What Legal Documents Actually Require When You Print Them

What the Law Actually Requires

The law cares about what appears on the page: the content, the signatures, the dates, and the formatting that makes it readable and authentic. It does not care whether you printed it on a $50 inkjet or a $5,000 laser. It does not care about ink type, paper brand, or whether you used a print shop. What matters is that the document meets the specific formatting rules for its jurisdiction and document type.

Most legal documents do not require special printing at all. They require specific paper size, margins, font specifications, and single-sided printing. That is all standard office equipment can do.

Paper Size and Margins

Legal documents in the United States use 8.5 x 14 inch paper, not the standard letter size of 8.5 x 11. This is the first real requirement. Your printer must support legal-size stock.

Most office printers handle legal paper without issue—check your printer's manual or specifications. If your printer maxes out at letter size, you have a problem that no amount of ink quality will fix.

Margins vary by document type and jurisdiction. Court rules typically require:

• 1 inch on all sides for most federal and state court filings
• 1.5 inches on the left for some state courts (the extra space is for binding or annotation)
• 0.5 to 1 inch on the top for documents with headers

Check the specific court rules or the document template for your jurisdiction. The margin is enforced by the court, not by your printer.

Font and Spacing

Legal documents require readable, proportional fonts in a specified size. Common requirements:

• 12-point font minimum for body text (some jurisdictions allow 11-point)
• Times New Roman, Arial, or Courier are standard; decorative fonts are not acceptable
• Double-spaced body text in most court filings
• Single-spaced footnotes or block quotes (varies by jurisdiction)

These are settings in your word processor, not your printer. Open your document in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or LibreOffice Writer and set them there.

How to Set Legal Formatting in Word

1. Open the document.

2. Go to Layout (or Page Layout in older versions).

3. Click Size and select Legal (8.5 x 14).

4. Click Margins and set all sides to 1 inch (or per your court rules).

5. Highlight all text: Ctrl+A (Windows) or Cmd+A (Mac).

6. Go to Home and set font to Times New Roman, 12-point.

7. Go to Paragraph and set line spacing to Double.

How to Set Legal Formatting in Google Docs

1. Open the document.

2. Go to File > Page settings.

3. Set page size to Legal.

4. Set margins to 1 inch on all sides.

5. Highlight all text: Ctrl+A or Cmd+A.

6. Set font to Times New Roman, 12-point from the font dropdown.

7. Set line spacing to Double from the line spacing menu.

How to Set Legal Formatting in LibreOffice Writer

1. Open the document.

2. Go to Format > Page.

3. Set page format to Legal.

4. Set margins to 1 inch.

5. Highlight all text: Ctrl+A.

6. Go to Format > Character and set font to Times New Roman, 12-point.

7. Go to Format > Paragraph and set line spacing to Double.

Single-Sided vs. Double-Sided Printing

Court rules almost always require single-sided printing. Print on one side of the page only. This is a printer setting, not a document setting.

In Word, go to File > Print, and under Settings, make sure Print on One Side is selected (it usually is by default).

In Google Docs, go to File > Print and check that only one side per page is selected.

In LibreOffice Writer, go to File > Print and under Options, ensure Print to File is unchecked and single-sided printing is active.

What the Law Does Not Require

The law does not require:

• Special ink or toner. Standard black ink or toner is fine. Colored ink is not required and may actually violate rules that specify black text only.
• Specific paper brand or weight. Standard 20 lb (75 GSM) white paper is acceptable. Heavier paper is fine; lighter paper is fine. Colored paper is usually not acceptable.
• A print shop. You can print legal documents at home on your own printer, as long as the printer produces readable, clear output.
• Certification of the printing process. No authority certifies that you printed it correctly. The court reviews the document itself.

Signatures and Notarization

If the document requires a signature, you must print it first, then sign it by hand. If it requires notarization, the notary public will verify your signature and add their seal and signature. These happen after printing, not during it.

When to Use a Print Shop

Use a print shop if:

• Your home printer does not support legal-size paper.
• You need multiple bound copies with specific finishing (covers, tabs, binding).
• You need a large volume and want consistent output.
• The document has complex formatting or color that your printer cannot handle reliably.

A print shop will handle the formatting and printing correctly, but they will not certify legal compliance. That remains your responsibility.

Before You Print

1. Verify the formatting rules for your specific court or jurisdiction. Rules vary widely.

2. Use a template from your court's website if available—it has the correct margins and spacing built in.

3. Print a test copy on regular paper first. Check margins, font size, spacing, and readability.

4. Print the final version on legal-size paper, single-sided.

5. Sign and notarize if required.

The law is strict about formatting because it ensures documents are readable and consistent. It is not strict about how you achieve that formatting. Standard office equipment and basic word processor settings are enough.