Certified Legal Document Preparers in Tucson

Hoyt & Associates, LLC is a family owned and operated Certified Legal Document Preparer business. Richard C. Hoyt, David G. Hoyt, and Chris R. Hoyt are all Arizona Certified Legal Document Preparers* in Tucson. We have been certified by the Arizona Supreme Court to prepare legal documents for the general public.

We have been preparing a variety of court documents for the Tucson community at affordable prices since 1992. Our goal is to provide professional, quality documents and services for individuals who can’t afford or don’t feel they need an attorney but want the documents they need done correctly.

About Us

Richard Hoyt

Richard Hoyt and his family moved to Tucson from Massachusetts in 1985.  He became a licensed Real Estate Agent in 1986 and began preparing income tax returns a few years later. In 1992 Richard began preparing documents for the Tucson community as an independent paralegal. Back then he did all of the documents on a typewriter! He started with bankruptcy documents and quickly added others to his list of services when it became apparent that there was a real need in the community for a variety of other documents. The business steadily grew and in time he had need for some more help. His two sons joined the business and now share the load. He and his wife Linda celebrated 50 years of marriage in 2018,  and all 5 of his children and 7 grandchildren (and counting) live in Tucson.

Chris Hoyt

Chris Hoyt came to join his father in business over 15 years ago and was certified as an Arizona Certified Legal Document Preparer in 2005. He’s been preparing most all of the companies bankruptcy documents since coming aboard and has many years of experience in that field. He, along with his brother and father, regularly teaches other AZCLDPs the basics of preparing bankruptcies at yearly continuing education classes. In addition to preparing bankruptcy documents he also regularly drafts up divorce petitions and child support documents. He is married to his wife, Jamie, for over 10 years and has two young children.

David Hoyt

David Hoyt joined the business in 2004 and was certified as a Legal Document Preparer in 2007. He has experience in the preparation of most of the documents that we prepare in some form, but specializes in Estate Planning documents. He is also very involved in preparing all of the Income Tax Returns we do and the day-to-day running of the business and filing court documents. In 2016 he became a licensed Real Estate Agent and works with Richard as an agent with Tierra Antigua Realty.  A Tucson native, he is happily married to his wife, Sarah, and they have two young boys.

What is the difference between a Paralegal and a Certified Legal Document Preparer?

When most people begin looking for someone to help them prepare a legal document, the term they think of is “paralegal.” However, that term may not correctly identify the type of professional they are looking for, especially in Arizona. What they likely are looking for is actually called an ARIZONA CERTIFIED LEGAL DOCUMENT PREPARER (AZCLDP, or CLDP).

What the AZ Supreme Court States

upreme Court of AZ Rule 31 states that a paralegal is “a person qualified by education and training who performs substantive legal work…..who is supervised by an active member of the State Bar of AZ.” So a paralegal works under the supervision of an attorney. By contrast, Arizona Code of Judicial Administration § 7-208 defines a legal document preparer as “an individual or business entity certified to prepare or provide legal documents, without the supervision of an attorney, for an entity or a member of the public who is engaging in self representation in any legal matter.” Therefore, a certified legal document preparer (CLDP) does not require supervision by a licensed attorney to prepare legal documents but is  monitored by the Arizona Supreme Court.

So while we sometimes use the term “paralegal” when describing our services because it is a term more people are familiar with, the proper term is “Certified Legal Document Preparer.”  As you are searching for a professional to prepare your documents you will find many companies that advertise themselves as paralegals. Before hiring someone to prepare your documents, make sure that they are certified as Legal Document Preparers.

At Hoyt & Associates, LLC, all members of our staff are certified to prepare your legal documents.

AZCLDPs 80052, 80078, 80927

In addition to being AZCLDPs, we have association or past associations with:

Child Rights Counsel
National Collation of Grandparents
Grandparents United for Children’s Rights
National Association of Federated Tax
Tucson Association of Realtors
Legal Assistants Association
Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging
Grandparents Concerns Task Force
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Council

Additional Education:

Federated Tax School
Brodsky School of Real Estate and Hogan School of Real Estate
Phoenix School of Insurance