Not Just for Estate Planning: Everything you can use your MetLife Legal Plan for

Most of our members get MetLife Legal for their will and trust, which is great! Our legal plan is a great way to save a lot of money, stress, and time when it comes to wills, but estate planning is not all its good for.

With the MetLife Legal plan, you have access to a team of legal professionals at no cost, access to lawyers who can help with domestic legal proceedings (like boundary/title disputes, adoptions, or even school hearings), and more serious civil lawsuits. You can even use your plan to help go over personal legal documents, contracts, or any other pertinent assessments!

Throughout this article, we’re going to break down the different categories of coverage and see how MetLife Legal can help you!

Financial Assistance

With your legal plan you’ll be able to find a lawyer who can help with all sorts of financial matters, from debt collection defense to personal bankruptcy to even disputes relating to audits.

Basically, if the law is involved, you can get a lawyer on your side who will help you with your situation.

One of the most useful things MetLife Legal does is provide its members with identity theft defense. Meaning if your information is stolen, you’ll be able to use a lawyer to represent you and deal with any financial or social repercussions due to the hack.

Check out the list below for all the ways MetLife can help you when it comes to money matters:

Debt Collection Defense
Identity Management Services
Identity Theft Defense
Negotiations with Creditors
Personal Bankruptcy
Promissory Notes
Tax Audit Representation
Tax Collection Defense

Home/Real Estate

Legal proceedings that deal with real estate usually require a specialized lawyer, and they can be quite expensive. With MetLife Legal, you’ll be able to find an in-network expert who is able to help you with all sorts of trouble. From eviction defense, to reading over contracts when selling/buying a home, or even dealing with mortgages.

Through MetLife Legal you’ll be able to find a lawyer who can help you assess your current property tax and can even help you refinance your home. These two processes are extremely useful and can end up saving you money (or maybe even keep you from mistakenly costing yourself more).

Here are some more ways MetLife Legal can help when it comes to legal issues surrounding your home.

Boundary/Title Disputes
Deeds
Eviction Defense
Foreclosure
Home Equity Loans
Mortgages
Property Tax Assessments
Refinancing of Home
Sale or Purchase of Home
Security Deposit Assistance
Tenant Negotiations
Zoning Applications

Family and Personal

If there’s anything you’ve been meaning to do, but don’t want to because you don’t want to go to court, MetLife Legal has you covered. From adoptions, divorce, guardianship, or even a name change, MetLife can help you find a lawyer who will help you get your matters settled.

Our members with the plan often state that their favorite part of it is having a lawyer who is essentially on call to review any personal legal documents. With this plan, you can ask a professional to go over any personal legal document, whether that’s a contract, an NDA, or any other legally-binding sheet. This can save you a lot of hassle and can keep you informed if any contracts have sticking points.

Here's a list of all the ways MetLife’s legal plan can help you when it comes to family/personal law:

Adoption
Affidavits
Conservatorship
Demand Letters
Divorce (20 hours)
Garnishment Defense
Guardianship
Immigration Assistance
Juvenile Court Defense
Name Change
Parental Responsibility
Matters
Prenuptial Agreement
Protection from Domestic Violence
Review of ANY Personal Legal Document
School Hearings
Personal Property Protection

Civil Lawsuits

If you are taken to civil court, MetLife is there to help with every step of the way. You’re likely to be completely covered if this is the case, but you should definitely consider discussing pricing with your lawyer to make sure you won’t be paying any additional fees.

Civil lawsuits can be anything from small claims to a full-out civil court case. Here’s a list of some of the things they cover when it comes to civil cases:

Administrative Hearings
Civil Litigation Defense
Disputes Over Consumer Goods & Services
Incompetency Defense
Pet Liabilities
Small Claims Assistance

Elder-Care

There are a lot of documents and things to consider when it comes to elder-care, and having to pour over contracts and rules is not what you want to be doing when a loved one needs you most. MetLife Legal is able to help you understand Medicare, nursing home bylaws, and can help you with deeds, wills, and leases.

For a full list, check below:

Consultation & Document Review for your parents’ Deeds/Leases
Medicaid
Medicare
Notes
Nursing Home Agreements
Powers of Attorney
Prescription Plans
Wills

Vehicles/Driving

For most people in the US, the only times they interface with the court is for jury duty and traffic tickets. MetLife Legal can’t get you out of jury duty, but they can help you with traffic ticket defenses. MetLife also has lawyers who are experts dealing with repossession and license reinstatement.

Here’s how MetLife can represent you when it comes to vehicles:

Defense of Traffic Tickets
Driving Privileges Restoration
License Suspension Due to DUI
Repossession

And of course…

Although this article is not meant to focus on wills and trusts, that is the #1 reason people sign up for this plan. If you’d like to learn more about that, click the link below.

https://news.sdpeba.org/wills-trusts-health-directives-estate-plan-online-metlife-legal

For a more general guide about MetLife Legal or if you’d like to learn how to sign up for a plan, click the link below:

https://news.sdpeba.org/everything-you-need-to-know-about-metlife-legal

If you have MetLife Legal and want to find an attorney, check out this video!

https://news.sdpeba.org/how-to-find-an-attorney-with-metlife-legal-peba-talk