LegalZoom Legal Plan Review

Item: LegalZoom
Rating: 5

Overall Ranking: #3

LegalZoom is one of the largest online legal service companies in the industry, trusted by millions for its online legal forms. LegalZoom’s prepaid legal services go a step further, providing attorney consultations and document review. While these plans are less expensive than those offered by other prepaid legal service providers, they are more limited in their coverage. Reading the fine print of the plans, we found that membership includes some legal forms for free, and offers 10% savings on others. Read our full review of the LegalZoom Legal Plans below to learn more.

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How Much are LegalZoom's Monthly Plans?

LegalZoom allows its legal plan members choose from 6-month plans or 12-month plans, which gives it a unique point of difference when compared to most other prepaid legal plan providers. Personal plans start at $9.99/month for 12 months, or $11.99/month for 6 months. Business plans start at $31.25/month for 12 months, or $36.00/month for 6 months.

LegalZoom’s personal plan is called "Legal Advantage Plus Prepaid Legal Plan" and includes unlimited 30-minute consultations on new legal matters, and review of legal documents up to 10 pages. (For longer documents, flat fees apply.) The 12-month plan also includes an annual legal checkup to review your estate plan. If you need more than a 30-minute consultation for the same legal matter, you may choose to retain a law firm at a 25% discount. Personal plans also include access to a wide selection of downloadable legal forms, and 10% savings on any LegalZoom legal document.

Legal Advantage Plus Plan members may receive legal advice on the following topics:

Estate Planning
Family Matters
Finance
Employment Issues
Tax Advice

LegalZoom’s Business Advisory Plan includes unlimited 30-minute consultations on new legal matters, contract and document review up to 10 pages, access to a tax professional, and unlimited downloads from LegalZoom’s legal form library. Subscribers to the 12-month plan also receive an annual business consultation. As with LegalZoom’s personal legal plans, consultations lasting longer than 30 minutes are not included in the plan; nor are consultations regarding previously discussed legal matters. For more extensive legal assistance, LegalZoom does offer a 25% discount on attorney’s fees.

LegalZoom Business Advisory Plan Members may receive legal advice on the following topics:

Business formations (LLCs, incorporations, etc.)
Tax Law
Personal and Family Legal Matters

Who qualifies for coverage?

The Legal Advantage Plus Prepaid Legal Plan is available for individuals, and also covers the member’s spouse, children and dependents. LegalZoom’s Business Advisory Plan offers coverage for businesses.

How does the cost compare to traditional attorney services?

If your legal questions can be addressed in 30 minutes or less, and the online legal forms you need can be found in LegalZoom’s library, then LegalZoom’s prepaid legal services could be much more affordable than hiring a traditional attorney. This is especially true if you need at least one or two legal documents per month, and/or you utilize the company’s document review services. Even if you have documents longer than 10 pages, or need to speak with an attorney for more than 30 minutes, your membership discount alone could still save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars over the course of a year.

How soon can you speak to an attorney?

At the time of this LegalZoom review, we did not see a guarantee of the amount of time it might take your attorney to get in touch with you.

Attorney Network and Experience

LegalZoom’s attorneys cover all states and practice areas, and you can search for an attorney by state or practice area before scheduling your consultation. Attorney experience varies.

History

LegalZoom was founded in 2001, and has served over 3.6 million customers.

Member Satisfaction

The LegalZoom website includes hundreds of reviews, both positive and negative. At the time of this LegalZoom review, the company’s overall rating was 4.5 out of 5 stars, with 350 total reviews. LegalZoom holds an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, although the 26 reviews on the BBB website were 92% negative at the time of this writing. There were also 268 LegalZoom complaints on the BBB website. This is a large number of complaints — however, the number may be less significant than it first appears, since LegalZoom has a 3.6 million customers. LegalZoom also has a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.

Knowledge Center

LegalZoom’s Knowledge Center has information on business and personal matters, including Limited Liability Company formation, partnerships, nonprofit companies, real estate law, patent law, copyright law, bankruptcy, premarital agreements, divorce, last wills and more. These articles alone provide a wealth of legal information — and membership is not required to access them.

Member Questions and Answers

The LegalZoom website includes a section where users can submit questions, and read answers submitted by other users. This can be helpful in situations where your legal matter may be similar to that of another member, allowing you to learn from the other member’s experience.

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Positive Reviews

"The attorney that assisted me was responsive, informative, professional and polite. I will use this service again and I will recommend LZ to anyone seeking legal advice."
-NIGuest