Sometimes all you need is help with the paperwork™
Most people find BeforeYouFile.Info the same way: a Google search or an AI search in the middle of researching a legal problem. The site is a library of Florida legal information for do-it-yourself filers and self-represented people, and everything in it is data, forms, and information made available by the State of Florida, organized and explained in plain English. We are not attorneys, and nothing here is legal advice. Reading the site or contacting us doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship, and we can’t answer legal questions, tell you which form to choose, or recommend a course of action. Those are questions for a lawyer, and we always encourage you to seek competent legal advice. What we can do is show you what the law and the forms say, so you understand what you’re looking at before you file.
You won’t find a subscription offer, a newsletter popup, or anything for sale here. We assume you came for an answer to a specific problem, and we hope that once it’s behind you, you won’t need us again until the next one. Many articles link to outside websites, including Form America LLC’s own services and those of affiliates who may compensate us for referrals for your specific issue. We tell you this so you know where a link leads and why it’s there.
What Form America LLC does
Form America LLC, the publisher of this site, does paperwork for all 67 Florida counties, and nothing outside of Florida at this time. Florida Supreme Court rules allow a nonlawyer to help complete certain forms the Court has approved, and that is the extent of our work. You choose the form and supply the information, and we make sure your DIY forms are complete, accurately typed from what you gave us, and properly formatted for filing. We don’t build cases, draft custom legal documents from scratch, or decide anything on your behalf.
Who’s behind it
BeforeYouFile.Info was founded by David Happe, a Tampa Bay area entrepreneur whose background includes training in risk analysis. He holds a Certificate in Studies from St. Cloud State University and is a non-attorney member of the Florida Association of Legal Document Preparers. He’s also registered and licensed for Insurance and Annuities in Florida (License W954746.) Before turning to document preparation, he spent his career building and selling companies, with three sell-side exits that each went through full due diligence. He has seen firsthand how a loose operating agreement or a sloppy corporate record can stall a deal, and how clean paperwork prepared early makes the hard moments in a business easier to get through.
On this site, David is a writer. He reads Florida’s published forms, statutes, and court resources closely and explains them in language a non-lawyer can follow, much as a good reporter covers a legal topic. He isn’t acting as a paralegal or in any legal capacity here, and no attorney reviews or approves the articles. Think of him as someone who has read the paperwork carefully, not as the professional who decides what it means for you.
Dave writes most of the content here. If you want to get a hold of him personally, email formamerica@protonmail.com and we will route your inquiry to him, but he doesn’t give legal advice. Sometimes, all you need is help with the paperwork.
