Efficient Substitute? Or Costly Mistake? The Truth About Self-Help Legal Services
Over the past decade, the prevalence of “self-help legal services” has increased exponentially on the Internet through websites such as Legal Zoom, Rocket Lawyer, and NOLO. These websites offer a number of legal documents, including wills and trusts, documents to incorporate, and real estate documents, which are filled in by the purchaser through a series of basic questions. None of these documents, after being prepared automatically based on the consumer’s answers to basic questions, is ever reviewed or approved by an attorney. The consumer is simply filling in the blanks of a form document.
The problem with this scenario in the arena of estate planning is that every estate plan is going to be unique. Self-help fill-able forms will not take into account any of the unique circumstances of a given estate plan, nor does any self-help offer any legal advice as to what may be in the consumer’s best interest. If the consumer is dead set on using a self-help legal service website, he or she should take the time to read the fine print on these websites. For instance, Legal Zoom’s disclaimer contains the following: “We are not a law firm or a substitute for an attorney or law firm. We cannot provide any kind of advice, explanation, opinion, or recommendation about possible legal rights, remedies, defenses, options, selection of forms or strategies.” Yet, despite the fine print, many consumers believe that any document purchased from a website such as Legal Zoom will be legally sufficient and fulfill all of that consumer’s goals and plans. Many would be surprised to find out that their legal documents, albeit cheaper than hiring an actual attorney, may fail to achieve anything that the consumer purchased those legal documents for. A consumer will find a similar outcome using these websites for other purposes, such as preparing deeds, incorporating a business, and filing trademark registrations.
Recently, Consumer Reports used each of the three self-help legal services websites above to create four legal forms: a will, a car bill of sale for a seller, a home lease for a small landlord, and a promissory note. Each of these forms was then evaluated by three law professors in a blind test. The verdict from the law professors:
Using any of the three services is generally better than drafting the documents yourself without legal training or not having them at all. But unless your needs are simple — say, you want to leave your entire estate to your spouse — none of the will-writing products is likely to entirely meet your needs. And in some cases, the other documents aren’t specific enough or contain language that could lead to “an unintended result.”
In short, if a consumer truly wants to be certain that his or her legal documents are legally sufficient to achieve all of that consumer’s goals, the consumer should consult an attorney, who will be able to ask all of the questions necessary to fully understand that consumer’s unique circumstances.
For more information on the Consumer Reports study, please visit: http://www.lawsitesblog.com/2012/09/self-help-legal-sites-no-match-for-real-lawyer-consumer-reports-says.html
Burger Legal, PLLC is prepared to assist clients with their unique circumstances and to make recommendations based on those unique circumstances. If you need a will or trust, to incorporate a business, or to prepare a deed, lease or promissory note, please contact Burger Legal, PLLC at 336.705.1016 or info@burgerlegal.com, and the firm will be happy to assist you in achieving all of your unique goals.
