Legal Documents Preparation

Study Notes

Legal Documents

A legal document is a document with a contractual arrangement or sharing of assets, prepared by a lawyer, and includes wills, leases, agreements, conveyances, deeds, affidavits, abstracts of title, statutory declarations, probates of a will, dispositions, powers of attorney, and contracts.
Features that should not be in legal documents include abbreviations, punctuation, line-end division, figures to represent dates and sums of money, and paragraphs.
Any corrections or changes made after the document was prepared should be initialled in the margin by the persons signing the document.
Capital letters are used to replace punctuation marks, and all amounts must be stated in words.
There is no distinct paragraphing, except in each new Recital and numbered Clause, which starts on a new line in capital letters.

Typing Legal Documents

Use page setup with a legal or A4 paper size, 2" top margin, 1" bottom margin, 1.5" left margin, and 0.5" or 0.75" right margin.
Use a serif font, such as Cambria (12), Times New Roman (12), or Georgia (11), and follow the style of the layout.
Align text to the left or justify text in double line spacing, and fill the spaces between the last word of each paragraph and the end with hyphens.

Formatting Rules

Type the name of the document in normal or expanded capital letters, with or without bold, and leave two character spaces.
Type names of parties when first stated, day and month in the date, and connecting words such as WHEREAS, BETWEEN, HERE, and WHENEVER, in capital letters, with or without bold.
Type initial words or each new Recital and numbered Clause, Testimonium Clause, and Attestation Clause, in capital letters, with or without bold.
Use right brace without space after the longest line in the Attestation Clause, starting from the first line to the last witness line.

Printing and Signing

Allow at least three blank line spaces for the signature.
Print on both sides of the page, and print continuation pages and odd numbered pages with left and right margins reversed.
Number pages two and other pages in the center, one inch from the top edge, or follow instructions.
Switch the page orientation to landscape, with left and right margins at 0.5", and columns three, and type the endorsement in the first column (cover sheet) or in the third column (last page if it is blank).

Legal Terms

Sign: to write your signature on a document.
Seal: to affix an official seal on a document, or to place a document in an appropriate envelope and then seal the envelope.
Deliver: to give a document to the named person, valid, such as signed, sealed, and delivered, in the presence of a witness.
LS: abbreviation for the Latin phrase locus signilli, meaning the place of signature.
Endorsement: date, description, and parties of a legal document, printed on the outside of a cover sheet to which the document is attached, or on the last page of the document if it is blank, and then folded in three equal parts for safe keeping.

Description

Test your knowledge of legal documents, including preparation, features, and types of documents such as wills, leases, and contracts. Learn about the importance of legal documentation and how to prepare them correctly.