Affordable Legal Care for Caregivers

Welcome back to the show for caregivers about caregivers hosted by a caregiver.

This is Peter Rosenberger. This is Hope for the caregiver and we are glad you're with us. 800-688-9522.

800-688-9522. If you want to be a part of the show, you can also follow along at facebook.com slash hope for the caregiver and our website is hopeforthecaregiver.com. By the way, go ahead and take a look at all the stuff that we have. We have the podcast, which is free, and I'll put the whole show out there on the podcast, but I also will clip up sometimes the show and because if I have a particular segment or a caller or a thought or a song that Gracie's recorded or whatever and I thought okay we'll just put it out there because caregivers don't always have time to listen to a 42 minute show straight through.

And I will put the whole show out there, but I do also put in various segments that we have and speaking of segments, John, we are going to introduce a new segment today. I want you to think about something as a caregiver. Think about all the legal documents you need. The power of attorney, a will, a living will, so many more things and then think about disputes over medical bills.

Just go down the list of all the things you do as a caregiver. What if instead of putting out a bunch of big fees for a lawyer, I mean lawyers are very expensive per hour, for just a little bit of time you were able to pay a monthly membership and got a law firm for life. Guess what? Legal representation is going in a much different direction now in the form of accessible, affordable, full service coverage and you can live life knowing you have a lawyer in your back pocket who's not emptying it and that's the whole point of this. So it's called Legal Shield and I have a very special guest here to talk about today, Michelle Schulman of the Nathan Group. She's all things Legal Shield and I've been a member for myself for now more than five years and it is well paid for itself.

I've helped with all kinds of stuff with me, setting up business stuff, dealing with wills, dealing with traffic tickets, whatever, not that I get a lot of traffic tickets John, but in the rare event that it has happened. So Michelle, welcome. Thank you. How are you feeling?

I feel fabulous. Well, thank you very much for being here and walking us through this. Let's just jump right to a bunch of things. You've been involved with Legal Shield for a long time and you've seen pretty much everything, haven't you? Well, probably. Absolutely. When it comes to all the things that people need and this is the day-to-day stuff, so let me just, I want to just go down a list of questions for caregivers that we would, you know, we're facing all the time and some things we need and I thought maybe you could just kind of check them off with us, okay?

Okay. First off, how much is this going to cost to speak to a lawyer? Well, it doesn't cost you anything.

All you're paying for is a monthly subscription fee of $24.95. And this is for a real law firm? It is one of the high rated law firms.

We have, we're actually breaking, we're a disruptive model. So instead of having to look in the phone book or asking a friend if they've used a lawyer and who it was, what Legal Shield has done is found a full service law firm in each state to represent our members in that state. So you know when you call in, you're speaking to a lawyer, not a paralegal and not a secretary, and that lawyer is licensed in your state so they know the laws that apply to you in your situation. You know, that's really important to know. Every time I've called in and I've done this multiple, I've used them for multiple things, I always get a call back from an attorney and it's not always the same one because it's depending on what I need.

Exactly. And I've talked to the same one over several times with various related projects, but it depends on what I need and they will put me with an attorney and it's not an assistant, it's not some intern, it is a real attorney calling back and so that's great to know. Is there a time limit? Well, you have to call during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, but you can't wear it out. You can call on an unlimited number of issues. If you need to call back on the same issue, you are welcome to do that and the attorneys will continue to answer your questions and move things forward for you. All right. What about if there's an existing issue that's already in play?

As long as you don't have already, you have not already retained an attorney, pre-existing conditions are covered as well. That's just astonishing. All right. Now, I know that I've used for preparing a will and they do things like power of attorney and kind of go down the list of all the things that's orbited a caregiver's world because you've done this. You've done this as a caregiver yourself and you've had to go through this taking care of a different family member. Go through kind of the circle of things that we got to deal with as caregivers. Absolutely.

For your loved one, as long as they are able to speak to an attorney, to at least communicate, to let them know that they'd rather have you deal with their issues, you are that relative can get a comprehensive will, living will, advanced healthcare directive and if necessary, a durable power of attorney at no additional cost. Now, that's covered under the $24.95. Correct. $24.95, not $2400, not $240, $24.95 every month and it pays for itself.

A whole year's worth of this membership will pay for itself in one hour phone call with many attorneys. Absolutely. That's great. All right. Now, let me go through this. A lot of folks are dealing with getting on social security disability and they see these lawyers advertise on television.

Don't need those anymore, do we, if we're doing this? Correct. You'll call in, you'll speak to an attorney who is knowledgeable with disability in the social security administration. They will advise you. What I've been told is what they'll probably have you do is submit the initial paperwork yourself. If the claim is denied, then they will run and be advocates for you and do the heavy lifting. You know, and I, I did that myself.

I mean, I went through it, but there's a lot of folks that out there, it's an incredibly intimidating process and it is, and if you go and you call an attorney on television and God bless them, I'm not slapping them around, but they're going to take a piece of the action. That's right. Legal Shield's not going to do that.

Correct. And what's nice is as you're filling out the paperwork, you can call back in and ask questions if you're not sure of what should go into what field. When the application is completed, you can send it into the law firm, email it in, an attorney will review it, call you back, and let you know if they feel that anything should be changed. So it's not as if you're going to be downloading a form for a disability claim and you're on your own. Your hand will be held the entire way and hopefully it'll be approved the first time through, but if not, you've got, as I said, you've got top rated advocates there that'll fight the fight for you.

Well, I want folks to just think through this for a moment. If you file for disability for a loved one and they're going to go, it's going to take a process to go through it, 18 months, sometimes two years, depending on the journey. And the moment you file, if it's approved, they're going to go back and back pay you those disability payments. That could be 10, 15, even 20, I don't know, maybe even more, thousands of dollars. I mean, we're talking a substantial amount of money. And if you are hiring an attorney like that you see on television or whatever, they're going to take a percentage of that. That's right. But Legal Shield is not. They're just $24.95 a month. Correct. So if you're looking up this for, what is that, $300 a year roughly, versus if you get a settlement of $15,000, you're talking vast amount of difference if they're taking 20% of that.

That's going to be 3,000 versus 300. And I don't even see how this is even a factor in decision-making because the importance of dealing with this. Now, if you've got a medical bill, they'll help you dispute, if you need to dispute it with a hospital or some type of medical practitioner, having a lawyer, you've been there, Michelle. It is a game changer, isn't it?

It's amazing. We get on the phone and we talk to the hospital, we talk to the provider, and so often it goes nowhere. What you then do is you call into your law firm, you speak to an attorney, they'll ask questions, they'll probably have you send in whatever policy you have, and it's amazing. They will write a letter on your behalf at no additional cost, and it's incredible how quickly that provider or that hospital stands up, pays attention, and resolves the issue. No muss, no fuss. There are so many things day to day in our lives that we really could use some professional help with, legal help with, and we don't because we're afraid of those big legal bills that come in, and there's a reason to be afraid of those. They are big legal bills, and who's got an extra $1,500 sitting around to go have a couple hour conference with an attorney?

But now- But it's not only- Go ahead. Well, I was going to say, it's not only that, it doesn't have to be the big things. As a caregiver, our time is so precious and we are so stressed and stretched so thin that sometimes we just have minor problems, minor aggravations. And to have to sit on the phone for a half an hour waiting for customer service, or have to return to a store to argue with a manager that you deserve a refund, all you have to do is pick up the phone, call your law firm, and let the attorney write interference for you, write a letter, or make a phone call, and you're going to see magic happen.

It truly is magical. $24.95 a month. Now, real quick, in the little bit of time I have, I had a lady contact me, and her mother had some level of dementia and was blind, and somehow one of her siblings changed the wheel around and the family didn't know it, and all the property went to the sibling. It was a real mess, and the rest of the siblings were all up in an uproar about it. They didn't know what to do because here's this document now, and this is the kind of thing that legal help is so helpful with because you need...

I told her, I said, don't get all emotional about this yet. Sit down with an attorney and let a qualified attorney go through this with you. This is what Legal Shield is for, to help you with these things so that because there is such a...

There's no margin for error a lot of times with us as caregivers, and we're dealing with high drama on any given day, and to know that you've got a full-service law firm that can go through it and help set up things and refer you for things. In the case you need a criminal defense lawyer, and I'm not saying anybody here at this studio does. John, don't... You're not saying... I didn't... I've been advised. He's already pleading defense.

We didn't say anything, John. No, but those things will probably incur a cost, but they will refer to you at a discounted rate. Did I get that right?

Yes, sir. And then what if somebody's going through a pretty nasty divorce? Well, the nasty divorce, you will have a divorce attorney again at a discounted rate, but if the divorce is amicable and everybody agrees on everything, 90 days after you sign up for the membership, an uncontested divorce, the legal fees are zero. All you're going to have to do is pay for the filing fees.

All right. We're going to go to caregiverlegal.com. Caregiverlegal.com if you want to know more. And Michelle, we're going to have you back on. We're going to talk about this some more, because this is going to be an ongoing issue for so many people.

They don't know where to go. Caregiverlegal.com, and you could sign up today. Right now, you could start doing this. You don't have to wait. It's pretty quick, isn't it, Michelle?

Absolutely. Sign up today. You'll be speaking to an attorney Tuesday morning. I have been a member for five years, and it has really been a huge help to me. Hope for the caregiver.

We're all about practical solutions. Michelle Schumann from the Nathan Group. Michelle, thank you so much for being a part, and I'll put this out on the podcast. Thank you, Peter.

All right. Caregiverlegal.com. It's all about helping you stay strong and healthy as you take care of someone who's not. This is Hope for the Caregiver. We'll be right back.