the only way to change a will is to create a new will. In addition, the assets of a revocable living trust are not put through the court process called probate after your death. The downside to a revocable living trust is that a lot of paperwork is needed to prepare and put it in effect . A revocable living trust still needs a power of attorney and health care directive attached to it because your child or whoever is your trustee will need those additional documents after your death.
Power of attorney allows you to give someone authority over your financial or healthcare decisions. They can act on your behalf if you are unable to make the decision yourself. In addition, a power of attorney is used if you are away or temporarily incapacitated and need someone to make a decision for you.
A business contract has the same requirements and terms as a contract you call in foreign to it. The difference is that a business contract requires you to have the appropriate licenses and permissions to execute that type of contract.
Cost and Payment Plans
Costs for legal document preparation services can vary significantly based on the complexity of the documents required. Simple contracts or forms may only cost a few hundred dollars, while more complex services like wills may be priced upwards of $1,500 or more. It is important to note that these prices usually do not include filing fees, which run from several dozen to several hundred dollars at the state and federal levels.
In certain circumstances where it would otherwise be a burden to meet face-to-face, document preparation services may be able to conduct your business over the phone—if you aren’t required by statute to appear personally to file or record your documents, this can save a lot of time and money.
While most document preparers are self-employed individuals working out of their homes, many work under the auspices of larger law firms or legal offices that have extensive experience handling cases or preparing legal documentation. Unequivocally, since legal document preparers do not offer legal advice, you’ll want to make sure to avoid large firms who offer to simply hire a lawyer to prepare the documents you need—this is a waste of time and money.
Many legal document preparation services now offer payment plans for their clients. Be sure to inquire about available payment plans when speaking with prospective document preparers.
How to Find Legal Document Preparation Services Near Me
Although I have mentioned various ways to find legal document preparers, this section is devoted to some of the more effective ones. The Internet has provided many ways to locate a legal document preparer. For example , online directories and referrals from other lawyers or friends can be used to find experienced legal document preparers. Online reviews have proven to be an effective way to narrow down the search for the right legal document preparer. Another useful tool in locating legal document preparers is the use of local search engines, which allow you to search for legal document preparers in your area by entering the area code or city.