As you move through your separation or divorce, you will likely need to fill out court forms or write other legal documents. When legal documents are poorly written, the judge has difficulty understanding your situation and your legal arguments might not come across. The easier it is to understand your documents, the more convincing your legal arguments will be. Since you want to convince the judge to decide in your favor, it’s important to take the time to write clearly and well.

Tips for Good Legal Writing 

1. Use plain language. Lawyers have a reputation for writing in an overtly complex and wordy way, but the trend now is to write more in everyday language. A judge wants to understand your case. The best way to ensure that they do is by writing in plain language. If you can get the meaning across in 8 words instead of 18, do it.
2. Write shorter sentences. Avoid telling your reader too much in one sentence. Shorter sentences are easier to digest. A good rule of thumb is to keep sentences under 20 words.
3. Write one idea per paragraph. Complicated information usually needs to be broken up into separate paragraphs to be understood.
4. Be professional. Don’t be sarcastic. The judge needs to understand the facts of your case, not the detailed story of your relationship break down.
5. Be well organized . Start by getting your ideas organized. Figure out what you want to write before you write it. This will help your writing to have more flow and become easy to comprehend. To organize your document, number each page and number each paragraph.
6. Be specific. Try to give the exact detail. Choose more specific words instead of vague ones.
7. Instead of using “recently,” say “last week,” or use the date.
8. Be accurate . Avoid contradicting yourself. If one statement in the document says the opposite of another statement, the reader won’t know which to believe. The last thing you want is for the judge to question your honesty. If you don’t know if something is true, don’t say that it’s true.
9. Be consistent. You want to make it easy for your reader to understand what you are saying. If you use a term or name for something or someone, be sure to consistently use it. For instance, don’t keep switching between first name, last name, and nickname.
10. Provide context . Assume the reader knows nothing about your situation. Provide a short description, 1 or 2 lines, which will help the reader understand the situation.
11. Conclusion first. A legal document should not be a mystery novel. The reader should not have to guess the conclusion. Instead, tell the reader your point right at the beginning of your document. You don’t want your reader asking the question, “Why are you telling me this?” The strategy is to say your point and then support it with evidence. Use this strategy for every point you’re making.
12. Only what’s relevant. Don’t get distracted when you’re writing. Say exactly what you need to convince the reader. Irrelevant information will do nothing to help your case. You don’t want the relevant facts getting lost in the pile of irrelevant ones.
13. Edit your work. As in all professional writing, spelling and grammar is important. Be sure to read through it multiple times before finalizing your draft. If you can, have someone else edit it.
14. Legal review. Getting a professional to review your document will help ensure that it is done properly. A lawyer can point out mistakes that are not immediately obvious to people without legal training.