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We get a lot of requests from our patrons for help finding forms. Forms are wonderful starting points for creating legal documents: they show the expected structure and the types of information you will need to provide to the court (or other organization you are working with). In this issue, we're looking at some of our favorite resources for finding legal forms.
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Minnesota Judicial Branch. The courts' website provides access to forms for family court, expungement, landlord/tenant, probate, and more. For some forms, such as divorce, conciliation court, and orders for protection, you can use a guided interview that will build a form based on your answers to questions.
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Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. If you want to transfer the title of your house or establish a lien on someone's property, the Uniform Conveyancing Blanks are a wonderful free resource.
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Practitioner Treatises. Many of our practitioner treatises and loose-leaf treatises provide samples of Minnesota forms. The Minnesota Family Law Practice Manual, Minnesota Civil Practice, and Minnesota Estate Administration Deskbook are some of our favorite resources for forms.
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Westlaw. Our Westlaw subscription includes access to a large library of forms. This is a good way to find forms not available in treatises or on the courts' website, or for other states and federal courts.
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Nolo Materials. Nolo publishes several books containing useful legal forms. 101 Law Forms for Personal Use provides forms for family issues, estate planning, financial issues, and housing issues. This resource is also available online at the State Law Library through the Legal Information Reference Center.
Remember, if you aren't sure where to find a form, you can always ask a librarian!
 Many people assume law libraries are only for lawyers and judges. This may have been true in the past, but today's law libraries bear little resemblance to this description. Recently, the Self-Represented Litigation Network (aided by our friends at the Ramsey County Law Library) prepared a video and a story map showing the unique services law libraries provide for members of our communities. The goal of the project is to highlight how law libraries help the general public and people taking on the challenge of representing themselves in court.
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