Most Valuable Business Legal Forms You'll Ever Need

Introduction THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK This book has a broad application. It is intended to provide useful forms for all businesses, whatever their legal structure may be. Therefore, for businesses run as partnerships, sole proprietorships, corporations, or other forms, this book stands alone. This book may decrease dependence on lawyers, but it may not in more complex cases. It will have served its purpose if it helps you to recognize the occasions in which you do need a lawyer, and then helps you to use your lawyer more efficiently. Failing to hire a lawyer when you need one is not likely to be economical. If, in reading this book, you discover that what you want to do is more complicated than you imagined or involves a large sum of money, then get a lawyer. It would be better to pay for a lawyer, even if in the end you determine his or her services were unnecessary, rather than try to handle a complex matter for which you are unqualified on your own. Use your lawyer's services wisely; do not leave everything up to him or her. You know your business and what is important for it. The best lawyer's ideas about your business may be completely wrong, and he or she may attach importance to the unimportant (because it was important to the last client) and gloss over a critical factor. Use this book to know what to expect from your lawyer and why. And then read and understand the work your lawyer does for you. Make sure it fits your situation. The forms in this book have been limited to those that will be usable in all states. There are other business forms books on the market that claim to be comprehensive, but include many forms (such as deeds, bad check notices, and leases) that are unusable in many states. For example, deeds vary from state to state. Some states have very specific requirements for how the witnesses must be indicated, the form of the notary public certification, and where and how much space must be left blank for the entry of recording information. In the past, each state had its own official form for filing a security interest under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC-1 form), and some assessed penalties for failing to use the official form. The trend is toward standardized forms, which are the forms used in this book. However, you should always check your state law for any variation to the forms. Some states have specific forms for bad check notices, and have required statements and warnings in leases. It would be impossible to provide such forms for each state in a book such as this, and it would be irresponsible to include such forms knowing that they will not comply with the laws in every state. In recent years, the federal and state governments have made great use of the Internet. Filing and research that used to require a visit to a courthouse or state government office can now be done from your desk. Most states, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and other agencies have posted downloadable forms online for your use. ORGANIZATION OF THIS BOOK The first chapter of the book deals with some general principles of contract law, and following chapters apply those principles to specific situations. Before you use any of the contract forms in this book, pay careful attention to Chapter 1, especially the information about the proper execution of contracts. Depending on the form of your business-corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.-and the form of business of the entity you contract with, you will need to insert the proper signature format to make sure the proper party executes the contract and does so correctly. Chapters 2 through 4 deal with employees and various other kinds of agents. In Chapters 5 through 8, the book deals with specific business transactions-buying and selling, renting, and borrowing and lending money. Chapter 9 deals with issues of liability-and how to avoid it-in connection with contract disputes and other matteRay, James is the author of 'Most Valuable Business Legal Forms You'll Ever Need', published 2008 under ISBN 9781572486638 and ISBN 1572486635.