Ohiogal
Queen Bee
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ALL
Consumer Reports September 2012 issue, page 13, includes an article on LegalZoom, Nolo, and Rocket Lawyer --sites that are often mentioned as preparing documents.
What the magazine states as their verdict: "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 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...."
Basically they ran simple wills from those programs past professionals and asked the professionals blindly to assess the documents.
I encourage everyone to at the very least, if they purchase those documents, to pay for a consult with a local lawyer and run those documents past legal counsel. Many areas have required language for divorces, custody and child support that are necessary. The information on those sites is very general and may not be on target.
As much as I love these forums, these forums are meant for general information as well. For specifics, anyone should see an attorney. The devil is in the details of legal cases and quite frankly, even "simple" custody, divorce, support issues can have details that matter and that may not be seen. Look at how many people are back here asking about their paperwork because something doesn't match what they think it should mean.
Anyway, I encourage everyone to check out that article.
Consumer Reports September 2012 issue, page 13, includes an article on LegalZoom, Nolo, and Rocket Lawyer --sites that are often mentioned as preparing documents.
What the magazine states as their verdict: "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 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...."
Basically they ran simple wills from those programs past professionals and asked the professionals blindly to assess the documents.
I encourage everyone to at the very least, if they purchase those documents, to pay for a consult with a local lawyer and run those documents past legal counsel. Many areas have required language for divorces, custody and child support that are necessary. The information on those sites is very general and may not be on target.
As much as I love these forums, these forums are meant for general information as well. For specifics, anyone should see an attorney. The devil is in the details of legal cases and quite frankly, even "simple" custody, divorce, support issues can have details that matter and that may not be seen. Look at how many people are back here asking about their paperwork because something doesn't match what they think it should mean.
Anyway, I encourage everyone to check out that article.