... it is best to have a contract that does a good job of covering all contingencies you are likely to face. Boilerplate contracts from the Internet will not give you that kind of contract, but they are a good place to start in figuring out what situations you might face that you hadn't thought of.
I agree with Linda that no one should simply sign their name to boilerplate stuff they find on the Internet. But I do not agree with Linda that a newbie should not look at boilerplate for ideas about what issues they need to consider when customizing a contract for their own situation.
Linda, I don't particularly disagree with anything you've said in your last post. But, you say I've been doing this for years ... My concern is that this statement is true and you don't really remember what it is like to be at the beginning of the learning curve and not know which way to turn.
For those who don't have the money for lawyers to draft a contract from scratch, or don't have the money for books, where do they learn how to start with their contract?
They are going to look at the Internet regardless of whether you tell them not to. I think those who are going to take boilerplate from the Internet and slap their name on it will do that no matter what we say. I'm speaking to those who will respond to reason when we give a reason why they should not slap their name on boilerplate - even if they do use it to help focus their own attention on their own business. I'd like to think there are a few folks out there like that.