The Facts About MetLife Legal Plan Plus
The MetLife Legal Plan Plus is a group legal plan made available through the MetLife Benefits Plan. Essentially, the legal plan is an Option C benefit plan that can come at no extra cost to employees or their families. It is designed to provide coverage for a wide array of legal issues for covered family members.
In addition to standard estate planning benefits, employee lawyers and their families who are covered by the MetLife Legal Plan Plus have access to more than 1,250 attorneys nationwide. These attorneys can provide counsel and assistance with family law, consumer law, civil claim, civil rights, litigation, landlord/tenant, personal injury, real estate, social security and a range of other issues . Employee and family members may utilize this plan an unlimited number of times, provided that the legal services provided are tied to a covered issue. A number of the benefits are available for no out-of-pocket cost to the employee or family member and even provide for in-person consultations and document reviews.
Several issues are not covered by the plan. For example, any pre-existing employment litigation is inadmissible. Abuse and harassment cases and other criminal matters are also excluded, along with third parties involved in personal injury cases. Those who file bankruptcy before enrolling in the plan may not have coverage for these cases, either.
Insurance for Parents
MetLife Legal Plan Plus provides coverage for parents. In the event of a divorce between the biological parents, MetLife will cover the child if the child is not covered by health insurance through the employing spouse. If the child was otherwise covered by the plan, the benefits would not be extended to the divorced biological parent. If both parents are covered employees, then the child will be covered with a maximum of $25,000 on an aggregate basis.
The types of covered matters for parents are as follows:
Divorce and Separation
Cases involving divorce or separation between an employee and his or her spouse in which the employing spouse is named as a defendant. Matters related to separation include the filing of legal separation proceedings without complaint, temporary orders without a complaint, civil actions for separate maintenance, and post-judgment separate maintenance. The plan does not cover contempt actions, including contempt actions that concern child support or alimony. Contested divorce proceedings in which possession of the family home is an issue may be covered to the extent that the claimant and the spouse are joint owners or tenants by the entireties.
Adoption
Adoption of a child who has not been previously adopted, where the employing spouse is the adopting parent. The legal plan covers the legal fees and court costs for agencies and counselors. Coverage includes foreign adoptions in which the child is born after the birth of the second of the employee’s eligible children. The plan covers only the adoption of children and not adult adoption.
Absentee parents
Legal representation of the absentee spouse against the custodial parent if the custodial parent files a petition to modify child support or file adoption proceedings against the absent spouse.
Guardianship
Legal representation for parents named as sole guardians for their mentally disabled children. Additionally, legal representation for parents whose mentally disabled dependent children are committed involuntarily by the Department of Mental Health under applicable laws. There is no coverage for voluntary commitment of the mentally incompetent mentally disabled children.
Paternity as a parent
Any employee or spouse of the employee who wishes to seek to establish paternity for a child will be covered.
Foster Care
As a parent of a foster child, the employee may seek legal advice and counsel with respect to any legal matters associated with being a foster parent.
Alimony, Child Custody and Child Support
Alimony, child custody and child support determinations are covered with respect to the custodial parent and the non-custodial parent.
The plan does not cover cases that involve heritable property rights.
Advantages of Adding Parents
Extending MetLife Legal Plan Plus to parents offers multiple benefits. First and foremost, you will gain the peace of mind of knowing you are able to extend many of the protections and advantages of participating in a legal plan to your parents. The cost savings aspect cannot be ignored and is an important consideration as well. In addition to saving money, it may mean they require less ongoing legal work and could avoid many potential legal issues as well. MetLife Legal Plan Plus can provide some much-needed help to parents who are faced with many common issues. Among the issues parents face for their legal needs include Medi-Cal planning, estate planning and power of attorney assignments.
Adding Parents to Coverage
The process for enrolling parents in the MetLife Legal Plan Plus is as follows:
Eligibility:
To be eligible for coverage under this plan , several criteria must be met.
Identification:
Some identification is required to enroll the NLD or their family member in a plan. Coverage may include the eligible NLD’s.
Documents Required:
- Copy of Parent’s Driver’s license (front and back) or State ID Card.
- Copy of Grandchild’s Birth Certificate showing parent’s name and date of birth.
- Copy of Grandchild’s Active Duty Orders if applicable.
Enrollment Process:
Enrollment can be completed online. You will be required to submit documentation as described above and you will receive an email confirmation to your NLD email address.
How to Compare Family Legal Plans
On the surface, MetLife Legal Plan Plus is a legal plan that looks somewhat like the regular MetLegal plans. It has the same large network of attorneys, with one key difference. Regular MetLegal plans offer coverage for either a particular family member or members of a household in some cases, while MetLegal Legal Plan Plus covers all children, regardless of whether they are living at home or living away from home. In addition, the legal plan also covers spouse or domestic partner as well as child and child’s spouse or domestic partner.
Some regular plans allow the kids to be covered in their own households, but MetLegal Plan Plus covers even the kids that are away at school, for example, while many plans cut off coverage at age 22 or when the kids leave home.
MetLegal Plan Plus sounds like an obvious value for families with kids, but the downside of this particular plan is that, while it seems to have all the core benefits of other MetLegal plans, it does not provide identity theft coverage, which is offered on most of the other MetLegal plans. I suspect that lenders may raise the costs of future plans to include identity theft coverage, which may make it less attractive for families.
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions about MetLife Legal Plan Plus:
Q: How much does the MetLife Legal Plan Plus cost?
A: The price of the MetLife Legal Plan Plus is typically $18.90 per month, paid through payroll deductions. The deduction amount may vary based on your employee class.
Q: For how many hours can an employee use the plan for one covered matter?
A: The plan covers each matter for up to 10 hours of services from the attorney.
Q: Does the MetLife Legal Plan Plus cover all of my family members?
A: Yes. The eligible children of the enrolled employee, the enrolled employee’s spouse or registered domestic partner, and the enrolled employee’s parents and parents-in-law are all eligible for coverage . However, the plan generally covers only family residences located within the U.S.
Q: Which types of legal documents does the MetLife legal plan cover?
A: The plan covers:
Q: How can I best utilize the MetLife legal plan?
A: We recommend you begin your journey with the MetLife legal plan by contacting MetLegal. Most importantly, make this contact prior to engaging the attorney provided by the plan. Chat with a customer-service representative, take the initial steps toward scheduling your appointment, and ask any other questions you may have.