Free Legal Forms Samples

Where to Download Sample Legal Forms

2012-01-05T23:35:00.000-08:00

A consultation with a lawyer can cost upwards of $100 an hour. Some lawyers may charge a bit less but it would still be a significant amount. For a person on a tight budget, it is important to seek alternatives. Whether you need legal forms to create a power of attorney or a real estate lease form, downloading sample legal documents online can go a long way towards helping you save money.

There are many sites that let you download sample legal documents for free. Among the templates (or samples) you can expect include the following:

• Real Estate Forms - sub-lease form, rental agreement, lease agreement, raw land purchase agreement, rental application, warranty deed

• Employment forms - employment agreement, employment termination and waiver, rules of conduct

• Business Forms - non-disclosure agreement, pledge agreement, warranty deed, quit-claim deed, non-competition agreement, and settlement release agreement

• Partnership Forms - limited liability company agreement, partnership agreement, dissolution of partnership

• Wills and Trusts Forms - last will and testament, power of attorney (healthcare), power of attorney (financial), estate plan

So where exactly can you download the sample legal documents? Below, you'll find a compilation of some of the best sources (both free and paid) on the web:

Socrates Legal - contains comprehensive downloadable templates for various legal needs. There is also a section for your personal needs such as for loaning/borrowing money, divorce, and selling a car among others. The cost of the download is $10 and up.

Rocketlawyer - the first document you download is free. But the website charges $20-$40 per month for a download-all-you-want service. They also offer legal advice to subscribers.

Find Legal Forms - the templates are organized clearly. It is easy to find the exact form you need based on your state and category. The website charges a minimum of $5 for the download.

Law Smart - high-quality legal forms are available for free on this website but they do ask you to register. Tons of guides that will help you are also posted. The only downside is that there are a lot of steps involved if you want a quick download.

Legal Docs - there are thousands of legal templates on the site. It is easy to customize these forms because it fills in automatically based on the answers you provide in the questionnaire.

Top Five Legal Forms

2011-09-24T00:31:00.000-07:00

Well, you need to assure yourself legally. For this purpose you need to prepare the legal document in the format which is required by the court. Here comes the need of the legal forms. You should know about the legal forms. It is in fact the legal piece of paper which proves that certain deal is signed between the two or even more parties. There are many kinds of legal forms. In this article you will find the top five legal forms.

Here you are going to find the top five legal forms. They are as follows:

1. Landlord tenant forms

The landlord tenant form is the most common legal forms of all. This legal form is signed between the landlord and the tenant. Well, you can easily understand why they sign this legal form. They sign it to make sure that they both are safe. Suppose both the parties agree without any written document signed then can you take the guaranty that the tenant or the landlord will not cheat each other. You cannot really take the guaranty. However the landlord tenant form can provide you such guaranty.

2. Contracts

As far as the contracts are concerned they are at the second place. There are different kinds of contracts. All of them are equally important. You can take a sports person contracts as an example. When Tiger Wood signs a new deal then he always signs the contracts which are the sports person contract.

3. Affidavits

Well, affidavits are the third kind of legal form which is quite important. You must be familiar with the affidavits. When you sign an affidavit then you are assured. You must remember what you did after your high school. You spent the three years working and after that you signed the intermediate. However you were required to sign the affidavit for this. The school authority would have definitely asked you to deposit the affidavit. However there are many may more kind of affidavits as well.

4. Attorney forms

The attorneys are very busy people. They daily prepare many legal documents. For this they require the attorney forms. Well the attorney form is the fourth most common type of legal kind of forms.

5. Complaint forms

The fifth type of form which I would like to discuss is the complaint form. You might be facing problem on behalf of your electricity connection or you might be facing the problem on behalf of internet connection. You need to sign the complaint form for this.

So these are the top five legal forms which you might use in daily life.

Legal Guardianship Forms

2011-07-25T03:56:00.000-07:00

Accepting Legal Guardianship of a child is a very tricky issue. The legalities involved in accepting the guardianship are sometimes very tedious and irritating. Still, if you are interested in becoming the Legal Guardian of a child, you have to bear in mind the problems you are likely to encounter. You wouldn't like your personal life to be monitored by the court or anyone else, including the child's parents. Your guardianship can be cancelled any time by the child's parents. All the schools or hospitals may not accept your guardianship straight away. At the initial stages, it may be difficult to establish a rapport with the child, and once it is established, the child may not be willing to go back to his parents if they change their mind and revoke the guardianship. You may be required to fill a variety of Legal Forms to fulfill all the formalities as a Legal Guardian.

You can purchase the forms from your local bookstore, get them from a lawyer or download them from the Internet. You cannot afford to be complacent just by getting the form and filling it. You need to check the validity of the form. It may or may not be applicable to the state laws where you are located. It may not conform to the latest legal procedures, since the legal processes keep on changing with the changing social, political and economic conditions at the national or the state level.

It is, therefore, advisable to visit the local law center or the library to check the latest 'official' version. Or you can visit the court to get 'court-specific' forms, which are available from the court clerk for little or no charge.

You can seek the advice of someone who has already gone through this process and knows the ins and outs of the whole affair. A person with first-hand experience can provide valuable advice.

Here is a note of warning. Read the instructions on the form carefully before filling it. Skipping them may lead to unpleasant legal consequences

Is It Okay to Use Online Legal Forms?

2011-03-16T00:42:00.000-07:00

With the advent of the World Wide Web and its indisputable influence in our lives, more and more individuals are turning to the internet as a source of information rather than towards professional advice. Internet is a powerful knowledge base for almost every domain right from medical facts, to historical timelines to even legal information.

People often download online forms from various websites that offer them for free or at a nominal price. The major question is whether the forms available on the website are the latest ones or is it still advisable to contact a trustworthy expert for seeking legal advice. This is quite debatable depending on the nature and seriousness of the issue in question.

Business-related legal forms like partnership agreements and incorporation documents as well as for family matters like divorce, trusts, wills, custody agreements, power of attorney and bankruptcy are also available. In certain cases, you can apply online for expert attorneys to fill the forms at a price much lesser than visiting a lawyer personally.

However, you need to analyze the credibility of the sites before taking this risk. This is because some sites put up forms that are not even prepared by lawyers. Though you save money initially, the end results are not desirable.

Find out whether the online forms are applicable in your area as some of the rules vary from state to state. When you search the web for these forms, mention the area where you reside. Otherwise, you can download the forms, fill it and ask your trusted attorney to verify whether the details are right and adheres to the laws of your state.

Termination Letter for Employee Mention the Reason of the Dismissal

2011-01-12T23:04:00.000-08:00

One of the most difficult parts while running a firm or an office is to fire an employee. It is not the task, which one enjoys to do. However, there are numerous ways, of terminating an employee smoothly, with no issues. One of the ways is type out and sent the termination letter for employee.
The termination letter for employee should mention the exact reason of the termination. All the previous alternatives given to the employee before firing should also be mentioned in the letter. It is essential that the employee should be aware that they were given warnings and alternate chances to continue with the job.
Although, each termination letter for an employee may differ from another. The reasons of firing could be different. It is necessary that the employer should keep in mind certain points before sending the termination letter for employee. They are as follows:
· The problems caused by the employee.
· Any particular rules broken by the employee.
· Number of Warnings and alternatives given to the employee.
After considering the above points, the employer is free to send out the termination letter. However, one must remember to be calm and professional while firing an employee.
The termination letter consists of the following details:
· Name and address of the employee.
· Details of the employer or the firm.
· Reasons of terminations.
· Notice to the employee, if any.
· Deadline of leaving the firm or office.
It is essential that all the financial matter is sorted out before hand, so that the employee as well as the employer does not face any issue regarding the monetary issue. The termination letter for employee is usually sent by the human resource department. And it is their duty to list out all the fiscal details before firing the employee.
More detail how to write a termination letter for employee and mention the reasons in the termination letter to employee to dismissal.

General Affidavit form to Shown Your Statements Are True

2010-11-01T01:19:00.000-07:00

General Affidavit Form can be defined as written document in which the signer swears under oath before a notary public or someone authorized to take oaths (like a Court Clerk), that the statements in the document are true. The person swearing the statement is known as affiant or deponent, and person or legal entity witnessing authenticity of the affiant's signature, who may be a notary public or commissioner of oaths is called as taker.
The necessity of General Affidavit arises, when the person has to swear the facts provided by him are true. For example, you are buying a house but not sure about the owner. Thus, the owner can satisfy you by drawing the affidavit and swearing that he is the real owner of the house. As it is authenticated or signed before a witness, who may be notary public or someone authorized to take oaths, it becomes legal documents. If the information thus sworn in turns out to be incorrect then, the concerned parties to the Affidavit draw punishment from the court of the law. It must also be remembered that an affidavit is a sworn document and taken under oath, it carries significant weight..
Affidavits are mostly used in the legal context to provide a reliable source of factual information in legal proceedings.
There are different types of Affidavits drawn for different purposes, as their requirements are felt on the specific occasion. For example Affidavits may be drawn for the loss of stock certificate and to show that the stocks lost by you were truly yours or you may change your name and draw up an affidavit to show that the changed name person is you, who was previously called so and so. Similarly there are different occasions, when you may have draw up an affidavit to state the true facts about you and the subject, for which the affidavit is drawn.
But, it is also wise to understand that, an affidavit is a sworn statement it carries with it the penalty of perjury. Hence, you must be careful in drawing up an Affidavit and should record the true fact only in the drawn sworn in statement..

Issue Lawful Employee Termination Letter

2010-11-01T01:16:00.000-07:00

In the company or organizations, it is common that, at some point of time, the manger may have to fire a employee for different reasons, such as poor work performance, misconduct, negligence, misconduct, indiscipline and so on.
But, can you just terminate the service of the employee as per your wish? If you think you can dismiss the service of the employee easily then, you are greatly mistaken, because there is union and Employment Law, which protects the right of the employee.
Thus, as a manager, you must know not only what an employee termination letter is but also what it should include. If not done properly, the letter can cause legal problems later. It is necessary to follow the right procedure for the dismissal in order to avoid lawsuits and these procedures give plenty of evidence to support a case for dismissal. If the termination is carried out lawfully, it is beneficial for the terminated employee, coworkers, and the company as a whole.
The termination letter should clearly state the exact reason for the dismissal of the employee. The letter must also include any measures that were taken to resolve the problem before firing. For example, if the employee’s work quality was poor, the manager must record the facts about the counseling sessions or written warnings to the employee for his/her negligence toward the work performance. These points must be written in the termination letter.
Therefore, each termination letter is unique and it must include all relevant details that put weight to dismissal. Not only does it make the firing go more smoothly, but it also makes the dismissal lawful. Some points, you must include in the dismissal letter are dates of employment, the nature of employment, and the reason for termination.
By writing proper termination letter, the employer will also follow Employment Law provisions and can also satisfy Unions. Such process will also help the employer from future claims and law suits from the employee.

Landlord Forms Provision For Repair and Rental of Units

2010-10-01T03:21:00.000-07:00

One of the most common problems among landlords and tenants is the issue on who is responsible for the repairs when any damages occur or are already present. Therefore it is important before signing a lease agreement that it is clearly defined on who will take charge of the repair and maintenance of a rented property.
The Housing Act has prescribed minimum standards of living conditions which the landlord needs to meet before he can go into the process of having his or her property rented. The landlord is responsible for maintenance of the rental premises and for provision of basic amenities such as the water supply and electricity to the tenants. He or she should also abide by the regulations of the lease form to keep the premises clean and habitable. And if, in any case, the landlord violates his obligation the tenant can intervene in several ways to fight for the rights that he is entitled to. However, if damage to a property was caused by the tenant themselves, their family, or pets, it will be the tenants who will be held accountable for the reparation.
There are several steps that need to be followed if the landlord fails to act in concurrence with the law. The first step is to issue a notice, which would include details on what needs to be repaired and the time frame which the tenant would want to have it done. The tenant must keep a copy of this letter for future reference.
In cases when the landlord does not respond positively to the form that was issued, the tenant can pursue three statutory remedies as follows:
The tenant can terminate the lease through issuance of proper notice to the landlord
-Engage outside contractors to undertake the repair.
-The costs may be deducted from the next month's rent, or the rent can be withheld until after the repair is completed.
-File a lawsuit against the landlord in court.

Lease Agreement Cancellation and Legal Form

2010-10-01T03:16:00.000-07:00

Well, as far as the lease agreement is concerned, if any of the party finds that something is wrong then he can cancel the agreement. This can be done by purchasing a legal form and getting it filled. You should know that the legal forms are very effective and you will definitely find out that they are available in plenty of format. Well, either it is the bill of sale or real estate agreement, they all are legal form. Even the landlord form as well as the tenant form is the legal form. In this article we are going to talk about the lease agreement cancellation form.
Well, as far as the lease agreement cancellation is concerned you should know that it can be canceled only if any of the party is disobeying it. However, it can also be canceled if any of the party suddenly finds out that he cannot continue with the agreement. Well, this is the special case.
You need to know that the legal forms are meant for maintaining law and order. So let us see what is being written in the lease agreement cancellation legal form.
In this form it is clearly written that the following deal was signed between the following two parties. All the conditions are also mentioned. It is also mentioned that now one of the party or both of the parties are not willing to continue the agreement and hence the agreement status should be considered as canceled. However you will also have to mention the reason why this is happening. Once you give the reason then the two parties should sit together and go through it. Once both parties sign the form then it is considered that the agreement is canceled.
You should know that this is not the case all the time. On most of the cases one party is ready and the other party is not. Hence the deal is from one party only. That is why you will also find the form which states that following party who signed a lease agreement with the person is now willing to discontinue it due to so and so reason and hence you should accept this fact.
Well, you can get these legal forms from the internet online. There are many sites that are indulged in selling the legal form. It will not cost you much and you can easily understand that how important it is?

Legal Forms to Ease Your Dealing With Third Parties

2010-07-28T03:38:00.000-07:00

Why do you need Legal Forms? What purpose do they serve in your everyday life? In order to answer these questions, it is essential to understand what are these forms because in the life of every man, a time comes when he needs such forms for various legal purposes or numerous occurrences which have power to influence his/her life.
If you are buying a car, house, getting married, accepting the offer of employment, renting or leasing an apartment, entering into business contracts, hiring an independent contractor, availing the service of an consultant, drawing power of attorney and, for numerous other purposes, you would need, written and duly signed documents to facilitate the deals, entered with third parties.
There are thousands of such legally written documents, which are duly signed by two or more than two persons, accepting the terms and condition of the contract and to prove that the agreement has been entered, to execute certain duties and responsibilities. These legal documents are also readily available with local court vendors, legal service providers and online sites and are formatted in different formats, as per the requirements of specific transactions and according to the different state necessities.
Though, there are innumerable numbers of these legal documents available in the market but, most prominent among them are used for, Employments, preparing Affidavits, Legal categories, Deeds, Claims, Bill of Sale, Divorces, Copyrights, Entertainment contracts, Assignments, Landlord and Tenant, Non Compete and None Disclosure, Tax requirements, Hiring independent, contractor or service providers and much more.
The main reasons to draw these legal documents are to protect the rights of each signing parties and obtain the goals of the contract, through various provisions and clauses incorporated in the Agreement.
The basic terms and conditions in the legal document includes, contact details of two or more than two parties, date and location, compensation and mode of payment, duties and responsibilities of each party, penalties for the breach of contract and so on. As these written documents are legally binding, they can be produced in the court for any dispute settlement or breach of the provision and clause, incorporated in the contract.
If you want to avoid unnecessary legal expenses by hiring expensive lawyers or spending money on buying different legal documents for various purposes, you can easily download Free Legal Forms templates from Internet sites and print them for your own use.

Website Design and Maintenance Agreement For New Product Launch

2010-07-08T02:26:00.000-07:00

In the present day, due to the advancement of Information Technology, Internet has taken center stage, for the growth and promotion of the business. Today, no business, company or professional service can survive, without the effective use of online sites for marketing, services and promotions. A seller can search local, national or international customers for his product, through good sites.

An attractive online site can easily introduce and promote products to the customers and viewers. The home page is also most effective tool for new product launching, promotions and wider coverage of the products. For example, if you are an apparel designer and creating new styles, you can easily make a home page on Internet and provide sufficient details and pictures of your apparels there. The International buyers can also easily view your fashion cloths online.

Good sites, with well written contents are essential for drawing higher number of customers and viewers. The contents also must be revealing, qualitative and informative, which can provide sufficient information to the home page viewer. Attractive contents always draw the viewers, buyers and clients to online site.

In order to get well made online site, with good contents, it becomes necessary to hire a Web page maker, for promoting and maintaining the site on Internet. But, before hiring such technical professional, it becomes essential to enter into Website Design Agreement with him, for protecting the rights of each party. The contract includes, following terms & conditions, clauses and provisions, which are binding on both parties:

• Authorization
• Contact details of both parties
• Date and location
• E-mail/phone consultation, Words of text, Links, Custom, Graphics Animation, Pictures etc.
• Maintenance and Hourly Rate
• Installation
• Completion Date
• CEO
• Breach of contract and Penalties
• Duration of the contract
• Compensation
• Mode and terms of Payment
• Termination clause
• Web Hosting

The signing of the Agreement makes it legally valid document and can be produced in the court of law for the settlement of disputes.

You can download various types of Website Design and Maintenance Agreement form here.

Know About Termination Letter for Employee Dismissal

2010-07-08T02:23:00.000-07:00

If you find your employee performing poorly or below standard, what course of action, you can take for his non performance? You may issue a notice, asking him, to improve his work performance or issue a termination letter dismissing him from the job.

There are various reasons, why employees are dismissed from the active service of the company or organization:

• Poor or non performance of the work
• Unsatisfactory Behavior or Gross Mis-Conduct
• Redundancy

If the employer finds, any of these negative points with the employee, he may issue proper termination letters against the employee. But, it is also important to note that, there are various factors, which may affect the employer for employee dismissal:

Employment Law - There are numerous clauses and provisions, which protect the right of the employee in the Employment Law.

Union Affiliation - The worker may be affiliated to some union, which may create problem to the employer, if worker is dismissed.

Local & State Jurisdiction - The jurisdiction have also formulated certain provisions, for protecting, the right of the worker. It is necessary to find implications that may arise due to the worker dismissal.

Hiring Agreement and Company Policies - These company documents show, terms and conditions, responsibilities and termination clause for the removable of the worker, from the active company service.

Thus, an employer should consider all legal aspects and consult with the labor experts and union labor laws, before terminating the service of the worker.

It is also essential that, the company should follow, due procedure of termination, by issuing due advance notice to the employee, informing him of his job termination and, offer him a dismissal letter, after the expiry of notice period.

The Employee Termination Letter should contain below given points:

Date of the dismissal letter
Contact details of the worker
Job termination notice details
Reasons, for the termination and steps taken to enable the worker, for better work performance.
Ask to return all assets and documents, such as company car, official company residence, equipments and all other company documents.
Submission of expenses claim
Joining and leaving Date
Holiday and General Pay
Pension if applicable
Withdrawal of all benefits

If the worker is in Probation period then, the dismissal letter should show his poor work performance, which prompted his termination.

The employee should also be allowed to use his employee's rights of appeal and, the letter must inform the procedure and process of the appeal and time frame, within which, the appeal should be made against the dismissal.

The letter should be signed by the employer and dated, asking the worker to sign and return the receipt of the letter including, the attachment with the letter.

The attachment may include copy of the hiring agreement, company policies and any other documents, which shows the right procedure followed by the employer in dismissing the employee.

An employer can download Employee Termination Letter, offered by numerous Internet sites and print them for dismissing the employee from the service of the organization or company.
You can download various types of Termination Letter for Employee Dismissal here.

Free Quick Claim Deed For Your Property Title Transfer

2010-07-08T02:19:00.000-07:00

If you are married and want your wife to share your property, how can you bring her into your property title? You can simply sign Free Quick Claim Deed Form transferring certain part of property to her.

A Free Quick Claim Deed Form is generally drawn for bringing in third person into the title of the property and making him/her co-owner or quitting the claim to the certain part of the property on behalf of other person. Even, certain co-owners can be removed from the title, through Quick Claim Deed Agreement. Such transfers can be carried out, either by selling part property title or through Gift. Once the formalities of title transfer is completed, the signed document/deed is given to the transferee and legally binding on both parties.

The person, who is transferring the part property title, is known as Grantor and the person receiving the transfer is called as Grantee. The transfer also does not bind the Grantor for any liability attached to the property. The transfer is only applicable to the title held by the person making the transfer. Thus, it is always advisable that, the Grantee should make thorough check on the property title and state requirements on such transfers, before accepting the transfer.

It is also to be noted that, the signing of Free Quick Claim Deed Form, makes it legally binding document and binds the Grantor with the transfer clause in the deed. If, for any reason, the Grantor has second thought regarding the title transfer after signing the deed then, it is not possible to reverse or stop the transfer.

Though, the Grantor may file a suit in the court of law requesting repossession of the property, but it is very difficult to prove the reasons for blocking the property transfer. Hence, one should think twice before signing such contract, because title, once transferred remains transferred and can not be stopped. The advice of the lawyer should always be taken before signing of Quit Claim Transfer deed.

Medicaid long term care benefits of the Grantor is also affected by the transfer, as transferring the title below prevailing market value may affect these Medicaid benefits. The consultation with the Medicaid should be carried out before opting for the transfer.

There are many sites offering Free Quick Claim Deed Form and the user can easily download and print them for their own use.
You can download various types of Free Quick Claim Deed Form and Free Quick Claim Deed Form here.

Power of Attorney Form Authorizing an Agent to Represent You

2010-07-08T02:07:00.000-07:00

What is power of Attorney and why do you need it? To answer such question, it is necessary to understand the reason, for issuing this legal document on behalf of another person.

When an individual draws up a legal document, designating certain power to another person or company to transact the business on his behalf then, Power of Attorney is drawn to transfer the power. The person designating the Power to another person is known as principal and one, who receives such power, is called an Agent.

This written form is legally valid and binding on both parties. The power transfer may be for specific transaction or more than one business deals. The validity of this legal document also depends on the purpose for which power is transferred. Once the objective of power transfer is achieved then, the person may revoke the document, depriving another person from offered powers.

There are various reasons, which necessitate power transfer. The person may be going out of country for few weeks, there may be numerous legal issues that have to be handled, the person may be overloaded with the work or may have very busy schedule and can not spare enough time to transact business on his own.

Here are some factors you should consider, while authorizing the Agent to represent you to complete prescribed work, business or transaction:

• Competency: The Agent should be well competent and intelligent to transact authorized business or transaction designated to him. He should be well versed with legal issues and financial matters.

• Age: You should consider the age of the individual before transferring the power, as every state has the requirements that, legally a person should be majority age of 18 or 21 years, as per state and federal requirements.

• Time: It is also necessary to find, how much time an Agent could spare to work on your behalf.
• Location: The Agent must be located in approachable distance for frequent interactions.

• Organizational and Management Capability: The Agent should be able to organize and manage all documents, related to transactions or business conducted by him on behalf of the Principal.

• Reliably: The Agent must be an honest and reliable person, who does not misuse designated power for his own benefit or harming the interest of the Principal. Thus, authorizing a well known individual or close relative is best suited to act as an agent.

• Confidentiality: The Agent should be able to maintain privacy and confidentiality of the trade secrets of the Principal.

By appointing an Agent with these qualities, the Principal can devote his busy time to other urgent business or transactions.

If you are also appointing an Agent for your business, financial or legal matters, you can download Power of Attorney Form, from Internet and print it for power transfer.
You can download various types of Free Power of Attorney Form from Legal Forms here.