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Law
Forms, Templates, and Model Documents
Lawyers frequently use forms, templates, and uniform or model laws to help them draft legal documents in a manner consistent with the requirements of statutes, regulations, and the rules of court procedure.
Drafting guides provide a general description of the requirements of a particular document.
Checklists provide a list of required and optional elements to be included in a document.
Sample clauses provide a selection of phrases and paragraphs that can be tailored by cutting and pasting to fit the requirements of a specific situation.
Model documents provide the text of entire legal documents. When they contain blank spaces to be filled in for variables such as a client's name and the date, they are called fill-in forms.
Caution: Because every legal situation varies, an attorney's expertise is often necessary to tailor any form to a specific legal situation or the rules of a particular court. Library staff can show you what forms are available and how to use the compilations, but we cannot advise you on which form to use for a specific situation, what information to put in a form, or how to adapt a form to your purposes. Do-It-Yourself Legal Forms: Plus or Peril? from ConsumerAffairs.com discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using free legal forms.
General Collections of Legal Forms
General form books can be divided into two main categories:
Pleading and practice forms are used for filing motions with the court during a lawsuit or criminal trial. Examples include complaints, answers, replies, and counterclaims. Often individual court Web sites will provide forms that follow the rules of that specific court.
Transactional instruments are used for legal situations that are not necessarily litigious in nature. Examples include leases, contracts, and wills.
On the Internet
- FindForms.com
- Searchable database containing thousands of free legal forms.
- FindLaw State Resources
- Select the name of a state and the link to "Forms" to see forms for that state.
- FindLaw Texas Forms
- Texas statutory forms and documents, corporate filing forms and instructions.
- 'Lectric Law Library Legal Forms Room
- The Internet's biggest collection of legal forms, broken up into two broad overlapping categories: Law Practice and Business.
- Free Legal Forms
- Links to U.S. and state forms (the arrangement is alphabetic, but sources and topics are mixed together).
- Global Arbitration Mediation Association (GAMA) Forms
- Contains GAMA forms related to arbitration and mediation.
- Get Free Legal Forms
- Thousands of free legal forms that can be browsed by practice area or searched by keyword. Each form is available in a variety of formats.
- Give Away Legal Forms
- Professionally-drafted legal forms and clauses to be inserted into forms. Also includes articles that give professional legal advice on a variety of issues.
- Internet Legal Research Group Legal Forms Archive
- Large collection of free legal forms, many adapted for state-specific use.
- Texas Law Help Forms
- Free legal forms for Texas who cannot afford legal aid. Site also includes some interactive online forms that are filled out automatically as you respond to a series of questions.
At UNT
- 101 Law Forms for Personal Use
- Ready-to-use forms, checklists, and contracts for a variety of everyday legal and practical transactions that most Americans can safely handle without formal legal help.
- Stevenson's Texas Legal Practice Forms
- Looseleaf collection of forms and
templates specific to the practice of law in Texas, updated by
supplements on CD-ROM. Electronic text files can be downloaded and manipulated using any word-processing program.
- Trial Lawyers Series
- Each volume in this series of loose-leafs discusses a specific aspect of trial law in Texas and provides appropriate checklists and forms for lawyers.
Topics and Practice Areas
Business
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Bankruptcy Forms
- Official bankruptcy forms must be used to file and take action in bankruptcy cases. Procedural forms may also be necessary for use during the course of some bankruptcy proceedings. Additional filing instructions, along with the forms, are available in the Bankruptcy Forms Manual included here.
- Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreement
- Part of the Trade Secrets Homepage, this is to ensure confidentiality in business transactions involving trade secrets.
- Incorporate in Texas
- Protect yourself and make the most of your business venture without the expense and delay of hiring a lawyer, by incorporating your business on your own.
- How to Register Your Own Trademark
- Complete with step-by-step instructions and the forms you need, this book makes registering your mark with the government inexpensive and hassle-free. Includes instructions on both federal and state registration.
- How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation
- Forms in the book: Name availability letter -- Application to reservation of corporate name -- Articles of incorporation -- Cover letter for filing articles -- Bylaws -- Minutes of first board meeting -- Incorporation contact letter -- In PDF format: Form 8718: user fee for exempt organization -- determination letter request -- Package 1023: application for recognition of exemption -- Form ss-4: application for employer identification number -- Form 5768: election by an eligible section 501(c)(3) organization -- Publication 557: tax exempt status for your organization -- Publication 578: tax information for private foundations and foundation managers.
- Texas Business and Nonprofit Forms
- The Texas Secretary of State has promulgated these forms to facilitate filings with the office to meet statutory requirements of those doing business in Texas.
- Texas Secretary of State
- Numerous forms related to corporations, UCC, and notary public.
- Trademark Application Forms
- Downloadable US Patent and Trademark Office trademark application forms, in PageMaker and WordPerfect formats. Also includes links to foreign and international trademark sites.
- EDGAR
Filer Manual
- Explains how registered EDGAR filers may file electronically with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Court Procedure
- How to Win in Small Claims Court in Texas: With Forms
- Although small claims courts are designed to be more simple and "do-it-yourself" than other court cases, they can still be very complicated unless you know the process and language of the courts. This online book, available to members of the UNT community, simplifies and thoroughly explains everything you need to know to successfully handle your own small claims case, whether you are the plaintiff or defendant. Provides court terminology, step-by-step instructions, and forms.
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Federal Courts Rules and Forms in Effect
- Full text of rules governing procedure in the the federal courts, with official forms and word-processing templates.
Family Law
- File for Divorce in Texas
- Filing for an uncontested divorce in Texas is fairly simple. This book, available to members of the UNT community, provides step-by-step instructions and blank fill-in forms.
Real Estate
- Landlord's Rights and Duties in Texas: With Forms
- Under Texas law, if you do not follow the exact procedures required ot landlords, you can be liable to your tenants for thousands of dollars in damages and attorney's fees. This book, available online to members of the UNT community, explains exactly what to do and how to do it, with forms, flowcharts, and examples from actual cases.
- Free Rental and Lease Agreements
- Standard forms related to renting and leasing property.
Wills and Estates
- Write Your Own Texas Will
- This book, available online to members of the UNT community, provides step-by-step instructions and blank fill-in forms.
- How to Probate and Settle an Estate in Texas
- Written in an easy-to-understand manner, this book explains the
different kinds of probate available in Texas and details the steps that
must be completed. Checklists are provided for each specific kind of
probate to ensure that no form or step is missed along the way. From
dealing with creditors to handling estate taxes, How to Probate and
Settle an Estate in Texas will provide you with essential knowledge to
assist in closing an estate. Includes ready-to-use, blank forms.
- Texas Probate Forms
- Forms related to disability, trusts, estates, determination of heirship, and probate. Not recommended for use without an attorney's advice.
- Wills Trusts & Estates
- Detailed explanations of legal principles involved in estate planning and writing of wills, illustrated by case studies. Includes definitions of legal terms. Includes discussions of how the law varies in different jurisdictions.
- Online Living Will Completion for Texans
- An Advance Directive, also called a living will, specifies what actions should be taken for your health in the event that you are no longer able to make decisions independently because of illness or incapacity, and appoints a person to make such decisions on your behalf. In Texas the Advance Directive is composed of several documents. This site provides a detailed explanation, downloadable forms, and an interactive application to educate and assist you in completing your Texas Advance Directive.
Government Agency Forms
Many federal government forms are available on the Internet, usually from the Web site of the relevant agency or court.
United States Federal Agencies
- Government Forms
- Find federal forms and applications by agency name.
- Forms
From the Feds
- Large selection of forms from U.S. federal government agencies.
State Agencies
- AllLaw: State Resources
- Links to selected state government agencies that provide online forms. Select a state, then select "Forms."
- FindLaw: State Forms and Contracts
- This collection contains court forms for selected state courts.
Uniform Laws and Model Acts
Uniform Laws are proposed laws that the states are encouraged to adopt, the object being to achieve uniformity in state laws.
Model Acts are proposed laws on topics where reform, not uniformity, is the dominant aim. Those creating model acts expect state legislatures to make alterations or even take bits and pieces.
Restatements of the Law are efforts to codify or restate systematically areas still governed by common law (judge-made law). They are not proposals to the states, and their object is clarity, not reform or uniformity.
Agencies
These private organizations are responsible for drafting and promulgating Uniform Laws and Model Acts in the United States. They are not government entities, and their proposals do not become law until adopted in some form by an individual state.- National Conference of Commissioners and Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL)
- The Uniform Law Commission (ULC,
also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State
Laws), provides states with non-partisan,
well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and
stability to critical areas of state statutory law. Site includes links to uniform laws that are being considered in each state.
- American Law Institute (ALI)
- Drafts and publishes various restatements of the law, model codes, and other proposals for law reform. Site includes information on ordering their publications.
Commonly Requested Uniform Laws and Model Acts
Many other texts of uniform laws and model acts are available on the NCCUSL Web site. Model Acts developed by the American Law Institute are not publicly available on the Internet.
- NCCUSL Drafts and Final Acts
- The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL), in partnership with Biddle Law Library at Penn Law, is making these drafts and final acts of Uniform Laws and Model Acts available online to help fulfill its mission to distribute information to the public. Links to word processing, PDF, and ASCII text formats are available at the top of each document unless otherwise noted.
- Uniform
Commercial Code
- Includes text of the code, browsable table of contents,
and search engine. Does not include some of the most recent
revisions.
To see how the U.C.C. was enacted by a particular state, and to see proposed revisions, see Cornell's Uniform Commercial Code Locator. - Uniform
Probate Code
- Includes text of the code in HTML, Word, and PDF formats.
To see how the U.P.C. was adopted by other states, and to see proposed revisions, see Cornell's Uniform Probate Code Locator. - Uniform
Rules of Evidence
- Full text of the 1974 document with 1986 and 1988
amendments, available in HTML, ASCII, WordPerfect, or PDF format.
To see how the U.R.E. was enacted by a particular state, and to see proposed revisions, see Cornell's Uniform Rules of Evidence Locator. This also includes the Federal Rules of Evidence, which are almost identical to the Uniform Rules of Evidence. - Uniform Business and Financial Laws Locator
- This locator links to state laws which correspond to Uniform Laws in the subject areas of business and finance. In cases where the text of the Uniform Law as originally promulgated is available on the Internet, the site also links to that.
- Uniform Matrimonial, Family, and Health Laws Locator
- This locator links to state laws which correspond to Uniform Laws in the subject areas of matrimony, family, and health. In cases where the text of the Uniform Law as originally promulgated is available on the Internet, the site also links to that.
