About Legal Advice for Free

Who we are

Legal Advice for Free has been online since 2005. What started as a small collection of plain-language explainers on common legal questions has grown into a reference covering major practice areas — divorce, personal injury, bankruptcy, landlord-tenant disputes, criminal law, estate planning, and more — along with state-specific pages for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The goal has not changed since the site's early days: take legal topics that are usually written for other lawyers, or buried in statute text most people can't parse, and explain them in language a non-lawyer can actually use.

Who this site is for

Most people who land on this site are trying to understand a situation before they decide what to do about it. That might mean:

• Figuring out what “uncontested divorce” or “Chapter 7” actually means before a first call with an attorney
• Understanding what rights they have as a tenant, an employee, or someone injured in an accident
• Learning how a legal process generally works — probate, small claims court, a workers' comp claim — so they know what to expect
• Deciding whether a situation is one they can handle themselves or one that genuinely needs a lawyer

If you fall into any of those categories, this site is built for you. Our guide to finding a lawyer covers that last question in more detail, including free and low-cost options if hiring a private attorney isn't realistic for your situation.

What we cover

Content is organized around practice areas — the major categories of law people run into in everyday life — and a state-by-state hub covering how a given topic plays out under each state's specific rules. Family law, personal injury, criminal law, housing, employment, and estate planning are covered in the most depth; we're continuing to expand coverage over time.

What we are not

Legal Advice for Free is not a law firm. We do not practice law, do not represent clients, and nothing published here is legal advice for your specific situation. Using this site does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and anyone associated with it.

Laws vary significantly by state and change over time. General information about how an area of law typically works is not the same as advice about your particular facts, and only a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction can give you that. Read our full legal disclaimer before relying on anything you read here.

How we work

Every page is researched against primary sources — state statutes, court rules, and government agencies — rather than summarized from other websites. Details on how content gets researched, reviewed, and updated are in our editorial policy.

Get in touch

Spotted an error, have a correction, or want to reach us for another reason? Visit our contact page. If you need help with an actual legal problem, start with our guide to finding a lawyer instead — we can point you toward the right kind of help, but we can't provide it directly.