n the Internet it is possible to find a free document template for almost any kind of legal document. The templates can be found on anything from law firm web sites to web sites where the core business actually is to sell legal templates but in order to attract customers some templates are offered for free. Other legal templates can be found on private web pages where the web site owner for one reason or another provides legal document templates to the public.

Not surprisingly the quality of the templates differs a lot. Some templates are very basic while others contain advices and instructions as to in which circumstances the document template may be useful.

So, should one really use a legal document template downloaded on the Internet? Of course this answer depends on the quality of the download template but also who is going to use it. A lawyer can quickly decide whether it is a good template or not. And most important – a lawyer is capable of adjusting the template to suit the specific situation. For those who lacks legal education the following questions should be posed when considering using a legal template.

1. Is the legal document template construed in accordance with the law that will govern the legal document that is about to be created? For example if I am living in the UK and UK law is applicable I cannot take for granted that a template that has been created with Delaware law in mind also is valid in the UK. And if you are about to create a legal document regarding some offshore business the document sometimes has to be in accordance with both the law where the offshore business is registered as well as the jurisdiction where you are resident.

2. Is it possible to customize the template so it fits your specific situation? Many legal document templates do not give you much possibility to customization. A document template is construed in order to be general and fit the most common situations and may therefore not at all be adapted to your specific situation.

3. No matter the quality of the legal template - do you really know what you are doing? Even if you have a good template and it is possible to personalize the template to your specific situation - do you really know how this should be done? Is your idea of how to legally regulate a certain situation or relation really a good one? Maybe there are other solutions that you have not thought of?

If you use a legal document template without knowing what you are doing the consequences can be disastrous. Being a lawyer is not only about using and filling in templates even thought lawyers to a great extent are using templates in their daily work. Being a lawyer is very much about analyzing the situation and thereafter creating a solution where a template may come in handy. As a 'non-lawyer' you are most certainly not able to analyze the situation correctly from a legal perspective.

To sum up; if you have sufficient knowledge of the law or the specific situation that you are about to regulate/legalize with a legal document is really simple you may consider using a legal document template. If you are only the slightest uncertain about the legal document template is applicable to your situation or if you are not sure how to customize the template to your situation the answer is simple - Go see a lawyer.