Legal Document Guides

Plain-Language Information About Common Legal Documents

General information about wills, powers of attorney, directives, leases, notices, contracts, and private sales in the states with currently published guides. This content is not legal advice.

Landlord & Rentals

Leases, security deposits, and eviction notices for landlords in the states we serve — the rules people get burned by, in plain language.

How to Serve a 3-Day Notice in Florida (Step by Step)

A defective three-day notice is the number one reason Florida eviction cases get dismissed. Here is how to get the amount, the deadline, and the delivery right the first time.

7 min read

Florida Security Deposit Rules: The Deadlines That Cost Landlords

Florida gives landlords 15 days to return a deposit — or 30 days to make a formal claim on it. Miss the window and the money usually goes back, damage or not.

6 min read

What a Florida Residential Lease Must Include

A Florida lease isn't just rent and dates — state and federal law require specific disclosures, word for word. Here's the checklist.

7 min read

The Florida Eviction Timeline: What Happens After the 3-Day Notice

Most Florida nonpayment evictions follow the same five stages. Knowing them — and the mistakes that restart the clock — is how landlords keep the timeline short.

6 min read

Florida's 7-Day Notices: Cure vs. Termination, and Why the Wrong One Sinks Evictions

The 3-day notice only covers unpaid rent. Every other lease violation runs through Section 83.56(2)'s 7-day notices — and choosing the wrong variant can get an eviction dismissed.

6 min read

The 30-Day Security Deposit Notice: Florida's Most Expensive Deadline for Landlords

Miss the 30-day notice under §83.49(3)(a) and the deposit claim is gone — no matter how real the damage was. Here is exactly how the notice works, including the certified-mail and §83.505 e-mail delivery routes.

6 min read

Texas Eviction Notices in 2026: What S.B. 38 Changed

Senate Bill 38 rewrote the Texas eviction notice rules effective January 1, 2026. If you are working from a pre-2026 form or an old checklist, three things changed out from under you.

8 min read

Wisconsin Eviction Notices: 5 Days, 14 Days, or 30

Wisconsin has three different nonpayment notice periods, and picking the wrong one is the most common way a landlord loses on paperwork.

7 min read

Nebraska's Seven-Day Rent Notice

Nebraska's rule is simple and has one trap: the notice has to say two things, and most homemade notices only say one.

5 min read

Michigan's Demand for Possession: Seven Days and Four Ways to Serve

Taping the demand to the door is the most common Michigan landlord mistake, and it is not valid service.

7 min read

Wills & Estates

Everything you need to know about creating a last will and testament in the states we serve, from signing rules to safekeeping.

Why Do I Need a Simple Will in Florida?

A simple will can record several important choices for a Florida probate estate. Learn what it can do and when legal advice may be useful.

6 min read

What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Florida?

No will means Florida's intestacy laws decide who inherits everything you own. Here is exactly how the state divides an estate when there is no will.

7 min read

How to Choose a Personal Representative (Executor) in Florida

Your personal representative settles your estate when you're gone. Here's who can serve in Florida and how to pick someone trustworthy.

5 min read

Will vs. Living Trust in Florida: Which Do You Need?

Wills and living trusts both pass on your property — but they work very differently. Here's how to decide which one you actually need.

6 min read

How to Make a Valid Will in Texas

A typed Texas will needs a writing, your signature, and two credible witnesses at least 14 years old who sign in your presence. Get the ceremony right — and add the affidavit that keeps your witnesses out of probate court.

7 min read

How to Make a Valid Will in Nevada

Nevada is one of the few states where a will can be made self-proving without ever involving a notary. Here is the ceremony, and both ways to finish it.

6 min read

How to Make a Valid Will in Wisconsin

Wisconsin lets your two will witnesses sign at different times. Its health care form does not. Same state, opposite rules, and the difference matters.

6 min read

How to Make a Valid Will in Nebraska

Nebraska accepts three different things as witnessing: watching you sign, hearing you acknowledge the signature, or hearing you acknowledge the will.

6 min read

How to Make a Valid Will in Michigan

Michigan accepts three different things as witnessing, and adds a timing rule: each witness signs within a reasonable time after.

6 min read

Power of Attorney

Guides on appointing someone to manage your financial and legal affairs.

Why Do I Need a Power of Attorney in Florida?

A power of attorney can authorize a trusted person to handle specified financial matters during your lifetime. Here's how it works.

6 min read

Durable vs. Non-Durable Power of Attorney Explained

Not all powers of attorney survive incapacity. Learn the crucial difference between durable and non-durable — and why it matters.

5 min read

How to Choose the Right Power of Attorney Agent

An agent may receive significant financial authority. Review practical factors to consider and warning signs to discuss with counsel.

5 min read

What Happens Without a Power of Attorney in Florida?

Without a power of attorney, your loved ones may have to go to court to manage your affairs. Here's what guardianship looks like — and how to avoid it.

5 min read

The Texas Statutory Durable Power of Attorney, Explained

Texas prescribes an exact statutory form for financial powers of attorney. Here is how the initialed powers work, what the durability language means, and the signing rules that make it valid.

8 min read

Nevada's Statutory Power of Attorney, Explained

Nevada's financial power of attorney works by initialing. Fourteen subjects, a separate block of seven riskier powers, and no digital-assets line at all.

7 min read

Wisconsin's Statutory Power of Attorney for Finances

Wisconsin's POA form includes digital property as its own subject — something Nevada's and Nebraska's do not. Here is the full list and how initialing works.

6 min read

Nebraska's Statutory Power of Attorney

Nebraska's POA form is the leanest of the Uniform Power of Attorney Act states we cover: thirteen subjects, and two common lines it simply does not have.

6 min read

Michigan's New Power of Attorney Law, Explained

If your Michigan power of attorney guidance cites MCL 700.5501, it is out of date. That section was repealed effective July 1, 2024.

7 min read

Healthcare Directives

How to make your medical wishes known and choose a healthcare surrogate.

Why Do I Need a Healthcare Directive in Florida?

A healthcare directive records your medical preferences and can name someone to speak for you. Here is what it can cover in a Florida estate plan.

6 min read

Living Will vs. Healthcare Surrogate: What's the Difference?

A living will and a healthcare surrogate do two different jobs. Here's how they work together to protect your medical wishes.

5 min read

How to Choose a Healthcare Surrogate in Florida

Your surrogate could make life-and-death medical decisions for you. Here's how to choose someone who will truly advocate for your wishes.

5 min read

How to Talk to Your Family About End-of-Life Wishes

Talking about end-of-life wishes is never easy — but it's a gift to your family. Here's how to start the conversation and put it in writing.

5 min read

The Texas Medical Power of Attorney, Explained

The Texas Medical Power of Attorney names the person who speaks for you when you cannot. The statute prescribes the exact form — here is what it says, what your agent can and cannot decide, and how to sign it correctly.

7 min read

The Texas Directive to Physicians (Living Will), Explained

Texas calls its living will a Directive to Physicians — a statutory form that speaks for you when a terminal or irreversible condition takes your voice. Here is how it works.

7 min read

Nevada's Health Care Power of Attorney: Notary or Witnesses

Nevada gives you a choice of how to execute your health care power of attorney. It also has a competency rule that catches people signing while they live in a care facility.

6 min read

Wisconsin's Power of Attorney for Health Care

Four decisions on Wisconsin's health care form are ones your agent simply cannot make unless you marked them. Blank is not the same as No.

7 min read

Nebraska's Power of Attorney for Health Care

Nebraska's witness rules include one that catches people out: no more than one of your two witnesses may work for the provider treating you.

6 min read

Michigan's Designation of Patient Advocate

Michigan's health care document is not a power of attorney, and a signed, witnessed designation still gives nobody authority until one more signature happens.

7 min read

Estate Planning

Practical, plain-language guides to planning your estate in Florida.

Business Contracts

Operating agreements, NDAs, and contractor agreements for small businesses and freelancers in the states we serve.

Why Your Florida LLC Needs an Operating Agreement

Skip the operating agreement and Florida's default rules run your company — including surprises like equal profit splits regardless of who invested what.

6 min read

NDAs for Florida Small Businesses: When and How to Use One

An NDA can record confidentiality obligations, but scope, context, and required notices matter. Here are issues to review before signing.

6 min read

Independent Contractor Agreements in Florida: What to Put in Writing

Without a written agreement, the freelancer generally owns the work, payment terms are whatever memory says, and disputes have no script. Fix all three in one document.

6 min read

How to Write a Demand Letter in Florida (and When the Statute Writes It for You)

A demand letter is the cheapest legal weapon in Florida — and for bounced checks and civil theft, the statutes prescribe letters that carry triple damages.

7 min read

Why Your Texas LLC Needs a Company Agreement

Texas law calls it a company agreement, never asks you to file it, and quietly supplies default rules for everything you leave unwritten. Here is why the written version matters.

7 min read

Does a Nevada LLC Need an Operating Agreement?

Nevada does not require an operating agreement and does not want it filed. That is exactly why the written version does the work.

6 min read

Wisconsin LLC Operating Agreements After the 2023 Rewrite

Wisconsin's LLC statute was rewritten effective January 1, 2023. The registered-office rule is stricter than most people assume.

6 min read

Does a Nebraska LLC Need an Operating Agreement?

Nebraska's terminology differs from its neighbours', and so does what the statute asks of your company's address.

5 min read

Does a Michigan LLC Need an Operating Agreement?

Michigan's LLC Act supplies defaults for everything your operating agreement does not say. Those defaults are rarely what the owners would have chosen.

5 min read

Buying & Selling

Paperwork for private sales in Florida — vehicles, boats, and valuable personal property.

Explore a Florida Self-Help Template

Preview the questions in our Florida Simple Will template before creating an account or paying.

Preview a Florida Simple Will Template