Voluntary Legal Service Plan

About the Voluntary Legal Service Plan

The PEF Membership Benefits Program (PEF MBP) provides active, dues-paying PEF members and retirees with a Voluntary Legal Service Plan at an affordable annual fee that can be paid for bi-weekly, monthly (see plan costs), or by a single payment. The Plan also provides savings you receive through fees that have maximum caps. The Voluntary Legal Service Plan is a benefit members and retirees can use for every day matters. Lawyers are not just for emergencies, they are there to help you make informed decisions about a variety of personal matters throughout your life. That is why the investment in a legal service plan is a good decision for most. A legal service plan provides you with reliable advice, from a powerful team of legal experts, at substantially reduced rates.

The Voluntary Legal Service Plan is your legal team for many personal matters such as:

• Estate Planning, which could include the creation of four (4) key estate planning documents, and consultations regarding a Simple Promissory Note, a Simple Trust, and Simple Reciprocal Will with a Simple Trust
• Family Matters, such as marriage, separation, divorce, and child support
• Financial Issues, including real estate, refinancing a mortgage, and personal bankruptcy
• Other matters, such as a traffic violation, misdemeanor, name change, and driving while intoxicated

John Van Voris Estate Planning Experience

Individuals covered by the plan

Once an active, dues-paying PEF member or retiree purchases the Legal Service Plan, the following individuals are covered:

• The PEF member or retiree and his/her spouse or domestic partner who is living with the covered participant.
• The PEF member’s or retiree’s unmarried dependent children or domestic partner’s unmarried children (including stepchildren and legally adopted children) under the age of nineteen (19) years or under the age of twenty-five (25) years if they are wholly dependent upon the covered individual for support and maintenance and are enrolled as a full-time student in an educational institution.
• The PEF member’s or retiree’s parents, provided the parents are wholly dependent upon the covered participant for their own support and maintenance and reside with the covered participant.

Voluntary Legal Service Plan Costs

Active, dues-paying PEF members and retirees may purchase the plan via a direct pay option or payroll/pension deduction option.

Direct Pay Plan Cost: $78 per year

• PEF Member Payroll Deduction Plan Cost: $3 per pay period (26 pay periods)
• PEF Retiree Pension Deduction Plan Cost: $6.50 per pension deduction period (12 periods)

Available riders:

• Business Protection Rider—$60/year
• Elder Law Rider—$55/year
• Parole Officer Rider—$22/year
• Traffic Defense Rider—$30/year

30-day free-look period:

If you are not completely satisfied after reviewing your Legal Plan Certificate of Coverage that you will receive after purchasing the plan, you may cancel your plan for a full refund within 30 days of purchase by contacting the PEF Membership Benefits Program, 10 Airline Drive, Suite 101, Albany, NY 12205, (518) 785-1900, ext. 243, or (800) 767-1840. This is a risk free plan. If you implement a consultation with Feldman, Kramer & Monaco, that is considered use of the Plan and you will not receive a refund.

Important Information About the Plan

For more information about the Voluntary Legal Service Plan, please view any of the plan features listed below:

Complete plan coverage details

Declination by the National Legal Office or Participating Referral Attorney

Terms & conditions

Voluntary legal plan exclusions

Domestic legal matters

In any proceeding in which both the plaintiff and defendant are covered individuals, the entitlement to telephone advice and consultation from the National Legal Office shall rest with the named covered participant. However, covered participants may be referred to two (2) Participating Referral Attorneys, providing there is no relationship between such Participating Referral Attorneys and the National Legal Office except for the Referral Legal Benefit Agreement between such parties.

Continuation of coverage

Any PEF member or retiree purchasing the Voluntary Legal Service Plan will be entitled to the Plan legal services for the effective term of the coverage. Upon termination of coverage, any specific representation in progress will be continued by the National Legal Office for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days from the date of such termination. Specific representation by a Participating Referral Attorney will continue to the conclusion of a specific matter already in progress and at the legal fees stipulated in the Certificate of Coverage for any case, item, matter, or service being performed.

Termination of coverage

A covered individual’s eligibility for legal services will terminate:

• In the event that the annual renewal amount is not received by PEF MBP.
• On the day following the expiration date for a covered participant’s Legal Plan coverage, if the covered individual ceases to continue to qualify (via repurchase or renewal) for participation in the Plan.

VLSP Brochure

How to Purchase the Voluntary Legal Service Plan

To purchase the Voluntary Legal Service Plan via payroll/pension deduction:

Download and complete the enrollment form and email your form, or download and complete the enrollment form and mail to:

PEF Membership Benefits Program
10 Airline Drive, Suite 101
Albany, NY 12205

Once your order is received, your Certificate of Coverage and your Legal Security Package will be mailed to you. A $2.00 shipping fee will be included in the cost.

Riders cannot be purchased by payroll/pension deduction. See instructions below to purchase by check/money order or credit/debit card.

Payroll/Pension Deduction Form

To purchase the Plan and/or to purchase any riders online with Visa, MasterCard, or Discover:

When you purchase the plan via a credit card online, you have the option of having your Certificate of Coverage and Legal Security Package emailed to your personal email address at no cost, or having the two documents mailed to you. The mailing of the documents includes a $2.00 shipping fee that will be included in your cost.

• Click on the “Buy Now” button below, or
• Call (800) 767-1840, opt. 1, or (518) 785-1900, ext. 243, opt. 1, to purchase by credit card over the phone.

Buy Now Buy Business Protection Buy Elder Law Buy Parole Officer Buy Traffic Defense

Footnotes, Additional Details & Disclaimers

About Feldman, Kramer & Monaco:

For the past 35 years, Feldman, Kramer & Monaco, P.C. Law Firm has been committed to satisfying the needs of their clients. They are tough but caring; honest but shrewd; smart but respectful; strong but sensitive. They use all their legal expertise and creativity to solve their clients’ legal problems. They combine a powerful mix of insight, business acumen, legal talent, responsiveness, and sophisticated transactional and entrepreneurial expertise to guide clients through periods of challenge and opportunity. Their approach to the practice of law has earned them the coveted peer review ranking of “Preeminent A-V” which is the highest rating which can be awarded to a firm by the prestigious ranking authority Martindale-Hubbell.