It is surprising that most Americans have not heard of preventive legal plans. I’m not sure if other lawyers are keeping them under wraps because they think they might lose business or what the story might be. However, I know that for legal situations they are the best savings and protection people can get for their dollar.

According to the National Legal Services Consumer Resource Center and the American Hospital Association, you are three times more likely to be involved in a legal situation than to be hospitalized. In 1997, 33 million hospitalizations were reported in the United States compared to over 100 MILLION lawsuits filed that year. Is incredible!; You are 3 times more likely to end up in court than in the hospital.

Really, the best way to understand a preventive legal membership plan is that it does for legal and attorney bills what an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) does for hospital and medical bills. Consider these actual numbers. The national average is that attorneys want a starting pay of $1,500 and $194 per hour. Who can afford that? Who should have to do it? To be honest, he couldn’t even pay me and I’m in this business.

If you had a legal problem today, what would you do?

Could I afford a qualified attorney?

Here is an example. I know this doctor for real. We’ll call him Dr. Alfred. Dr. Alfred worked hard his whole life and was good at saving money and never had to use a lawyer except for real estate purchases. At the age of 69, Dr. Alfred had accumulated about $1,750,000 in retirement assets for himself. He came up with his son-in-law with this great business idea. He trusted his son-in-law, who presented him with a document for him to sign and they could be business partners. Dr. Alfred was excited and signed the paper. Three years later, Dr. Alfred lost all of his real estate, $1,500,000 in cash reserves that his son-in-law had withdrawn from his bank accounts, and spent $100,000 in legal fees to fight a lawsuit brought by the his son-in-law to discredit and bankrupt Dr. Alfred.

If Dr. Alfred had a prepaid legal insurance plan that offered a legal discount, he could have used his prepaid legal plan lawyer in his state, he found out that the paper he gave his son-in-law provided the son-in-law – the law has unlimited power over his assets and the attorney could have prevented Dr. Alfred from being reduced to $50,000 in assets through his life’s efforts.

Think about it. A single document destroyed Dr. Alfred’s savings and retirement. Don’t you think it can happen to you? Think again.

Should you consider getting a preventative legal plan? Consider this.

You have health insurance but you don’t PLAN to get sick today, do you?

You have car insurance but you’re not planning on going out and having an accident today, are you?

You have homeowners insurance, but you’re not planning on burning your house down today, are you?

You have life insurance but you are not PLANNING to go out and die today, correct?

There is no doubt that you obtained this insurance to protect your loved ones and property in the event of a disaster.

And disaster strikes without warning thousands of people every minute of every day without warning. The time to prepare is not AFTER they have happened! That’s too late. The time to protect yourself is NOW and that is why there is a great need for these types of plans.

So, in a country where you are 3 times more likely to be in court than hospitalized, doesn’t it make sense to have a preventative legal plan?

The great thing about a preventative legal plan is that it covers ALL FOUR of your other protections!

Now, not all plans cover divorce or family court matters but many of them do, even if they give you a 25% discount on the services of a lawyer for the nominal monthly fee charged, isn’t it worth the money? pain? Imagine saving $50 PER HOUR on a $200 PER HOUR attorney. Just 20 hours saves you $1,000 right there.

Legal plans are not perfect. They have their drawbacks as well as their benefits, but that’s a blog post for another day. For many people, legal plans are just what the doctor ordered, whether it’s for divorce, family law, and other types of cases.