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Will Maker

Avanquest Software
Will Maker Deluxe

Avanquest Software
Create Your Own Will

Focus Multimedia Ltd
Desktop Lawyer Personal (inc Wills, Divorce, Property)

FastTrak

If you want access to over 60 ready-to-use documents that include complaints, requests for arbitration, contracts, for-sale agreements, house share arrangements, insurance claims, compensation requests--and even undefended divorce petitions and wills--then Desktop Lawyer Home Edition is well worth a look.
Once the program's loaded you'll see a list of the available documents on the right of the screen. Double click on the one you want to use, read the disclaimer carefully--because you're creating legal documents, this is extremely important--and you're ready to go. The body of the document then opens in the left hand window while in the right; you'll see a series of questions, a bit like a form. As you fill in the form, answering questions specific to the document you want to create, it takes shape in the other window. So for example, if you want to use the letter designed to refuse receipt of faulty goods, you'll be asked for details like the supplier, the nature of the goods, when they were purchased, when the fault was detected and so on; the final letter refers to the Sale Of Goods Act of 1979 as amended by Section 1 of the Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994 giving the finished product the correct level of legal oomph. You can go back and alter details at any time, save the letter halfway through and finish it later, edit the final document rather as you would with a word processor and print it out. Obviously, when you save the personalised letter or document, the original template remains untouched and can be used over and over again.
The range of documents is impressive. Indeed, this product actually combines the content of products sold singly (admittedly at around one third the price) elsewhere as Your Step-By-Step Will-Maker, Personal Letters & Contracts and Create and Print Your Own Divorce Papers. The results are slick, authoritative, quote the right legislation when necessary and make this a useful personal productivity tool for users living in England and Wales. As the documentation points out however, it's no substitute for taking proper legal advice and you should bear that in mind. --Rob Beattie
Your Step-By-Step Will Maker

Avanquest Software

Will-Maker is designed to help you put together a legally enforceable will. This is important because if you die without having made one, you're said to be "intestate" and anything you leave behind (your "estate") gets divvied up according to strict guidelines that can cost your beneficiaries a lot of money--particularly in tax.
Will-Maker uses Rapidocs technology, a way of creating personalised documents based on the way you answer a specific set of questions. It's a clear and easy to use program--the actual document appears on the left of the screen, the questions on the right. As you tab between questions, context-sensitive hint panels pop-up and if you need more advice, there's a Notes tab that you can click to get more detail.
Be prepared to answer questions you may not feel ready to consider quite yet ("Do you wish to donate your body to medical research?") and consult the notes carefully before filling in each part of the form. Make sure you read the disclaimers thoroughly as well. The authors make it clear what their obligations and liabilities are on numerous occasions. For example:
We will not have any liability to you at all if you use any document without obtaining appropriate legal advice as to its suitability for your particular requirements or where there has been any change in the law following the date of publication.
Such considerations make it important that you register the product too, so you can receive news of any important updates.
You can appoint an unlimited number of beneficiaries (should you be so flush) appoint executors and trustees, make charitable donations, bestow legacies and make financial and guardianship provisions for the kids. The final document appears in a cut-down word processor so you can edit it before printing out. The result looks as it should--just like a real will. --Rob Beattie
Replay Radio 7 (PC)

Xtramedia
Desktop Lawyer Business Edition

FastTrak

In business, striking the right tone in your correspondence, contracts and agreements is almost as important as making sure the contents are legally sound--Desktop Lawyer Business Edition can give you a head start on both counts.
Basically, you get 40 templates covering a wide range of business situations such as debt collection, buying a domain name, cancelling an order, stopping a cheque, setting up a confidentiality or consultancy agreement, letting premises, assigning patents, chasing invoices and so on.
You can then tailor these templates to suit your individual situation. You simply select the one you want to use and Desktop Lawyer Business displays a form on-screen allowing you to personalise the template by answering a series of questions. As you answer each question, the program creates a personalised document which you can save, edit (rather as you would a word processed document) and print out. The results are impressive. The agency agreement for example, covers force majeure, rights and obligations of both the agent and the principal, commission, confidentiality and the terms for termination of the agreement.
As with other products of this type, the software authors are careful to make it clear what is and isn't covered by the program. Essentially, although Desktop Lawyer Business produces legally sound documents, the authors stress that these should be used in conjunction with proper advice from a qualified solicitor. Such is the changing nature of the law in England and Wales (where this product is designed to be used) that you'd do well to keep this advice in mind. Make sure you register the product too, as it's important to keep this one up to date. Although it's no substitute for proper legal advice, Desktop Lawyer Business nevertheless produces a wide range of authoritative, legally sound documents which many sole traders and small companies will find useful. --Rob Beattie
Instant Will Maker

Avanquest Software
Last Will & Testament

Law Pack
Create & Print Your Own Divorce Papers

Avanquest Software

Create and Print Your Own Divorce Papers allows you to prepare all the papers necessary for either an undefended divorce petition or what's called a Judicial Separation which ends the legal obligation of a couple to live together, but leaves them still married. This is an important distinction because some people are unable or unwilling to divorce because of religious reasons.
It's based on a technology called Rapidocs which is a way of creating "intelligent documents" that are personalised with information supplied by you in answer to a series of detailed questions--as you fill in the answers, the document is created directly on the screen. It's a relatively long and complex process, but you can save the document and go back to it later, skip sections and return to them and there are useful notes throughout that explain the legal terms and offer more general guidance. On the rare occasions you have to put things in your own words, the program will provide some example text to help you out. When you've finished, not only do you end up with the affidavit and request for directions for trial but also the appropriate covering letters.
The end result is a legally binding undefended divorce petition which can be formatted using word processing-style commands (bold, italic, centred text and so on) printed out and submitted to the court when the time comes. Remember that creating divorce papers like this may be only a small part of the actual proceedings, and so useful as the product is, it's no substitute for up to date, relevant legal advice. --Rob Beattie
Style A Guide to Buying & Selling a House

Guildhall
Kiplinger's WillPOWER

Block Financial
Will Maker

Life Software
Employment Law

Law Pack
Personal Letters & Contracts

Avanquest Software

Everyone likes to complain about poor service or lack of workmanship, but there's an art to making effective written complaints that the authors behind Personal Letters & Contracts have mastered.
This program produces a series of so-called intelligent documents--standard letters--that can be personalised to your specific requirements based on the way you answer a set of questions. As you go through the questions in the right hand column (consulting the advisory notes along the way) the personalised letter builds before your eyes in the left hand column. When you've finished, you can review the letter full screen and make any final edits manually before printing off a copy and posting it. As well as complaints, the program also handles personal contracts (for example house-sharing and pre-nuptial agreements) requests for mediation in a dispute from watchdogs such as OFTEL and OFWAT, along with change of address, termination of contract and refusal of compensation letters.
As you'd expect, the content is good. The letter complaining about a hotel room not only offers plenty of scope for outlining the problem, but also quotes the 1982 Supply of Goods and Services Act in support of the complaint, while the refusal of compensation letter is so forceful that recipients will almost feel compelled to cough up. Make sure you register though to receive updates and information about changes to the law, and read the accompanying notes very carefully.
Of course, you can make up your own letters for most occasions, but the complaints here have the right tone, and the contracts use the right jargon and refer to the appropriate legislation. For the price, this is well worth a look. --Rob Beattie
Instant Will Maker

Avanquest Software