Terms of Service

1The Family Circle Services

Family Circle provides educational, organizational, administrative, technology-enabled, communication, and related services designed to help individuals and families remain organized, engaged with their planning, and connected with appropriate resources and professional advisors over time.

Depending on the services then offered by Family Circle, the Services may include planning reminders, educational materials, organizational resources, communications, administrative coordination, document organization tools, technology resources, access to third-party services, and other resources Family Circle makes available from time to time.

The Services may evolve over time. Family Circle may modify, improve, replace, supplement, or discontinue particular features, resources, technologies, or services as reasonably necessary to operate and improve the Services.

Subject to these Terms, Family Circle grants you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, and revocable right to access and use the Services solely for your personal and lawful purposes.

2Separate Membership and Paid Services

These Terms govern your access to and use of the Services. They do not establish the pricing, duration, renewal, cancellation, refund, or other commercial terms of any Family Circle membership or paid subscription.

If you enroll in a Family Circle membership, subscription, or other paid service, additional terms may apply, including a separate membership agreement, enrollment agreement, subscription terms, payment authorization, or other written terms presented to you.

Those separate terms will govern matters including, as applicable:

• Membership or subscription fees;
• The duration of a membership or subscription term;
• Automatic renewal;
• Payment authorization;
• Cancellation;
• Refunds;
• Account credits;
• Suspension for nonpayment; and
• Expiration or termination of a paid membership or subscription.

If a conflict exists between these Terms and a separate written agreement governing a paid Family Circle membership or service, the separate written agreement will control with respect to the subject matter addressed by that agreement.

Legal services and other professional services are also governed by separate agreements with the applicable professional provider and are not purchased under these Terms.

3Professional Advice Disclosure

Family Circle provides educational, organizational, administrative, technology-enabled, communication, and related services.

Family Circle is not a law firm, financial advisory firm, accounting firm, tax advisor, healthcare provider, insurance agency, investment adviser, or other licensed professional services provider.

Family Circle does not provide legal, tax, accounting, investment, financial, insurance, medical, healthcare, or other professional advice or services.

Information, educational materials, questionnaires, reminders, communications, technology tools, planning resources, and other content available through the Services are provided for general informational and organizational purposes.

They are not professional advice or recommendations concerning your individual circumstances and should not be relied upon as a substitute for advice from an appropriately qualified professional.

Family Circle may facilitate communications, scheduling, information sharing, or other administrative interactions between you and attorneys, accountants, financial advisors, insurance professionals, healthcare providers, or other professional advisors.

Family Circle’s involvement in those activities is administrative and does not make Family Circle responsible for the advice, services, recommendations, acts, or omissions of any such professional.

You remain responsible for determining when professional advice is appropriate and for consulting qualified professionals regarding your individual circumstances.

Nothing in the Services or these Terms creates an attorney-client, accountant-client, physician-patient, investment advisory, fiduciary, or other professional relationship between you and Family Circle.

4Participating Law Firms

Family Circle may work with law firms that participate in or provide services in connection with Family Circle (“Participating Law Firms”).

A Participating Law Firm—not Family Circle—is solely responsible for providing legal services.

Each Participating Law Firm independently determines whether to undertake or continue representation, the scope of representation, the legal advice provided, the legal documents prepared or revised, and the fees charged for legal services.

Any attorney-client relationship is governed by a separate engagement agreement between you and the applicable Participating Law Firm.

Family Circle is not a party to that engagement agreement and does not supervise, direct, or control the professional judgment of attorneys or law firms.

A Participating Law Firm owns and maintains its legal files in accordance with applicable law and professional obligations.

Information maintained in your Family Circle account or through a third-party technology service is not, solely by virtue of being maintained there, part of a Participating Law Firm’s legal file.

Your relationship with Family Circle and your relationship with a Participating Law Firm are separate and independent relationships. Ending one relationship does not automatically end the other.

5Accounts and Account Security

Certain Services may require you to establish a Family Circle account.

You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information and to reasonably maintain and update that information.

You are responsible for safeguarding your username, password, authentication credentials, devices, and other account information.

You must promptly notify Family Circle if you know or reasonably suspect that:

• Your account has been accessed without authorization;
• Your authentication credentials have been compromised;
• Your device or account presents a security risk; or
• Information maintained through your account may have been accessed improperly.

You may not permit another person to use your account except as expressly authorized by Family Circle.

Family Circle may implement authentication, identity-verification, password, multi-factor authentication, security, and other reasonable requirements designed to protect users, information, accounts, and the Services.

Family Circle may restrict or temporarily suspend account access when reasonably necessary to investigate or address a suspected security, privacy, fraud, or misuse issue.

6Third-Party Technology and Services

Family Circle may make technology platforms, software, applications, websites, payment services, document organization tools, communications services, and other products or services provided by independent third parties available through or in connection with the Services (“Third-Party Services”).

Family Circle may add, replace, supplement, modify, or discontinue Third-Party Services as its Services evolve.

Your use of a Third-Party Service may require you to accept separate terms of service, privacy policies, licenses, or other agreements directly with the applicable provider.

Information you provide directly to a third-party provider may be collected, processed, maintained, retained, and disclosed by that provider pursuant to its own terms and privacy practices.

Family Circle does not own or control independent Third-Party Services merely because they are accessible through or associated with the Services.

Family Circle does not guarantee the continued availability, functionality, security, compatibility, or suitability of any independent Third-Party Service.

Family Circle is not responsible for the acts or omissions of an independent third-party provider except to the extent responsibility cannot lawfully be disclaimed.

7Your Content

You retain ownership of documents, photographs, information, records, messages, and other materials that you submit directly to Family Circle (“User Content”).

By providing User Content to Family Circle, you grant Family Circle a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, process, transmit, display, and otherwise use User Content solely as reasonably necessary to:

• Provide and administer the Services;
• Carry out your instructions;
• Maintain, protect, and secure the Services;
• Provide technical and administrative support;
• Improve the Services;
• Comply with applicable law; and
• Satisfy Family Circle’s legal obligations.

You represent that you have the right to provide User Content to Family Circle and authorize its use as contemplated by these Terms.

You should not upload or provide information belonging to another person unless you have the legal right or appropriate authorization to do so.

Information submitted directly to an independent Third-Party Service may be governed by your agreement with that provider rather than this Section.

Family Circle’s collection, use, disclosure, retention, and protection of personal information is further described in the Family Circle Privacy Policy.

8Acceptable Use

You may use the Services only for lawful, personal, and authorized purposes.

You may not:

• Misuse the Services;
• Interfere with the operation, availability, performance, or security of the Services;
• Gain or attempt to gain unauthorized access to another account, system, network, database, or information;
• Circumvent authentication, access-control, security, or usage restrictions;
• Introduce malware, malicious code, viruses, automated attacks, or other harmful technologies;
• Use another person’s account without authorization;
• Impersonate another person or misrepresent your identity or authority;
• Upload, provide, or disclose information that you have no lawful right to possess, use, or disclose;
• Use the Services for fraudulent, deceptive, abusive, threatening, unlawful, or harmful purposes;
• Scrape, harvest, extract, or systematically collect information from the Services except as expressly authorized;
• Commercially exploit Family Circle’s proprietary content, workflows, technology, or Services without written authorization;
• Reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to derive source code or underlying proprietary technology except where such restriction is prohibited by law;
• Remove or alter proprietary notices;
• Use Family Circle’s proprietary materials, workflows, content, or technology to develop or support a competing commercial product or service; or
• Encourage, assist, or enable another person to engage in conduct prohibited by these Terms.

Family Circle may restrict or suspend access when it reasonably believes this Section has been violated or when action is reasonably necessary to protect the Services, Family Circle, another user, a Participating Law Firm, a third-party provider, or another person.

9Suspension and Termination of Access

Family Circle may temporarily restrict or suspend all or part of your access to the Services if Family Circle reasonably determines that:

• You have violated or may have violated these Terms;
• Your account has been compromised;
• Your account or conduct presents a security, privacy, fraud, or misuse risk;
• Restriction is necessary to protect you, Family Circle, a Participating Law Firm, another service provider, or another person;
• Your conduct is abusive, threatening, unlawful, deceptive, inappropriate, or disruptive;
• Restriction is necessary to investigate suspected misconduct or unauthorized activity;
• Family Circle is required to do so by law; or
• Restriction is reasonably necessary to protect the integrity, security, reputation, or operation of Family Circle or the Services.

Family Circle may terminate your access to the Services if Family Circle reasonably determines that you have materially breached these Terms, engaged in fraud or unlawful activity, created an unacceptable security or privacy risk, or otherwise engaged in conduct that materially threatens Family Circle, the Services, another user, or another person.

Termination of access to Family Circle does not automatically terminate any separate attorney-client, financial advisory, accounting, healthcare, insurance, technology, or other professional relationship.

Any rights relating to a paid Family Circle membership or subscription are governed by the separate terms applicable to that membership or subscription.

10Intellectual Property

Family Circle and its licensors retain all right, title, and interest in the Services and Family Circle’s proprietary materials, including:

• Names;
• Trademarks;
• Logos;
• Educational materials;
• Content;
• Designs;
• Workflows;
• Processes;
• Interfaces;
• Databases and compilations;
• Software;
• Technology; and
• Other intellectual property.

Except for the limited personal right to access and use the Services granted by these Terms, nothing in these Terms transfers any ownership or intellectual property rights to you.

Third-party names, trademarks, technology, content, and services remain the property of their respective owners.

11Disclaimers

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE SERVICES AND THEIR CONTENT, TECHNOLOGY, RESOURCES, AND FEATURES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY.

Family Circle does not warrant that the Services will always be available, uninterrupted, error-free, completely secure, or free from harmful components.

Family Circle does not warrant that information maintained through the Services will never be lost, damaged, corrupted, unavailable, or subject to unauthorized access.

Family Circle does not warrant or guarantee the advice, services, performance, results, availability, security, or conduct of any independent professional advisor, Participating Law Firm, or Third-Party Service provider.

The Services may contain information, links, tools, or resources provided by third parties. Family Circle does not endorse or assume responsibility for third-party content merely because it is accessible through the Services.

Nothing in these Terms excludes warranties or consumer rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.

12Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, FAMILY CIRCLE AND ITS AFFILIATES, MANAGERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AND AGENTS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICES OR THESE TERMS.

This limitation includes, to the extent permitted by law, damages arising from:

• Loss of data;
• Loss of access;
• Loss of profits or revenue;
• Business interruption;
• Unauthorized access;
• Third-party services;
• Professional services provided by others; or
• Decisions made in reliance upon information available through the Services.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, FAMILY CIRCLE’S AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICES OR THESE TERMS SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF: (A) THE AMOUNT ACTUALLY PAID BY YOU DIRECTLY TO FAMILY CIRCLE FOR THE SERVICES GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM DURING THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM; OR (B) ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100) IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID FAMILY CIRCLE DIRECTLY FOR THE APPLICABLE SERVICES.

The limitations in this Section do not apply to liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.

13Changes to the Services and These Terms

Family Circle may modify the Services and these Terms from time to time as its services, technologies, security practices, business practices, and legal obligations evolve.

If Family Circle makes a material change to these Terms that affects your rights or obligations, Family Circle will provide reasonable notice as required by applicable law.

Notice may be provided through the Services, by email, through your Family Circle account, or by other reasonable means.

The revised Terms will identify their effective date.

Your continued access to or use of the Services after the effective date of revised Terms constitutes acceptance of those revised Terms to the extent permitted by applicable law.

If you do not agree to revised Terms, you must discontinue use of the Services.

Changes to these Terms do not modify any separate written agreement governing a Family Circle membership, subscription, or other paid service unless that separate agreement expressly provides otherwise.

14Indemnification

To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Family Circle and its affiliates, officers, managers, employees, contractors, and agents from third-party claims, liabilities, losses, damages, costs, and reasonable attorneys’ fees arising from:

• Your unlawful use of the Services;
• Your material violation of these Terms;
• Your User Content provided in violation of another person’s rights; or
• Your fraud, intentional misconduct, or unauthorized activity involving the Services.

Family Circle will provide reasonable notice of any claim for which it seeks indemnification and will not settle a claim imposing a non-monetary obligation upon you without your consent, which shall not be unreasonably withheld.

15Dispute Resolution; Mandatory Arbitration; Class-Action Waiver

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS. EXCEPT FOR THE LIMITED EXCEPTIONS DESCRIBED BELOW, YOU AND FAMILY CIRCLE AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE BETWEEN YOU WILL BE RESOLVED THROUGH BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION RATHER THAN IN COURT. YOU AND FAMILY CIRCLE ALSO WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION, CLASS ARBITRATION, OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.

Before initiating arbitration, either party must first provide the other with written notice describing the dispute and the relief requested.

A notice to Family Circle must be sent to the address or email address identified in Section 17.

Family Circle may send notice to the most recent email or mailing address associated with your account.

The parties shall attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute informally for at least thirty (30) days after receipt of the notice.

Neither party may commence arbitration during that period unless immediate relief is reasonably necessary to prevent irreparable harm.

Except as expressly provided below, you and Family Circle agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to the Services, these Terms, your use of a Family Circle website, platform, account, resource, or service, or the relationship between you and Family Circle shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration on an individual basis.

This agreement to arbitrate applies to claims based in contract, tort, statute, regulation, common law, fraud, misrepresentation, consumer protection, or any other legal or equitable theory, whether arising before or after termination of your access to the Services.

The Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. §§ 1–16 (“FAA”), shall govern the interpretation and enforcement of this Section because the parties acknowledge that the Services involve interstate commerce.

Notwithstanding Section 15.2, either party may bring an individual claim in a small claims court of competent jurisdiction if the claim qualifies for that court and remains exclusively on an individual basis.

Either party may also seek temporary, preliminary, or other appropriate injunctive or equitable relief from a court of competent jurisdiction when reasonably necessary to prevent actual or threatened misuse, infringement, or misappropriation of intellectual property, confidential information, account credentials, personal information, or information systems.

Seeking such relief does not waive the obligation to arbitrate any other claim or requested remedy subject to this Section.

Nothing in this Section prevents either party from communicating or cooperating with a governmental or regulatory authority where permitted by applicable law.

Arbitration shall be administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect, as modified by these Terms.

If the AAA is unavailable or unwilling to administer the arbitration, the parties shall attempt in good faith to agree upon another nationally recognized arbitration provider.

If they cannot agree, a court of competent jurisdiction may appoint an arbitration provider or arbitrator consistent with the FAA and this Section.

The arbitration shall be conducted by a single neutral arbitrator.

Unless the parties agree otherwise, the arbitration may be conducted by telephone, videoconference, written submissions, or at a location reasonably convenient to you, as permitted by the applicable arbitration rules and applicable law.

The arbitrator may award any relief that would otherwise be available to the individual party under applicable law, but only to the extent necessary to resolve that party’s individual claim.

The arbitrator shall issue a reasoned written decision sufficient to explain the essential findings and conclusions upon which the award is based.

Judgment upon the arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction.

YOU AND FAMILY CIRCLE AGREE THAT EACH PARTY MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF, CLAIMANT, CLASS MEMBER, OR REPRESENTATIVE IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING.

Unless Family Circle and you expressly agree otherwise in writing, the arbitrator shall have no authority to consolidate the claims of different individuals, conduct any class or representative arbitration, or otherwise preside over any proceeding involving claims asserted on behalf of anyone other than the individual parties to that arbitration.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, YOU AND FAMILY CIRCLE EACH KNOWINGLY AND VOLUNTARILY WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO HAVE A DISPUTE COVERED BY THIS SECTION DECIDED BY A JUDGE OR JURY IN COURT.

The parties understand that arbitration is generally less formal than litigation and that rights to discovery and appellate review may be more limited than they would be in court.

Payment of filing, administration, and arbitrator fees shall be governed by the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules and applicable law.

Family Circle will pay any arbitration fees that it is required to pay under applicable law or the applicable AAA rules.

Family Circle will not seek reimbursement from you for arbitration fees paid by Family Circle unless the arbitrator determines that your claim was frivolous or brought for an improper purpose and applicable law permits such reimbursement.

Each party shall otherwise bear its own attorneys’ fees and costs except where applicable law or the arbitrator’s award permits recovery of those fees or costs.

You may opt out of the arbitration requirements contained in this Section by providing Family Circle with written notice within thirty (30) days after the date you first accept these Terms.

Your opt-out notice must identify you by name and the email address associated with your Family Circle account and clearly state that you are exercising your right to opt out of the arbitration provision of the Family Circle Terms of Service.

An effective opt-out applies only to the arbitration requirements of this Section and does not affect the remainder of these Terms.

Family Circle will not deny access to Services solely because you timely exercise your right to opt out of arbitration.

Except as provided in the following paragraph, if any portion of this Section is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be severed and the remainder of this Section shall remain enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law.

If the class-action or representative-action waiver in Section 15.5 is determined to be unenforceable with respect to a particular claim or request for relief and applicable law requires that such claim or relief proceed on a class, collective, or representative basis, that claim or request for relief shall proceed in a court of competent jurisdiction and not in arbitration, while any arbitrable individual claims shall remain subject to this Section to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Except to the extent governed by the FAA or another applicable federal law, these Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.

Any dispute that is not subject to arbitration under this Section shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts of competent jurisdiction located in Florida, and each party consents to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

16General Terms

These Terms, together with the Family Circle Privacy Policy and any other terms expressly incorporated by reference, constitute the agreement between you and Family Circle concerning your access to and use of the Services.

A separate membership agreement, subscription agreement, payment authorization, or other written agreement may separately govern your participation in a Family Circle membership or paid service.

A separate professional engagement agreement governs legal, financial, accounting, healthcare, insurance, or other professional services provided by an independent professional.

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be enforced to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, and the remaining provisions shall remain in effect.

Family Circle’s failure or delay in exercising any right does not waive that right.

You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your rights to access the Services without Family Circle’s prior written consent.

Family Circle may assign these Terms or any of its rights or obligations in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, corporate reorganization, sale of assets, change of control, or similar business transaction, or to an affiliate or successor.

Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, agency, employment, fiduciary, attorney-client, or other professional relationship between you and Family Circle.

Family Circle shall not be responsible for delays or failures in performance resulting from events beyond its reasonable control, including:

• Natural disasters;
• Governmental actions;
• War;
• Terrorism;
• Civil unrest;
• Labor disruptions;
• Utility failures;
• Widespread internet or telecommunications outages;
• Cybersecurity incidents affecting third-party infrastructure;
• Epidemics or pandemics; or
• Interruptions involving third-party providers upon which the Services reasonably depend.

Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination of access to the Services will remain effective, including provisions concerning intellectual property, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnification, dispute resolution, and governing law.

Electronic acceptance of these Terms has the same force and effect as a handwritten signature to the extent permitted by applicable law.

17Contact Us

Questions regarding these Terms or the Family Circle Services may be directed to: