A document preparer creates legal documents for signatures, but is not a lawyer. They are often used to avoid the expense of a lawyer and are certified by the country, state or region in which they work. They create legal documents for individuals who cannot afford a lawyer, such as last wills and testaments, agreements between companies and employees, and incorporation, partnership, and lease agreements.
A document preparer is someone who prepares legal documents for signatures by those involved in the documents, but is not a lawyer. Typically, a document preparer is used when one or more people need to have official paperwork, such as a business contract, living will, or other legal document, avoiding the expense of a lawyer. These services are often less expensive than hiring a lawyer and are usually performed by a group or individuals who have been certified by the country, state or region in which they work.
The nature of law in many countries is such that legal documents are often created in ways that can be confusing or unnecessarily complicated when viewed by people who are not lawyers. Generally, they are created to be as specific as possible in order to minimize opportunities for others to violate these documents or for someone to find loopholes or litigious opportunities within them. To prevent these types of abuse of documents and legal agreements, laws are often created to establish what should be contained in these documents.
Typically, a document preparer is called upon to satisfy the requirements of these potentially complicated laws by creating legal documents for others, but at far less expense than an attorney. Most countries have specific regulations governing who can become a document preparer, and these can also depend on individual regions within a country. In the United States, for example, a document preparer usually needs to obtain certification in a specific state in order to be able to prepare documents for residents or businesses in that state.
This allows large companies to hire multiple certified document preparers for each state and provide the necessary services to those states. In California, however, certification is required within each specific county, and larger document preparation groups generally cannot help California residents. Other areas and countries will have different requirements for those who are allowed to prepare documents in those regions.
A document preparer is often used by private individuals who cannot afford the expenses of an attorney and want a legal document made for them. This often includes forms such as a last will and testament, will to live, agreements between companies and employees, and incorporation, partnership, and lease agreements. The necessary personal information is provided by the customer and this information is used by certified preparers to create the necessary forms, which can be signed to create a legally binding document.
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