Family legal Plan Planmember Guidebook

Index | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Section 4

Part One - Section 3
Definitions and Miscellaneous Information

DEFINITIONS

BANKRUPTCY CHAPTER 7 includes preparation of the petition, documents, and schedules. Filing fees, court appearances and costs are additional. Attorneys may charge one fixed rate, which would include the basic fixed fee plus costs, court time and expenses.

DIVORCE (SIMPLE) is when the plan member’s spouse is not represented by separate counsel, there are no minor children under age 18, marital assets are less than $70,000 and all issues are agreed to without aid of counsel. This does not include court appearances, the filing or preparation of documents affecting property or costs, or separation agreements.

ELIGIBLE FAMILY MEMBERS are the plan member’s significant other, domestic partners, dependent children who are under the age of 25 and any categorically dependent individuals living in the plan member’s home such as a parent or grandparent.

INCORPORATION (REGULAR) includes preparation of the incorporation documents, (articles of incorporation, by laws, and the minutes). This does not include filing fees, costs or the corporate kit. Any extended work for the new corporation is not eligible for family plan discounts. Not-for- profit organizations, limited liability corporations (LLC’s) and limited partnerships (LLP’s) are not included in this definition. Plan attorneys can assist members choosing to set these entities up at the reduced hourly rate of $75.00.

NAME CHANGE Plan attorneys will assist you and your family in obtaining a name change when it is not contested or challenged by another party. This includes preparation of the petition, attendance at the hearing, and preparation and review of the final judgment document. This fee does not include additional court appearances, filing fees, or the attorneys travel time to and from the courthouse.

NON-SUPPORT (SPOUSE/CHILD) The discounted fee for you and your family includes the preparation for and the attendance at a single hearing for judgments or contempt citations for non-payment of alimony and child support maintenance. Additionally, the plan attorney will provide one hour of collection efforts after the hearing, which may include an initial phone call made and/or a collection letter written on the member’s behalf.

Preparation does not include obtaining discovery evidence, extended court time and extended collections work. All extended legal care will be provided to members at the deeply discounted rate of $75.00 per hour.

PLAN/PARTICIPATING ATTORNEYS are licensed and qualified to practice law in your state, are required by the company to maintain professional liability insurance, and have contracted with Legal Club of America to provide legal services to plan members as outlined in this Plan member Guidebook for the law areas that they handle and the cases that they accept.

PLAN MEMBER is any person who has purchased a Legal Club of America® membership and is current with their payments.

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE CLOSING The discounted fee for a residential real estate closing includes a free initial consultation and the review of the member’s purchase or sales agreement. Additionally, the plan attorney will provide one hour of representation at the closing for the purchase or sale of residential real estate. Additional hours will be billed at the low hourly rate of $75.00.

All research including Title insurance, liens, deeds, property judgments, flood, hazard, or mortgage insurance, and fees associated with filing real estate documents in your state are not included in the definition or covered by this discounted rate. Additional work will always be done at the deeply discounted member rate of $75.00 per hour.

SIMPLE WILL (NO CHARGE WILL) A will distributing personal property, not involving trusts, specific bequests, real estate, tax matters, guardianships, health care proxies or partitions.

SIMPLE WILL W/TRUST The discounted fee includes the preparation of a simple will with a minor’s trust for the surviving minor children of the plan member. This document will contain information related to minor children (specifically; name, DOB, SS#), real estate, specific bequests, and information pertaining to the appointed guardian of the estate of our member.
This fee does not cover extensive information regarding retirement plans, investments and their tax treatment, other kinds of trusts, complex tax matters, or estate planning. Counsel for these additional areas of law will be provided to plan members at the deeply discounted rate of $75.00 an hour.

TRAFFIC DEFENSE The discounted fee applies to first time non-criminal traffic infractions including but not limited to; violation of traffic control device, failure to stop at a stop sign, improper change of lane, illegal turns, improper or unsafe equipment, expired tag, no proof of insurance, unlawful speed, improper passing, failure to use turn signal, failure to yield the right of way and safety belt violations.

The special privileged rate applies to each individual non-criminal traffic infraction. The discounted fee includes the preparation of any necessary court documents and attendance at a single court hearing to settle a single, first time, misdemeanor traffic infraction.

The discounted fee does not include court costs, fines imposed by the presiding judge, additional scheduled hearings or other traffic matters that the court deems to be criminal in nature.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

• Participating attorneys are bound by their state’s professional code of ethics. They will advise you if they have a conflict of interest in taking your case. Attorneys have the inherent right to decline a case for any reason. If this occurs, you may be referred to another attorney on the plan by calling Legal Club’s Member Services Department for assistance.
• You may cancel your membership at any time by written notification only. Membership dues are fully refundable for thirty (30) days following the initial enrollment unless otherwise contracted.
• Attorney fees are paid directly to your plan attorney. Participating attorneys are not employees of Legal Club of America® and have no financial obligation to the company.
• Legal Club of America®, Legal Club Financial and any of their agents, officers, or subsidiaries are not liable to indemnify or reimburse any plan member or participating attorney for any attorney fees or costs generated by the plan member.
• Legal Club America® and Legal Club Financial, its subsidiaries, State Bar Associations and other regulatory agencies do not guarantee the quality or quantity of legal services that are provided by plan attorneys. However, all participating attorneys are required to provide certificates of liability insurance, and background checks are performed, not less than annually, to verify that they are in good standing.
• The plan attorneys in their attorney/client relationship have the sole responsibility for providing legal services to the plan member.
• Legal Club of America® is not a law firm, insurance carrier or a provider of legal services.
• All memberships shall automatically renew at the end of each membership term, unless Legal Club is notified in writing at least thirty (30) days prior to the end of the term.
• The term “guarantee” as used in this guidebook refers to the guarantee that Legal Club will use its best effort to locate and refer its members to an attorney that will abide by the fee schedule outlined herein. If Legal Club cannot find such an attorney for a member, the member’s only recourse is a refund of the most recent month’s membership fee.
• Court filing fees, expert witness fees, court costs, court reporter fees, transcript expenses, photocopying costs, postage, telephone toll charges and any other incidental expenses incurred by the plan member are excluded from discounted rates under any of the three pricing formulas described in this guidebook. Travel expenses are not eligible at discounted rates when the attorney must travel to represent a plan member’s interests.

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