Welcome to Church Legal Tools

Find Peace of Mind With 150+ Affordable Legal Tools

We provide an affordable and comprehensive legal solution for churches to mitigate legal risk.

Many churches find themselves entangled and distracted with legal issues that consume time, resources and relationships that could be better used to help people come to know Jesus.

Get Started Questions?

Every day churches just like yours get derailed or ripped apart with preventable conflicts, disagreements and misunderstandings.

Frequently the tyranny of the urgent keeps you from returning to the important work of preventing problems before they consume you and your church, because there is always more to do and one more person to help right now.

You find yourself thinking:

Are we at risk? Is this legal? What am I missing? How can I be sure I have what I need?

Legal risk for your Church is real. Don't stay exposed!

Church Legal Tools offers:

Answers You Can Trust:
FInd answers to your questions with trustworthy legal tools tailored for your state's laws, all created, updated and regularly reviewed by church law experts and experienced church leaders.

Less Stress & Chaos, More Peace:
Over (150+) legal documents for almost any situation, all searchable and customized for your Church. Browse the entire collection for a specific need, or follow our Wizard to finalize your customized legal documents.

Simple Step By Step Guides:
You also get access to CLT's Legal Portal, our unique online process that will walk you step by step through the creation of the all the essential 50 legal documents your church likely needs, then access our library of over 150+ documents for each situation your Church is exposed to - all specific to your state's laws and up to date!

Active Support:
If you get stuck, have a question, or need something unique added, you can easily make request to your Legal Review Team vis CLT's Legal Portal.*

*Additional fees may apply depending on the nature of the request.

Church Legal Tools can help.

Church Legal is a subscription based service to protect your church and leadership.

We have done the hard work for you to protect your church. Your subscription gives you access to our cloud portal where you will provide basic information, our system dynamically customizes and tailors documents to your needs.

We start with 50 key documents that provide the foundational protection your church should have.

Sign up today and get:

Our documents are regularly being reviewed and updated by our church law experts and experienced church leaders. As a member, you will receive notifications for when your current documents have been updated or if they still require signatures.

You will immediately have access to 50 key documents. These are some examples of the key documents that provide the protection your church needs:

You also have access to 150+ advanced documents that will provide customized protection for your church:

If you ever do not find what you are looking for, you can just shoot us an email or fill out a document or policy request ticket. Our team will provide the customized work that you need to protect your church.

You will also have access to our partner law firm, Goldfeder & Terry, with affordable rates for Church Legal Tools members. Their state licensed paralegals and lawyers are available to answer your basic questions and provide help.

If you get stuck, have a question, or need something unique added to your documents, you can easily make a request to your Legal Review Team via the Church Legal Tools portal.

Church Legal Tools was founded with the idea of helping to protect Churches from legal liability and challenges that distract you from the mission God has called your Church to and to keep your Pastoral and Lay leaders safe.

We wanted to provide an affordable and comprehensive way to offer complete legal protection. This is a model that exists for many industries, but never the local Church - until now.

We start with the basics - 50 key customized documents, with over 150+ advanced documents available. If you have any issues beyond these, we are your legal team and will help you with any legal issue your church faces.

You will find over 150+ editable documents for common church needs like these:

Church Employee Handbook that clarifies and protects
Church Staff job descriptions and agreements
Fundraising and capital campaign guardrails
Financial Best Practices
Employee Correction/Restoration Agreements
Employment termination guides
Severance with non disparagement agreements
Communication guidelines for church or team discipline
Event participant waivers of liability
Church bylaws recommended updates
Church board confidentiality and commitments pledge
and many more

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How It Works

Each new client completes a church profile that captures a complete snapshot of your church's key information. That information is mapped to the correct field for all of you state-specific, legally binding documents.

The Church Legal Tools team then regularly reviews your documents to ensure they are up to date with any changes in your State's laws and will advise you of any changes.

An iPad showing the Church Legal Calendar

Pricing

Church Legal Tools is an annual membership fee payable in monthly installments or annually for a 15% discount. Whether you are a church plant or a multi-site with 10+ Campus locations, we've got you covered.

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Support

If you get stuck, have a question, or need something unique added, you can make requests to our Legal Review Team via the Church Legal Tools Portal. State licensed paralegals and lawyers are available to answer your basic questions and provide help.

If you find yourself in need of specific representation, CLT may refer you to our partner firm, Goldfeder & Terry* with negotiated rates for Church Legal Tools member churches.

*Additional fees may apply depending on the nature of the request.

Get Started Questions?

News

Alabama Pastor Serves Time

A pastor in Alabama served time in prison for failing to report “love offerings” as taxable income. He claimed to believe these offerings were gifts to him that did not need to be included on his W-2. This is a common mistake among church employees, and one that is easily avoided with basic legal oversight.

Source

North Carolina church is facing a lawsuit

A church in North Carolina is facing a lawsuit after a staff member was accused of sexually abusing several children while in the church’s care. According to the lawsuit, the church failed to investigate the staff member’s criminal history before hiring him, and the church’s security measures were inadequate and those that were in place were not properly followed. Because the church failed to maintain and follow basic child-safety measures, multiple children were harmed and the church now faces extensive legal ramifications.

Source

Congregation defrauded by thier pastors

Two pastors defrauded their congregation and the IRS by funneling church contributions into their personal accounts. The individuals spent over five years in prison for their crimes. Churches can be protected from schemes like these by having reasonable and accessible financial and legal protections in place.

Source

Churches can be sued for copyright infringement

Churches have been sued for copyright infringement for printing lyrics and/or streaming copyrighted music or videos without license or permission. Even in situations where there is no intention to willfully misuse the music, liability may still exist. Churches without the proper protections and licenses in place for the use of music or videos may invite legal liability and financial penalties.

Source

Find Peace of Mind With 150+ Affordable Legal Tools