Here is Legalzoom's disclaimer. You can get to it by scrolling down to the bottom of the main page at legalzoom.com and clicking on full disclaimer. The question that keeps coming up in my mind is, "How can legalzoom provide legal documents without any liability?" They do it through this lame disclaimer. They know that they are not crossing their t's and dotting their i's. They know that they are countless issues wide open to liability or else they would not have this disclaimer. Attorneys can't disclaim liability. They are on the hook, and rightfully so. They are giving advice and standing behind it. They are providing documents that are well thought out and customized to a particular client's situation.
Why anyone would go with legalzoom with a bunch of ?????????? hanging over their heads? If you don't beleive there are ??????????, then take the time to read this disclaimer.
Disclaimer
LegalZoom is not a law firm, and the employees of LegalZoom are not acting as your attorney. LegalZoom's legal document service is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.
LegalZoom.com, Inc. ("LegalZoom") is a registered and bonded legal document assistant, #0104, Los Angeles County (exp. 12/09). LegalZoom cannot provide legal advice and can only provide self-help services at your specific direction.
LegalZoom is not permitted to engage in the practice of law. LegalZoom is prohibited from providing any kind of advice, explanation, opinion, or recommendation to a consumer about possible legal rights, remedies, defenses, options, selection of forms or strategies.
This site is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship, and by using LegalZoom, no attorney-client relationship will be created with LegalZoom. Instead, you are representing yourself in any legal matter you undertake through LegalZoom's legal document service.
LegalZoom provides an online legal portal to give visitors a general understanding of the law, as well as to provide an automated software solution to individuals who choose to prepare their own legal documents. To that extent, the site publishes general information on legal issues commonly encountered.
LegalZoom's document service also includes a review of your answers for completeness, spelling and grammar, as well as internal consistency of names, addresses and the like. At no time do we review your answers for legal sufficiency, draw legal conclusions, provide legal advice or apply the law to the facts of your particular situation. LegalZoom and its services are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.
Although LegalZoom takes every reasonable effort to ensure that the information on our website and documents are up-to-date and legally sufficient, the legal information on this site is not legal advice and is not guaranteed to be correct, complete or up-to-date. Because the law changes rapidly, is different from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and is also subject to varying interpretations by different courts and certain government and administrative bodies, LegalZoom cannot guarantee that all the information on the site is completely current. The law is a personal matter, and no general information or legal tool like the kind LegalZoom provides can fit every circumstance.
Therefore, if you need legal advice for your specific problem, or if your specific problem is too complex to be addressed by our tools, you should consult a licensed attorney in your area. Visitors to our site may obtain information regarding free or low cost representation through your state bar association or local legal aid office.
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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Use of Forms Leads to Litigation
In a recent Pennsylvania case, a husband revoked a joint trust when his wife died. The Court ruled that the husband did not have the authority under the terms of the trust to revoke the trust. The trust was a form. Scalfaro v. Rudloff, 934 A.2d 1254 (Pa., 2007) (analyzed in Estate Planning, May 2008, p. 40).
The Court politely called the Trust a "Form Book Declaration of Trust." But the Court could not finally resist, when it stated that if "jolly old settlors" want to disdain legal counsel and use fill-in-the-blank forms, more litigation and unpredictable results will follow.
Use of forms from Legalzoom or Nolo Press often create more problems than they ever solve.
Please post your experiences with form documents, particularly form wills or trusts.
The Court politely called the Trust a "Form Book Declaration of Trust." But the Court could not finally resist, when it stated that if "jolly old settlors" want to disdain legal counsel and use fill-in-the-blank forms, more litigation and unpredictable results will follow.
Use of forms from Legalzoom or Nolo Press often create more problems than they ever solve.
Please post your experiences with form documents, particularly form wills or trusts.
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