How to evict a roommate: it depends on whose name is on the lease
If your roommate is a co-tenant, you usually cannot evict them — only the landlord can. If they are your subtenant or a guest who moved in, the route is different again.
·3 min read
Legal blog
Practical guides, templates explained and legal news for United States.
Notice to vacate vs eviction notice: which one do you need?
A notice to vacate ends a tenancy that nobody has breached. An eviction notice responds to a default. Serving the wrong one wastes the notice period and hands the tenant a defence.
·3 min read
Pay or quit notice: how it works and what invalidates it
A pay-or-quit notice gives the tenant a short, state-set window to pay the rent or leave. Demand the wrong amount — or include late fees — and you may have to serve it again.
·3 min read
Are non-competes enforceable? It depends on your state
Four states void them, a dozen condition them on earnings or notice, and the rest apply a reasonableness test. Here is how to work out where yours falls — and what to do if you have signed one.
·4 min read
Non-compete agreement: what makes one enforceable
Four states void employee non-competes outright, and elsewhere the covenant lives or dies on duration, geography and consideration. An aggressive draft is often worth less than a modest one.
·4 min read
Eviction notice: the four types and what each one must say
An eviction notice is the first step, not the eviction. Which of the four notices you serve depends on why you want the tenant out — and getting that choice wrong restarts the clock.
·4 min read
How to fund a living trust (the step that makes it work)
Signing the trust creates it; funding it is what keeps your estate out of probate. Here is the asset-by-asset checklist, and the accounts you should deliberately leave out.
·4 min read
Living trust vs will: which one do you actually need?
A will directs your estate through probate; a trust avoids probate for the assets it holds. Most people who set up a trust still need a will — and some people only need the will.
·3 min read
Revocable living trust: what it does, and the step most people skip
A living trust keeps your estate out of probate — but only for assets actually retitled into it. Signing the document is the easy half; funding it is the half that fails.
·4 min read
Power of attorney form: the four choices that define it
A financial power of attorney is defined by four decisions — general or limited, durable or not, immediate or springing, and which powers you grant. Get durability wrong and it fails exactly when needed.
·3 min read
How to terminate a lease agreement (without paying for the whole term)
A fixed-term lease does not end because you move out. Ending it early means using a break clause, a statutory right, an agreed buy-out — or relying on the landlord's duty to re-rent.
·3 min read
Printable will forms: what actually makes a will valid
A will is valid when it is signed by you and witnessed under your state's rules. Most homemade wills fail on the witnesses, the residuary clause, or by ignoring a state with different formalities.
·3 min read
NDA vs non-compete: what each one restricts
An NDA protects information. A non-compete restricts where someone may work next. They are different documents with very different enforceability — and four states void non-competes outright.
·3 min read
Independent contractor agreement: the six clauses that matter
A 1099 contractor agreement has to do two jobs — define the work and payment, and support the contractor's status against a misclassification challenge. Most free templates only do the first.
·3 min read
Selling a car \"as is\": the clause that protects a private seller
As-is language disclaims warranties, so the buyer takes the vehicle in its current condition. It does not protect a seller who conceals a known defect or lies about the odometer.
·3 min read
Does a bill of sale need to be notarized?
In most states a private vehicle bill of sale does not have to be notarized — but several require it, some require the title signature notarized instead, and notarizing anyway is cheap insurance.
·3 min read
Bill of sale vs title: which one actually transfers ownership
The title transfers ownership. The bill of sale proves the terms of the sale. You need both, and a bill of sale alone will not get a vehicle registered in most states.
·3 min read
How to fill out a bill of sale, line by line
A vehicle bill of sale needs the parties, the vehicle identifiers, the price, the odometer disclosure and the as-is language. Getting the VIN and mileage right is what makes the DMV accept it.
·3 min read