Online legal service companies offer “flat-fee, simple pricing” for documents such as wills, divorce petitions, trademark applications, and others, and appear to be an attractive option for some customers of the legal industry. Important documents with significant legal consequences are now accessible to the general public with a few clicks of the mouse. Caveat Emptor! The following are four legal documents that an attorney should draft and counsel the client on.
Last Will and Testament – a proper will allows end-of-life control over the disposition of a person’s property. The hallmark of Oklahoma laws on wills is effectuating the intent of the deceased person as gleaned from the provisions of his or her will. Thus, a paramount concern when drafting a will is to have crystal clear language. Furthermore, there are many intricate requirements under Oklahoma law that a drafter of a will must meet; otherwise, the will could be held invalid which could lead to the Oklahoma state government controlling the distribution of property via its intestacy statutes.
Revocable Trust – a revocable trust is similar to a will in that control of property is the main concern. A trust is different from a will, however, in that the person desiring a trust (legally coined a “settlor”) has more administrative work on the front-end. The settlor typically must create new accounts and transfer title to all their property to the trust. Property is held in the name of the trustees of the trust and must be administered in accordance with the terms of the trust for the benefit of its beneficiaries. It is advisable to have a “pour over” will to compliment the trust, so that any property inadvertently left out of the trust gets probated to the trust for administration.
Operating Agreement – an operating agreement governs the operation of an LLC and the relationship between its members. There are many considerations that go into drafting an operating agreement, particularly if the LLC has multiple members, that should not be left up for decision by an automated program. It is important for an attorney drafting an LLC operating agreement to intimately understand the core business and operations of the LLC and the goals and expectations of each member.
Petition – a petition is the initiating document in a lawsuit. Depending on the claim, Oklahoma law requires the claimant to meet certain pleading standards. For example, it is not enough to allege fraud generally. A claim for fraud, including the surrounding circumstances, must be pled with particularity. Failure to comply with pleading requirements may get your claim dismissed.
Consumers of products from automated legal service companies must be aware of general risks and pitfalls using automatically generated legal documents. While a simple document may be appropriate in some situations, we recommend that as to the four documents listed above a real-life attorney should be consulted.
By: Daniel Sadler
