What Is a Legal Document Preparer and Why Do You Need One?

Legal doc prep services by First Class Signing Service - Livermore, CA 94551

Document management is a common challenge for businesses of all sizes, but it places a particular burden on small businesses with limited staff. Although they can take steps to sensibly organize and securely store their documents in the cloud, small business administrators often need considerable help when it comes to preparing these documents.

Who Can Prepare Legal Documents?

A certified legal document preparer (CLDP) holds official state government credentials to prepare legal documents for a wide range of individuals and organizations. To secure state certification, CLDPs must pass a thorough background check and a rigorous examination. They must also have at least 24 credits of law-related education and/or two years of law-related experience such as working in law firm or court system. Although many CLDPs are also paralegals, the CLDP designation gives them far greater autonomy.

Also, a legal document preparer has both the authority and the expertise to prepare legal documents unassisted. Unlike a paralegal, a CLDP needn’t work under the direct supervision of an attorney.

What Types of Businesses Use Legal Document Preparers?

Any organization that must regularly prepare and process binding documents can benefit from securing online legal document preparation services. Due to the sheer amount of contract agreements and “red tape” that occurs daily in these industries, legal document preparers have a particularly high value for legal, financial, and real estate businesses.

What Types of Documents Can Be Prepared?

What Types of Documents Can Be Prepared?
Legal document preparers can handle an incredibly wide range of documents, from simple personal promissory notes to family law documents including prenuptial agreements and child support agreements. Legal document preparation services are also quite popular for estate planning, property transfer, and the facilitation of countless business transactions.

Here is a more detailed list of frequently needed legal docs for which a document preparer can assist you.

For Individuals

For Partnerships, LLCs and Corporations

Why Use Legal Document Preparation Services Instead of a Lawyer?

The most compelling reason to employ a legal document preparer rather than an attorney is cost. Simply put, hiring a CLDP is considerably less expensive than hiring a lawyer. So, if you need to prepare and process documents on a regular basis, you can save large amounts of money over time by securing an affordable legal document preparation service.

While an attorney may need to look over documents that are extraordinarily complex or unique, the documents needed for the vast majority of contract agreements and transactions are relatively straightforward in nature. This makes the engagement of a legal document preparer quite attractive to businesses facing simple and routine legal issues such as name changes and LLC filings.

In fact, the only truly complicated component of these issues is the daunting nature of the documents involved. The same thing holds true for the paperwork needed to file a divorce, authenticate a will, and establish an employment contract, among other processes. For these needs, document preparers are a cost-effective alternative to attorneys.

Unlocking the Benefits of Legal Document Preparation Services With First Class Signing

For more information about legal document preparation and its various advantages to small business administrators, reach out to a skilled and knowledgeable professional at First Class Signing Service. We have legal document preparation services, eRecording, remote online, and mobile notarization to help you better address the unique opportunities and challenges that your business faces.