The Benefits of Having Legal Advice
The number one reason for obtaining legal advice is protection; protection for yourself, your rights, and your investments. Think of all the different situations that might require a lawyer, and then picture what could happen if you did not seek an attorney’s advice. Can you imagine writing your own bankruptcy case, filing it in court, and then representing yourself at the hearing? There are not too many people who would know what to do, where to start or what the difference is between filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13.
Can you imagine yourself being accused of a serious crime, such as assault, or murder? Can you imagine having to represent yourself in court, subpoena witnesses, make visits to the crime scene, etc? If you are accused of either of these serious crimes, it is likely you would be in jail until your court appearance unless they allow you to post bail. It would be hard to do all those things behind bars.
If you buy a home or trailer on contract, you want to protect your legal rights, if you know them, and make sure that the buyer will not let your pay on your contract, then sell it if they get a great cash offer. You do not want to miss the “fine print” or not be able to understand all the legal terms in a contract. If you die, you do not want to have your spouse and heirs’ fighting over what is theirs or having to pay all those estate taxes.
Having a lawyer represent you in any of these situations would make your life all that much easier for you. It would help make sure that everything legal is being done. The right paperwork would be done and filed in the right bankruptcy court. When you go to court, you would have an attorney there to represent you while you are being questioned by the creditor’s representative.
In the case of a serious crime, you are entitled to legal representation, even if it is a public defender. They know how to question the witnesses and get them to talk to them. If you were to question them, they would probably be too afraid to talk to you, especially if you were being accused of assault or murder. The attorney would be able to talk to the prosecutor to see if a deal could be worked out. You might still get jail or prison time, but it would not be as long as you would get if you went to trial.
A will is a very serious legal document, and you want to make sure that your money and possessions go to the person you want them to go to. You want to make sure that your spouse is taken care of, that you final expenses are paid; your children have a college fund, and more. You do not want the reading of your will to turn into a free-for-all and have people getting mad and not talking to each other because you took something they wanted.