Earlier this week, I had a client ask me about using Legalzoom to prepare their divorce documents and separation agreement. In my opinion, if you use Legalzoom you are getting what you pay for – and that is not much. I just came across this post which discussed the downside of using Legalzoom, or any comparable service for that matter.
Here is part of the post:
I think that people generally have a tendency to underestimate the work that goes into the preparation of an estate plan, it requires a great deal more than simply printing off forms. LegalZoom and other such services reinforce the opinion that estate planning may easily be accomplished by generating simple forms, but if you are considering the use of such services, you should look closely at the service provider’s disclaimer. You will likely see, as in the case of LegalZoom, that the service provider is not serving as your attorney, does not review the documents you prepare for legal sufficiency and does not guarantee that the documents are correct. Preparing estate planning documents without the benefit of a legal opinion may result in unintended consequences that may be costly to correct in the future. In my experience, the vast majority of clients engage in estate planning to gain a sense of reassurance that their family will be cared for after their death in the manner that the client thinks is most appropriate, to pay for documents to be prepared without receiving the benefit of legal advice may undermine the entire purpose of the planning in the first place.
Even though they are discussing estate planning, I believe that you could easily substitute family law or any other practice area into this post. I previously blogged about this issue, and how I am different, here.