Can the free legal documents offered on the Internet be a replacement for consulting with an attorney?
In some cases, most definitely.
To give a simple example: The law in your state may require a written contract for the sale of goods over a certain value. Or for that matter, you may want to grant your parent a power of attorney to sell something on your behalf whilst away on vacation. It does not require specialized legal knowledge to compile a bill of sale for a motorcycle, automobile or other goods or to draw up a limited power of attorney.
Similarly, a young person without a lot of assets may want to draft a last will and testament or a living will. For most young people a standard legal template can be used to create their documents and the forms can be downloaded free from the Internet, without incurring legal costs. Of course, it will be a different case for a billionaire with various assets and a complicated will where consultation with a legal and/or financial expert is invaluable.
Many parents recognize the need for a medical consent form for a babysitter in case of a medical emergency. Or they may need a more comprehensive temporary guardianship form when their child will be staying with a family member or trusted friend. These sample forms are freely available online.
Free legal documents are particularly valuable when they are also accompanied by legal guidelines on how to complete them.
Although the law recognizes oral agreements, it always makes sense to get it in writing to avoid arguments over what exactly was agreed upon. Using sample legal documents to compile your own contracts is no different to lawyers using their existing templates for standard agreements.
There is no requirement in law for documents to be written in legalese. Plain English can equally well show the intent of the agreement, and it is to the advantage of everyone involved to understand all the clauses in the document. There is no need to try and make provision for every contingency either when compiling your agreements and in fact, it will be quite impossible to do so.
Of course there are many instances where you must consult with an attorney. Again, you can use the free legal documents and free legal information available on the Internet to do your preparation beforehand and so reduce the consulting time - and hours billed.
A Sawyer is with http://www.free-legal-document.com/, a site supplying free legal agreements for business and personal use, as well as extensive information on what to look for before signing any contract.
Source: www.ezinearticles.com
