How to Store Legal Documents

Keep valuables and critical legal documents in a fireproof safe, a bank safe deposit box, or both.
During your lifetime you will likely collect numerous legal documents. Marriage licenses, wills, birth certificates, social security cards, tax returns and deeds are the most common legal documents. Some of these documents can be replaced if lost (such as most legal documents issued by the government); others may need to be completely rewritten (such as unrecorded deeds or wills). When choosing how to store your legal documents, rocketlawyer.com suggests keeping in mind two factors security and ease of access.

Things You'll Need

• Fireproof safe
• Locking file cabinet
• Folders

Instructions

Make copies of your important legal documents. Important legal documents pertain to you and your identity. Marriage licenses, birth certificates, social security cards, wills and a list of your bank account numbers are examples of important legal documents.

Store one set of your important legal documents in an emergency kit. Use a fireproof safe that locks. Keep your important documents in the safe and remember where the key is or what the combination is. Keep the safe hidden, yet easily accessible, perhaps in a small closet crawlspace.

Take copies of your important documents and place them in a bank safe deposit box. This creates a backup for your important legal documents and provides you security (although you can't access the documents as quickly if they're not in your home).

Place other legal documents in a locking filing cabinet. Organize the documents by type for ease of access. Other legal documents include less-important items such as tax returns, credit card statements, investment records, bills and paycheck stubs.

Keep tax documents, investment records, and lawsuit judgments in the filing cabinet for seven years. Shred after seven years. Keep bank statements, credit card statements, and paychecks for no longer than one year and then shred; typically you do not need these documents after one year (usually after you file your tax return) and these documents should be destroyed since they contain personal information.


Tips & Warnings
Consider scanning less-important documents to PDF files to save space.


source : George Lawrence

How to File Legal Documents

The rules for filing legal documents differ from state to state. In addition, the specific rules of each courthouse will likely differ. Before attempting to file any legal documents, it is important that you read the rules of civil procedure for your specific state as well as any other administrative rules prescribed by the specific courthouse. But while the specific details differ from courthouse to courthouse, there are several principles that are shared across jurisdictions.

Things You'll Need
Civil rules of procedure
Computer with Internet access
Envelopes

Instructions

• Read the rules. No matter what jurisdiction you are in, it is critically important to read the rules of civil procedure. Visit the website for the courthouse where you will be filing your documents and see if administrative requirements are listed online. You should also go to the clerk's office of the courthouse. Resources may be available there to assist you in following the rules of that court.

• Determine what type of document you need to file. If you are involved in an adversarial proceeding, it is likely you will file a complaint, a motion, a praecipe, or another civil litigation document. It's important to read the rules to determine which type of document you need to file for the specific legal relief you are pursuing. In other words, if you want the court to take a specific action, you need to determine what the appropriate format is to ask the court for relief.

• Draft the document. Draft the document pursuant to the rules of civil procedure and any other rules the individual court prescribes.

• Serve the opposing party or parties if they exist. If you are involved in an adversarial proceeding, you must send copies of your legal document to the other side prior to filing the document. Most jurisdictions require that you send the document by mail. You must also include a certificate of service with the document certifying, by your signature, that you sent the documents to the opposing party.

• File the document. Many jurisdictions require that you physically deliver the document to the clerk's office in the court. It's useful to bring two copies with you. You should file one with the clerk's office and ask for the second to have a file stamp placed on it. That way, you have proof that you filed the specific document should any document get lost. Other jurisdictions allow for e-filing, a process for filing documents online. Again, it is crucial to determine all the appropriate rules and procedures of your jurisdiction.

Tips & Warnings
Filing legal documents is a very difficult process. It's complicated and requires tremendous diligence and extraordinary attention to detail. You should seriously consider whether hiring a qualified attorney, licensed to practice in your jurisdiction, is the better way to proceed.

DISCLAIMER This article is intended to serve as a general overview of how to file legal documents. It is not intended to serve as legal advice. To determine how the law applies to the facts of your particular situation or how to file legal documents in your specific jurisdiction, consult a qualified attorney, licensed to practice law in your state


Source : Joseph Scrofano