Do It Yoself?

Question

I was at the office other day and saw a few do it yourself kits for wills, bankrupcy, divorce and such. Are those legally binding? If I fill adivorce one out, I just go to court and save on a lawyer or paralgal?What is th deal?

Answer 1

There are kits for doing legal activities such as divorce, real estate, and such. However, the question to ask is that kit particular to your state's laws and regulations? Some kits are so general as to be worthless, and some don't address the particular issues that are weighed more heavily in your state, than in others. That's the problem with the do-it-yourself legal kit, it can lead you into a situation, but if you get into a bind it can't help you.
There are many lawyers who love to confront someone who has used the kit method. For instance, if you incorporate a business and create a board of directors, there are certain rules to follow when creating this board, and if you don't know, or don't follow them, then it wouldn't be hard to "pierce the corporate veil" or lose any liability protection that an incorportation gives.
In another situation of which I'm personally aware, a county official used his personal aircraft to patrol a large, rural county as this was the most efficient way to do so. the board of commissioners had approved the fact that the official could rent the the aircraft to the county for such purposes. During a certain mission, the official/pilot wrecked his aircraft and survived. This official thought he knew the law, and knew that he could make a claim against the county to replace his aircraft. When the time came for him to make the claim the county attorney denied the claim based on the fact that the claim was not made in a timely manner, as the time limit was 180 days from the date of the crash.
This is two details in two of the many legal areas, and it's why lawyers go through three years of law school; they study the details that makes a difference.
I'm not a lawyer, but I know just enough to realize that the kit method of doing a legal action is not a good idea. One more thing, if the kit method goes wrong, who can you go to set things right? No one. However, if your lawyer screws up, then that's why they carry malpractice insurance.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

You can do your own divorce, but only if the spouse is willing and nothing is contested.

You can do your own bankruptcy, but you have to consider that if you screw that up you can make your situation worse than it was before.

Wills you can also do, but unlike most things, if you screw that up, you'll never know, because the errors won't be found until it's too late for you to correct them.

Yes, there's a lot you can do without lawyers. Part of how I make my living now is fixing what people tried to do without a lawyer. Fixing it costs more than getting it done right in the first place.

Answer 3

Nothing is binding anymore. Not even a prenup agreement done by a Lawyer. Judges are out of control and favor the Women in any and all cases.