Resources - US Legal Services

Annual Legal Document Review: Now is a Great Time

January 31, 2019

Maybe you’re already in the habit of regularly reviewing your legal documents and, if so, this year’s process will likely go fairly fast. If you’re not in the habit, now’s the time to make that an annual task. Here are five important documents to create or review, plus insights into credit report reviews and corresponding identity theft protection, and how to create an emergency preparedness plan for key documents. Living Will This document allows people to share what their medical care wishes are for when they reach their end stages of life; this is therefore a type of advance directive. Living wills are important because they let medical professionals and hospitals know how you’d like for them to proceed with your care, even when you can no longer communicate those wishes yourself. Having an up-to-date living will also allows your family members to clearly know what your end-of-life wishes are. If you don’t have this document or if your situation has changed since you first created one, make sure to create or update your living will so your current wishes are accurately reflected. If there are multiple adults in your household, each living will should be reviewed. As a worst-case

Financial New Year’s Resolutions for Employers and Employees

December 31, 2018

As the new year approaches, people across the country will make resolutions to improve their lives during the following year and beyond. Although all resolutions are clearly not the same, certain ones seem to be the most common, year after year. Near the end of 2017, a public opinion company (YouGov) surveyed people to find out which resolutions topped the charts. There was a three-way tie for number one: Eat healthier Get more exercise Save (more) money It’s not surprising that a financial resolution was one of the chart toppers. In fact, that’s pretty much expected, with financial New Year’s resolutions ranking at or near the top regularly. If those rank high for you as well, here are tips for organizing your finances in 2019. Financial New Year’s Resolutions for Employers Resolution #1: Reduce Employee Turnover Recruiting and onboarding employees can be expensive, and the costs of high turnover can really damage a company’s bottom line. After all, what turnover really means is that you’ll repeatedly be recruiting and onboarding for the same positions over and over again. Each time you need to replace an employee, you have the costs of recruitment advertising, plus you must screen resumes and conduct

Debt Collection Laws: Know Your Rights

December 28, 2018

When money gets tight, sometimes financial obligations don’t get met. After a certain amount of time passes without payment, a lender may engage a debt collection agency to collect past due amounts. If you’ve ever been contacted by one of these agencies, then you’ve experienced the stress that comes with being unable to pay your bills, and the added stress that arises when a debt collector agency contacts you for payment. You may not know that you have rights that are laid out by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). It’s important to know what these rights are to protect yourself from unfair or unscrupulous debt collection agencies. What Debt Collectors Can and Can’t Do Debt collection agencies are allowed to contact you regarding personal debts but not business-related debts. Personal debts can include credit card bills, student loan debts, and medical bills. They are allowed to use the following methods to contact you: phone calls letters emails text messages Debt collection laws prevent agencies from legally contacting you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. unless you’ve given them permission to do so. If you inform them that you can’t accept calls at work, they’re no longer allowed

Estate Planning for 18 Year Olds: Why Is This Necessary?

December 6, 2018

When you think of estate planning, you probably think about this in connection with older adults—or at least people who have already become parents and want to protect their children’s future—but, in reality, once someone turns 18, he or she should at least do some basic estate planning. And, if your child has or will shortly be receiving significant assets, then the estate planning should be more in depth. Specifically, there are two estate planning documents that even the youngest of adults should have, even if he or she doesn’t yet have substantial assets: Health care proxy Durable power of attorney Yes, you hope these documents won’t be needed, at least not for a really long time, but they are important to have. That’s because, without them, parents don’t typically have the authority to manage money for their adult children or make healthcare decisions for them if they become temporarily capacitated. This is true, even when you’re still paying for your children’s healthcare plans and/or their tuition, or even if you still claim them as dependents on your tax returns. Laws vary by state, but here’s a general overview. (And, if you subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, you can

Including Legal Documents in Your Emergency Preparedness Plan

September 27, 2018

September is National Preparedness Month, a month that’s in the middle of the June 1 through November 30 hurricane season. In 2018, the theme of National Preparedness Month is “Disasters Happen. Prepare Now. Learn How.” In this post, we’ll share tips to help you create a plan to protect your important documents in case of emergency. In reality, emergencies can happen during any time of the year so, no matter when you read this post, now is the best time to get started creating your own document-protection plan. If you’re a member of one of our legal insurance plans, you can take advantage of the legal assistance with document preparation your plan provides. What to do if documents are missing Before we go into depth about which documents to protect and how to protect them, we want to provide helpful information for people who may have already lost their documents. Steps to take include: Make a list of every important missing document, yours or from any of your dependents; you can refer to the list we’ve created in the next section to help you brainstorm. Consult emergency management websites for help, including the site of the Federal Emergency Management Agency

5 Ways Commercial Drivers Can Use Legal Insurance Benefits

September 13, 2018

Without a doubt, one of the most important assets a commercial driver can have is a clean driving record. And, because a commercial driving license is federally regulated, professional drivers must meet higher driving standards than a typical driver. If you are a motor carrier, you know that having drivers with clean records is one of your company’s most important assets. Drivers’ good records can save you significant amounts of money, time and hassle, keeping your drivers on the road and freight moving. Even the best, most experienced drivers can encounter legal issues on the road. When that happens, having legal assistance at hand is essential to protecting a driver’s CDL. Our CDL Defender™ legal insurance benefits plan is an affordable way to provide that protection, offering these advantages and more: #1 Protecting Drivers with Local Attorneys Commercial drivers often drive in multiple states, and what’s legal in one state may not be in the next. This applies to standard driving laws within a state, as well as numerous regulations and laws that apply specifically to commercial drivers. The latter includes those focusing on safety equipment and weight limits, hours of service standards, cargo securing, and more. Be sure to

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