What is a Protected form?

Some forms on US Legal Forms are protected to help you complete only the required fields while keeping the legal language and formatting intact. This prevents accidental changes to important content and ensures your form remains accurate and legally valid.

Why are some forms protected?

  • To keep the legal text accurate and compliant.

  • To guide you to fill in only the fields that matter (like blanks, checkboxes, dropdowns).

  • To reduce mistakes that could affect the validity of your form.

How to complete a protected form?

  • Download the form to your computer.

    • On Windows, choose the DOCX version and open it in Microsoft Word.

    • On Mac (without Word), choose the RTF version and open it with apps like TextEdit.

  • Fill in the required fields. The rest of the document is locked.

  • Save, print, or share your completed form as needed.

Note: In Microsoft Word, protected forms may be shown as "Restricted from editing." This label simply means the document content is locked, and only the fillable fields are editable.

(!) Avoid opening protected forms in Google Docs or other online editors, as this may break the form’s formatting or disable the protected fields.

Are other export options available?

Yes. Even though protected forms can’t be edited in our online editor, you can still:

  • Print the form

  • Send it via email or USPS

  • Use our online notarization service

Can I unlock a protected form?

If you are a legal professional and need to edit the locked content, you can unlock some forms in Microsoft Word using this password: uslf or USLF (uppercase or lowercase, depending on the document).

Keep in mind: Editing protected content may affect the legal accuracy of your form.

Why are protected forms only in Word/RTF, not PDF?

PDFs use a different editing system and don’t support this type of protection. That’s why protected forms are available only in Word or RTF formats.

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