Legalzoom Reviews by Experts & Customers [Updated 2016]

In this article, we will review the online service on several metrics to give the consumer an overview of the features and performance of the company.

What is LegalZoom?

LegalZoom is an online service that provides legal documents and services to the public. LegalZoom was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas. What does LegalZoom do? Their services include everything from living trusts, wills, LLC and trademark registration to real estate, pet protection, accident and immigration law. Most people need legal advice regularly. The costs and complexities of the legal framework are often a major turnoff in many life decisions, especially when it comes to opening a small business. LegalZoom aims to provide an easy to use interface to help navigate the layman through the complicated legal proceedings of several important life events. In this age, where we get everything from our cab services to food from online sources, it seems fitting to get legal advice online as well.

How does LegalZoom work?

LegalZoom acts as a one stop resource for all your legal needs. To use their services, you fill out a couple of forms online, using their easy to use interface, and after a review, depending on your legal needs, they pair you with a reviewed and independent attorney. Their pricing varies with the complexity of your needs and the level of service you are looking for. Think of LegalZoom as a middleman. Their job is to connect you with the right attorney. However, not all services require an attorney. You can easily create an LLC on LegalZoom’s website without one.

How much does LegalZoom cost?

They have several options for membership plans that allow you to access their interface to fill out forms. The standard plan is $8 per month which gives you access to legal forms for download. Their plus plan costs $15 per month for a single month, $40.50 for 3 months and $72 for 6 months. These are their basic membership plans. Prices vary considerably for the kind of services you are looking for and the level of help you need.

Is LegalZoom legit for wills?

LegalZoom consider wills to be one of its specialities. There are several customer reviews that speak highly of their will plans, so LegalZoom is completely legit for wills. There are three plans for wills that start with $69 and go up to $149.

Should I use LegalZoom for LLC?

Forming an LLC is a great way for new and small business to shield its assets. This is where LegalZoom becomes really handy. It lets new entrepreneurs access a pool of resources for dealing with legal complexities and allows them time to focus on things that really matter to their businesses. The plans for LegalZoom LLC cost a reasonable amount. They start at $149 and go up to $359. LegalZoom LLC reviews contain multiple small business owners that really appreciate these things. Here's a quick overview of how the process works for starting a business:

Companies like LegalZoom:

There are a bunch of LegalZoom competitors. LegalZoom alternatives aim to beat it in pricing, services and number of plans. The most notable sites like LegalZoom are Nolo, Standard Legal, Ready Set Legal, Rocket Lawyer and lawdepot.com. LegalZoom seems to be the leader of the pack though as it is one of the oldest websites of its kind. One of the most frequently used alternatives to LegalZoom is in fact just filling out the forms yourself!

Is LegalZoom safe?

While not all of the LegalZoom reviews have been flattering, we have yet to come across one that accused LegalZoom of any form of malpractice. The company has been around since 2001 and is a fairly noteworthy and respected business. This site provides connections to independent lawyers. They never claimed to be a law firm and working with LegalZoom does not confer client attorney privileges to all of the communications that go through the website.

What are the pros and cons of using LegalZoom?

Pros:

• Provides laymen with a whole pool of legal resources
• Downloadable legal forms
• Several plans to choose from
• Member reviewed lawyers
• Free consultations

Cons:

• Several legal services are not provided at this time
• Some reviews of LegalZoom say that customer service does not respond in time

How good is legalzoom? LegalZoom Reviews:

LegalZoom has been reviewed a lot online. The Better Business Bureau gave it 3.8 stars out of 5 and a combined rating of A+ based on 9 reviews. Toptenreviews.com concluded that LegalZoom provides access to powerful tools for support services for creating and writing legal documents. Several other rating sites such as sitejaber.com lauded LegalZoom for providing several legal services online and making the navigation of legal complexities easier, but there were some issues regarding customer services. While most users were happy with the pricing, some had issues with the amount of help they were getting for their money and wondered if it would be better to just do all the paperwork by themselves.

Verdict:

Our verdict is that LegalZoom is a powerful and useful tool. For millions of people worldwide, it provides a simple interface to get around the complexities of understanding the law. It is particularly useful for small business owners in that it levels the playing field for them when it comes to choosing legal counsel.