Prepaid legal services may be a vital investment for both you and your entire family in the long run.

What are prepaid legal services? Prepaid legal services refers to individual or group employee benefit plans where members essentially pay a monthly fee in exchange for legal services. In some states prepaid legal services are a part of an individual's insurance.

Prepaid legal services have existed in Europe for over 100 years (since 1907), however it's become a more commonly seen phenomenon in the United States since the 1970's. As of 2000, 122 million Americans have prepaid legal service plans.

Many prepaid legal services have options to offer legal counsel in life events, such as buying a house, creating a will, handling insurance company problems, and dealing with identity theft. These are important events throughout life that typically need legal counsel. With prepaid legal services an individual has access to a range of legal services on-call.

Want to know exactly what each prepaid legal plan has to offer? Check each individual prepaid legal service to see if they offer specifics, such as criminal legal advice or landlord legal forms.