If you work in the law sphere, a businessman, or even just a regular person, there's one question that you need to get answered. What are legal documents? How important are these documents, and when would you need them? Through this article, you will find answers to all of these questions. You will also learn how to create them using Wondershare PDFelement.
In this article
Part 1. What are Legal Documents
Let us define legal documents. As the name suggests, legal documents are legally binding. They establish legal obligations, formalize agreements, and preserve legally significant information. For instance, contracts seal the deal between parties. If the terms in a contract get violated, the other party can sue the violator. Deeds, wills, and trusts are also some examples of legal documents.
As you can tell, legal documents are very important. Imagine a world without legal documents. Many families would be ruined if there were no Last Wills and Testaments. The members would fight each other to get the assets and properties they wanted. Since no legal document identifies which goes to whom, there will be chaos.
Likewise, partnerships without written contracts are bound to fail. The parties can leverage the loopholes in the terms to benefit more than they should. This may negatively affect the other party. The violator can deny that they agreed to certain conditions. Since there is no written evidence, proving them guilty will be extremely difficult.
Part 2. What Are the Different Types of Legal Documents?
We have mentioned some examples of legal documents, but there is a wide variety of them. Each type of legal document has a different purpose. So, here's a list of legal documents to help you understand them better.
Contracts
Contracts are documents that make agreements legally binding. They contain conditions the parties must follow, and failing to do so would land them in legal trouble. However, law contract forms only become legally binding once the parties have signed the documents. That means the parties can negotiate first to modify terms until they arrive at an agreement.
Deeds
A deed is a legal document that confirms the transfer of property ownership. For example, you should receive a deed if you bought a plot of land or a house. Otherwise, the previous owner may still claim the property even if you already have paid for it. You can think of it as a very important receipt.
Affidavits
Affidavits are statements that you swear under oath are true. One scenario when you'd have to create one is when retelling an accident or crime you witnessed. You may also need affidavits if you lost something important to clear suspicions that you purposely lost it or gave it to others without permission. Of course, if it's proven that what you have stated in the affidavit is not true, you may face lawsuits.
Patent
Patents are very important legal documents for inventors. Simply put, they are certificates that declare you as the creator of something. They give you exclusive rights to use, make, and sell your creation for a certain period. They are important because they ensure that you will be the first person to benefit from your invention. But to get a patent, you must first explain what sets your invention different from anything already existing.
Tax Forms
Image File Name: what-are-legal-documents-pdfelement-tax Alt Text: tax form sample
A tax form is a type of legal document form that is used to report information about your income, expenses, tax liabilities, and such to authorities. They are very helpful for enforcing tax laws and regulations.
Trust Documents
Trust Documents are legal contract documents outlining rules for a trust. To understand that, let us first define a trust. A trust is an agreement where the trustee holds and manages assets for the benefit of other people, who are called the beneficiaries. Going back to the topic, Trust Documents contain important information about the agreement. That includes who the beneficiaries are, what assets are included, and more.
Settlement Agreements
Settlement Agreements are legal documents that are made after a dispute or legal proceeding. They detail the agreed-upon resolution. For example, Settlement Agreements can contain how much one party must pay the other. The document can also include the responsibilities of both parties - what they should do to solve the problem at hand.
Part 3. How To Write a Letter of Intent
A letter of intent is part of the set of business legal documents, though it is not legally binding. Its purpose is to inform the parties about the important details of the transactions. The letter of intent contains the names of the parties involved, a transaction description, proposed terms, a timeline, and a confidentiality clause. You can say that a letter of intent is a semi-formal contract before the actual contract is created and signed.
Here are some tips on how to write a letter of intent.
Gather All the Necessary Information
To make it easy for yourself, collect all necessary information before you begin writing the letter. You must know the names of the parties involved. Furthermore, you must know the terms you want to include and estimate how long the transaction will take. Figuring these out early on will make the writing process smooth.
Be Concise
The purpose of the letter of intent is to make everybody well-informed. That would be difficult to achieve if the letter of intent itself is difficult to understand. So, do not fill it with legal jargon or difficult words. Keep it simple, clear, and concise.
Include All Necessary Information
Ensure to include all important information in this legal paperwork. The recipient must see the price, the transaction date, and the terms in the letter of intent. You should not omit any information that may be helpful to them.
Have Realistic Expectations
Include terms that are fair to you and the other party. The transaction will likely not go through if it benefits you significantly more than the other party. Likewise, do not add a very high price, unrealistic expectations, or unrealistic promises. Furthermore, the legal document should be flexible, and you should be open to making changes should the other party suggest making some.
Consult Legal Professionals
If you can, consult a legal professional and ask for advice. Their expertise can help ensure that the terms are fair and legally sound.
Part 4. The Best Tool for Writing Legal Forms and Contracts
Almost every business or lawyer no longer prepares legal contracts and documents by writing. Every document is now created using computers. That said, you need a good program to help you create professional-looking electronic legal documents. One of the best ones is Wondershare PDFelement.
Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor Wondershare PDFelement Wondershare PDFelement is a sophisticated PDF solution. Its toolbox consists of incredibly useful features that can help you create, edit, and manage personal legal documents, law contract forms, and other legal documents.
Let us list some of them:
Digital Signatures
What makes a document legal? For most types of legal documents, that would be the signatures. An unsigned legal document is no different from a regular document; it is not legally binding. But in the world of electronic documents, signing could be a hassle if you do not have an e-sign tool. With Wondershare PDFelement installed on your computer, you do not need to worry about that.
Wondershare PDFelement allows you to create, save, and use digital signatures. You can make them using a photo of your signature, by freehand drawing, or by typing your name. Once saved, you can select the signature and drag it into the Signature field to sign the legal document.
Templates
Writing a legal document from scratch is not easy. You have to worry about the flow, the required elements, and the format itself. Luckily, there are many editable templates in Wondershare PDFelement's Template Mall. You can find contracts and business form samples that you can use and edit.
AI Tools
Wondershare PDFelement has an OpenAI integration. That means it has some AI tools. You can use the AI Sidebar to rewrite or proofread text to make it sound more formal. Furthermore, you can make the AI write for you. You can also ask questions about things, terms, and sections of the legal document that you do not understand.
Compress
After creating or signing the legal documents, you will need to send them to the other party. That is commonly done through email. However, you can't attach large files to emails. This is where Wondershare PDFelement comes in. Its Compress PDF feature allows you to reduce the size of large business law documents and legal agreement forms.
Convert
Wondershare PDFelement is a PDF editor with a built-in file converter. Suppose you have a legal document saved as a Word or Excel file. You can use Wondershare PDFelement to open it and save it to PDF.
Conclusion
What are legal documents? They are legally binding documents that formalize agreements or preserve legally significant information. Some examples are contracts, deeds, tax forms, and affidavits. In this era, you need powerful software to create and edit these documents. One premier option is Wondershare PDFelement, which offers a wide range of features that facilitate the creation, editing, signing, and sharing of legal documents.
