Family Legal Plan. Trainer: Jay Moore

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1 Family Legal Plan Trainer: Jay Moore Let s discuss the legal plan that you can offer the employees (including the business owner), and their families after the business has purchased a SmallBiz plan. For the purposes of this training course, we re going to focus on the most widely available plan. Keep in mind that plan availability, pricing, and benefits may vary depending on your state or province. Please refer to States and Provinces at a Glance in the training guide for a full list of plan availability, prices, and benefit coverage. For an eligible employer group, the Legal Plan costs $23.95 per month and covers the member, the member s spouse or domestic partner, never-married dependent children under the age of 26 who are still living at home or full-time college students, and dependent children under the age of 18 for whom the member is a legal guardian. The plan will also cover physically or mentally challenged children living at home who are at least 51 percent financially dependent. The Legal Plan provides an amazing assortment of benefits. The most widely used benefit within the Legal Plan is personal legal advice. Legal Plan members can call their Provider Law Firm and ask an unlimited number of questions about personal legal issues, no matter how traumatic or trivial they might be. Unexpected legal questions arise every day, and with the Legal Plan, members have access to quality law firms to get those questions answered. Someone might have questions about a Living Will, collecting child support, a personal injury case, or their landlord-tenant relationship. There are all kinds of things that might require legal advice, and having access to professional legal advice can provide the information and knowledge needed to make smart decisions. Above all, Legal Plan members enjoy the peace of mind knowing that their law firm always has their back. You might ask if an employee has recently gone to a lawyer for help with a legal problem, or even more importantly, if they had an issue where they thought about contacting a lawyer but decided not to because of the cost. With the Legal Plan, the employee can go ahead with any question, and without paying the high hourly rates typically associated with legal advice. As another benefit, members will have 24/7 emergency telephone access to a provider attorney if they are detained by a law enforcement officer, involved in an automobile or motorcycle accident that results in bodily harm or physical injury, if the member is served with a warrant, or if the state tries to take the member s children. Please note that the 24/7 emergency access does not assist in making, posting, or obtaining bond, bail, or other security required for release. There are many situations we hope never to find ourselves in, but in the event of an emergency, what will you do? With the legal plan, help is always available.

2 Members will also receive letters and calls made on their behalf. Let s say a member receives an aggressive collection notice in the mail for a bill they ve already paid. With their membership, not only can they call the law firm and discuss that letter with an attorney, but if the attorney determines a letter or phone call in response would be of further assistance, they can send that letter or make that call on behalf of the member. The membership covers the first such letter or phone call for each separate personal legal subject matter per membership year. It doesn t matter if the collection notice is for $40 dollars, or $400 dollars, or $4,000 dollars, the member should not have to pay it or spend time disputing it. That s what the Provider Law Firm is there for. The Legal Plan also includes contract and document review up to 15 pages. I m sure we ve all signed a lease or purchase agreement at some point, or maybe you re applying for a loan. It s so important to get a lawyer to review these types of contracts prior to signing. Everyone deserves the ability to protect themselves and know their rights. It s easy to ask if an employee has ever signed a document without reading through it carefully and understanding exactly what they were signing. If we re being honest, the answer is yes for all of us. And even if they did read through it, a lawyer will see and understand exactly what the document does far more clearly than an untrained layperson. By getting professional contract and document review, an employee with a Legal Plan can know what they re getting into, and only sign on things they are confident in and truly agree to. As another benefit, if the member is purchasing a house, they can get their mortgage and closing documents reviewed, too. They can also get advice on property tax assessments, home equity loans, and tenant rental issues. The member and covered family members can also get their Last Will & Testament prepared by the Provider Attorney under the Legal Plan. This is a huge benefit and is so important to have. Nearly 70 percent of Americans die without a Will, and their families are left with nothing, or at best, mired in legal disputes. Someone once told me that a Will is the best love letter you can ever write to your loved ones. It s a gift you leave your family because it makes the management of your estate very clear and much easier. If you don't have a Will, the state will decide what happens to your possessions, your kids, and your financial legacy. The member is entitled to have a standard Last Will & Testament prepared by the Provider Law Firm as well as a Testamentary Trust for a minor child if it is included in the Will. The Provider Law Firm provides annual reviews and makes necessary changes each membership year. Reasons to update the Will might include moving to another state or a change in the member s marital status. The plan also includes preparation of Living Wills or Healthcare Directives,

3 Durable Power of Attorney, and advice and consultation on Revocable or Living Trusts, Statutory Powers of Attorney, and Bankruptcy. So many people do not have these documents prepared, and it can lead to incredibly difficult, complicated, and heartbreaking situations. Ask employees if they have these documents. If they don t, the Legal Plan pays for itself both immediately in terms of preparing these vital documents and also in the long term, by avoiding a disaster down the road. I would like to stop here for a minute and share a true story; that unfortunately, illustrates the repercussions of not having a Will. Several years ago, there was a head-on car collision; that sadly, resulted in the severe injury of a mother and two of her children and the death of her husband and one of their children. The injured mother and her 2 daughters were transported to a local hospital. Upon arrival, the mother slipped into a coma. Her daughters were treated and were ready to be released. Even though their extended family was at the hospital, the girls were not released to a family member. Instead, the state took custody of the girls. Why? The family did not have a Will documenting where their children should be placed in the event of the death or incapacitation of the parents. The Legal Plan helps families like this ensure that their family is cared for at all times in accordance to their Last Will & Testament, Living Will, Durable Power of Attorney, and HIPAA release documents. Fortunately, in this case, the mother did come out of a coma and was able to regain custody of her daughters. Unfortunately, it only came after the mother was able to prove to the state that she was mentally, physically, and financially stable enough to be able to take care of her children. We don t want that to ever happen to anyone and the Legal Plan will give employees the opportunity to make sure that their family is protected and no additional cost. Moving on to the next benefit, the member will also receive assistance with non-criminal moving traffic violations. The Provider Law Firm must have 5 business days notice for court representation. Members can also receive defense if charged with manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide, or vehicular homicide, arising from the permitted use of a licensed motor vehicle. The Provider Law Firm will provide the member with assistance up to, but not including, the filing of a lawsuit, to collect property damage claims of $5,000 or less for property damages received as a result of the member driving, riding in, or being struck by a motor vehicle. Speaking from personal experience, I recently utilized the traffic violation coverage when I received a speeding ticket. Yes, it s true; like many of you, I suffer from heavy foot disease! All kidding aside, the process was simple and about as stress free as it gets. Within 10 minutes of exchanging pleasantries with the ticketing officer, and rolling up my window in shame, I was on the phone with my Provider Law Firm.

4 The attorney returned my call a few hours later to hear my version of events and to explain what was going to happen next. A few days later, my attorney called to let me know they were prepared to represent me at my scheduled court date. When I showed up at the courthouse, my attorney pleasantly greeted me and told me what was going to happen in court. When my case was called, my attorney did all of the talking; and in the end, we settled the case. I paid a small fine and the court agreed not to assign points to my license, reducing my exposure to additional insurance related costs. I guess you could say I m a product of the product! Another cool feature of our plans is the LegalShield app. Members can use the app on their phone to quickly send their speeding ticket to their Provider Law Firm. All they have to do is snap a picture of the ticket and click send. And in the event of an accident, the app includes auto accident tips to help keep you calm and focused on doing the right things at the scene. So not only is this valuable coverage, but it s easy to use, too! The plan also includes trial defense protection if the member or the member s spouse is named as a defendant or respondent in a covered civil suit, including but not limited to situations such as real estate, insurance, construction, and consumer goods and services. The action must be filed in a state or federal district court. The Provider Law Firm will provide services under the schedule of hours based on the membership year. In year 1, the member will receive 2.5 pretrial hours and 57.5 trial hours, totally 60 hours. If unused, the member can accumulate up to 300 total trial hours by year 5. Refer to the Legal Plan contract for a full schedule of hours based on membership year. The plan also includes family and domestic services, which begin 90 days after activation. These include representation, advice, and consultation on: Uncontested Divorce, Uncontested Adoption, Uncontested Separation, Uncontested Annulment, and Uncontested Name Change. Members will receive IRS audit assistance if they receive written notice of a covered investigation, examination or audit, or when required to appear at the IRS office. Members receive one hour of consultation, advice, or assistance when notified of an audit or official notice by the IRS of examination in your office, home, or a local IRS office. The member will receive an additional 2.5 hours if settlement is not achieved within 30 days. If the case goes before a court, the member will receive 46.5 hours of Provider Law Firm services. Coverage for this service begins with the tax return due April 15 of the year the member enrolls. Our records indicate that up to 90 percent of member inquiries are covered by the Legal Plan with no additional fees incurred by members. All other requests for service are entitled to a 25 percent discount on the law firm s hourly rate (including pre-existing issues).

5 Members also have access to an online legal library of videos that focus on many of today s most common legal concerns, and access to several legal forms through the online Forms Service Center. The member can select the form needed, complete it, and then send to his or her Provider Law Firm for review. And last but not least, they have access to the discounts offered through the Member Perks program and a 25 percent preferred member discount for items not covered under the plan. So why do employees need a Legal Plan? Here are a few questions you can you ask to establish a need for the services provided by our Legal Plans: When was the last time you updated your Will? Have you ever received a traffic ticket? Have you ever signed a contract or document that you didn t understand? Have you ever needed a lawyer s advice or been treated unfairly? Have you ever dealt with a civil dispute? Chances are, they will likely answer yes to at least one of those questions. There are hundreds of scenarios that could arise where employees would need personal legal support. Refer to the 101 reasons to use LegalShield in your training guide for a detailed list of reasons many of which came from real-life member situations!