The Basics of Blumberg Legal Forms
For decades, attorneys have had a love/hate relationship with forms. On the one hand they can be a great time saver in most transactions, on the other hand they can create additional work due to the need to review them to avoid "boilerplate" or other unintended consequences. Enter Blumberg legal forms.
Blumberg Legal Forms have been published and sold by the Blumberg Corporation for more than 125 years, well before technology existed to automate that task, by computer or otherwise. They are the result of advice and effort from thousands of lawyers and judges all over the country.
Blumberg Legal Forms consist of more than a thousand different forms – over one hundred different sets of forms for use in almost every type of legal practice. Now , they are available online on the BlumbergForms.com website. There are synthesized forms in hundreds of corporations, partnerships and LLC sets, as well as collections of pleadings for every state and forms for use in local, state and federal courts. Also available are sets of law and procedure guides.
Blumberg Legal Forms are used by the largest law firms, smaller boutique law firms, government agencies, courts, and corporations. In fact, probably most law firms at one time or another have used these forms (mostly by whatever prior attorneys and secretaries left in their files and which they looked at and retyped).
So try the new BlumbergForms.com and you will see for yourself why this tool has been a mainstay in so many lawyers’ toolkits for so long.
Different Categories of Blumberg Legal Forms
Blumberg legal forms cover a wide spectrum of legal documentation, enhancing the capacity of attorneys to manage a plethora of cases. The Blumberg Legal Forms catalog includes forms for business matters, real property, family law cases (marital issues), estate matters, personal injury cases, tax and bankruptcy issues, as well as corporation and contract forms. The incorporated business forms include articles of incorporation for profit and nonprofit corporations, corporate bylaws, Minutes of Organizational Meetings, Corporate Minutes, Corporate Membership Certificates with Waiver of Right of Notice of Stockholders, Waiver of Notice of Annual Meeting and Consent to Action, and Proprietorship Minutes. The Real Property Forms assess a variety of situations, including tenancies, leases, mortgages, deeds and assignments, and documents for effecting the sale or disposition of real property. Forms are also tailored to serve in court, including Elemental Rules of Civil Procedure (including jury demands), personal services, torts, discovery, and non-motions. Forms for banks and other financial institutions also are available through the Blumberg Legal Forms catalog. Other forms include those that can be employed in probate, including Release of Administration, Bond of Administrator, Renunciation and Consent to Appointment of Administrator, Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property by Surviving Spouse, and Waiver of Inventory and Accounting.
Finding and Using Blumberg Legal Forms
Blumberg Legal Forms are available online, making it convenient for individuals to access important legal documents. To access these forms online, follow these steps to find and download the form you need: Go to the trusted Blumberg Legal Forms website. Choose wanted form from the menu or landing page. Search for the document using the website’s search function. To view or download a specific form, simply click it to open. After reading the description and confirming that it is the form you need, add it to your cart and complete your purchase. Blumberg Legal Forms are also available in legal supply retail stores, where individuals can visit to pick up the form they need. Another option is finding Blumberg Legal Forms with a legal office supply retailer. Many major cities have reliable sources for the entire Blumberg legal forms catalog, due to their national distribution by the Blumberg Corporation. To successfully complete legal documents using Blumberg Legal Forms, be sure to take these steps: Confirm that the form you are going to use is required for the transaction at hand. Consult a lawyer if needed. Fill out the form according to your best understanding. Do not falsify any information on the form. Sign the form where appropriate. Have at least one witness, sign and print your name. Have two witnesses sign and print their names on each of your joint forms. Date the form. Complete any other necessary forms or cover sheets. Use the forms according to directions or relevant law. It’s essential to use Blumberg Legal Forms properly to avoid rejection or legal challenges to the validity of the documents.
Advantages of Utilizing Blumberg Legal Forms
Blumberg legal forms present a standardized way of handling a wide variety of legal transactions. In a world where consistency and reliability are key components of any legal system, these forms do the job as well as anything else. However, that’s just the beginning of the advantages found here.
These legal forms come with the benefit of being easy to use. Even for those who are unfamiliar with the legal system or those who have not experienced drafting much paperwork, the forms are just a piece of paper to be filled. All of the possible information an individual may have to provide is clearly set out within the confines of the document. This means no guesswork in regard to which details are required and which are unnecessary. Even more advanced fields, such as those looking for a business registration number or the like, have room to include all necessary information without cluttering the form.
These legal forms also help to save time. When drafting legal documents from scratch, there is a lot of room for error. Unfortunately, individuals who draft these documents often go through multiple revisions, causing them to spend several hours on something that should have only taken one or two. The forms offered by Blumberg help to reduce the amount of time spent on bills, motions, contracts and other items, meaning people can save their efforts for more important tasks.
Finally, Blumberg legal forms help to minimize errors. Because the forms are standardized, they clearly indicate what is needed and what is not. Instead of wasting time on determining which pieces of information are necessary for a motion, people can simply fill out the appropriate fields. This helps to eliminate mistakes that can end up causing a lot of time and effort to be put into projects that may have been handled swiftly otherwise.
When it comes to the legal system, even small oversights can turn into large problems. After all, the system moves slowly even the best of times. That alone provides a clear reason to be using the same documents as everyone else involved in a matter. In addition to that, standardization helps improve the results every time.
Common Scenarios for Using Blumberg Legal Forms
Blumberg legal forms have a wide variety of applications, making them a go-to resource for many legal professionals. In personal legal matters, people commonly use Blumberg forms for wills, medical powers of attorney, durable powers of attorney, and real estate transactions, such as leases or deeds. Consider an end-of-life scenario: Mary Smith wants to ensure that her health care wishes are honored in the event that she cannot speak for herself. She utilizes a health care power of attorney and includes all of the possible scenarios where she could be incapacitated. Seeing as her husband is her primary choice for surrogate decision-maker, both he and her oldest child have been witnesses to the competency of Mary’s decision.
Another example comes in the business context. As a business owner, you want to hand your business over to the person of your choice, not the one that the state feels is the most appropriate. For this reason, you create a power of attorney to ensure that your power is transferred when the time is right. In addition, with many contractors providing services or products to other companies, they may want to limit their liability with a non-compete agreement. Many companies use a Blumberg non-compete agreement for just such cases.
Blumberg legal forms attempt to cover all of the situations that people generally experience. While it’s impossible to create one stipulation that makes sense for all, when you look at the long list of scenarios that these forms can cover, it’s hard not to marvel at the scope and depth of all they cover.
Choosing the Right Blumberg Legal Form: Tips and Tricks
When it comes to selecting the right Blumberg legal form for a specific legal need, the process can be made simpler by following a few strategic steps. First and foremost, understanding the specific legal issue at hand will help guide your form selection. Whether it’s for a business formation, real estate transaction, or family matter, identifying the exact nature of the legal matter will allow you to access the appropriate Blumberg legal form.
Professional legal assistance is paramount; an attorney can provide guidance on how the selected legal form fits within the context of your larger legal strategy. For example, if you are forming a corporation, an attorney will be able to identify whether other documents , such as corporate resolutions or bylaws, are needed in addition to the Articles of Incorporation. Help from an attorney will offer insights that are not always visible to the layperson, and can serve to protect you from unnecessary litigation.
In addition to professional legal guidance, it’s important to read through the options carefully. Be sure to review the details, clauses, and stipulations within the form to ensure your needs are met.
Finally, consider jurisdictional differences. Some Blumberg forms are state-specific, meaning that while the intended use may be similar across states, certain wording, conditions, and requirements may differ. Be sure to refer to the correct form as per your location.
Navigating Legalities and Best Practices
Properly filling out legal forms is a crucial step in any legal process. Mistakes, oversights, or gaps in information can lead to probate litigation. Furthermore, depending on the jurisdiction, a judge may deem improperly completed documents as contrary to law and disallow the proposed action. To avoid such problems, it is important to be aware of the legal considerations regarding the forms you are using.
Even when a court approves the use of statutory short forms, lawyers should be careful to ensure that the blanks are filled in properly. If there are no applicable statutory short forms for the transaction, the information required should be placed into a clear and concise long form. Regardless of the form, the drafter must ensure that the information is organized, logical and presents a coherent picture of the transaction.
For example, creating a durable power of attorney requires specific statutory language set out in New York’s General Obligations Law. The drafter cannot simply copy and paste any durable power of attorney. Similarly, although real property deeds have more flexibility than powers of attorney, they still must conform to the relevant statutes regarding property and counties.
Exceeding the scope of plain language principles can jeopardize a client’s intent. For example, in Matter of Dobson (167 Misc 2d 183 [Sur Ct, New York County 1995]) the Court invalidated a statutory short form trust instrument that was not executed under the proper statutory format. In Dobson, the attorney-drafter had added a definitional paragraph and attempted to address a later-in-time clause. However, the alteration had only one signature from notary, and not from a New York witness.
The Dobson court held that the failure to follow statutory requirements would allow the distribution of trust assets to beneficiaries under the laws of intestacy. As the court explained, because the mistake is not "fixable" by a judicial construction, the trust would fail and the heirs at law would inherit the corpus of the trust. Thus, even methods that attempt to clarify legal phrases may disallow the result sought by the drafter and grant an unintended gift to the heir-at-law.
Other Options Beyond Blumberg Legal Forms
In addition to Blumberg Legal Forms, there are numerous alternatives for individuals and businesses seeking legal documentation in American law. Third-party services, online form providers, and professionally drafted documents are some of the most common options.
Many of the companies that provide legal forms are integrated software companies that operate under a subscription or pay-per-use model. Like Blumberg Legal Forms, these services provide popular legal documents that encompass a wide range of issues from business startup information to tax liability forms to transferring real estate obligations. Some providers ask that the forms be made out with pen or via online software.
However, there is an issue with the modern procurement of documents that are intended to have a legal weight of approval. In some cases, legal forms are filled out, submitted in a timely manner and yet still not signed or not notarized. This will lead to your business being open to litigation as there is no recognized legal document bearing evidence of the transaction. This is a very real issue in the real estate industry even with title insurance.
The best way to ensure that a form holds up in a court of law is to have it drafted by a licensed attorney. This may seem overly expensive, though in many cases you can avoid high attorney fees by conveying a regular once-over to a local lawyer or law office for review. As long as the attorney understands your intent, they can polish the document and make sure any loopholes or gray areas that could lead to litigation are sealed.
Conclusion and Takeaways
In conclusion, this overview of the history and evolution of Blumberg legal forms offers valuable insight into how we arrived at our current point in time. As we’ve seen, Blumberg legal forms have been an integral part of the legal landscape for over 130 years. From their humble starts with a handful of forms to their modern incarnation as a robust online platform offering thousands of customizable templates, Blumberg forms have stood the test of time and continue to be a popular choice for legal professionals and businesses alike.
With the advent of new technologies such as e-signature capabilities, the use of cloud storage, and an ever-growing library of forms and templates, Blumberg legal forms are more accessible than ever . The company continues to innovate and adapt to the ever-changing landscape of the legal profession, ensuring that its products remain relevant in an increasingly digital world.
Blumberg legal forms are more than just a collection of documents, they are a symbol of the evolution of the legal document preparation industry. As we look to the future, it’s clear that Blumberg forms will continue to be a key player in this space. Whether you’re a solo practitioner or a large law firm, Blumberg legal forms are sure to provide the tools you need to streamline your work processes and improve your efficiency.
