EDD Parental Leave Claim Process - Need help with medical certificate and form submission
Hey everyone, I'm trying to figure out the parental leave claim process for my spouse and myself. We're both planning to take some time off when our baby arrives. I've got a couple of questions: 1. Do we need to get a medical certificate from our doctor for the parental leave claim? 2. What forms are we supposed to submit for this? Any help or advice would be really appreciated. This whole process is kinda overwhelming!
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Tom Maxon
I found a way to solve parental leave claim confusion, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pk8aXzMzAU
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Oscar Murphy
Congrats on the baby! 🎉 For the medical certificate, yes, you'll need one. It's called a Pregnancy Disability Claim Form (DE 2501) and needs to be filled out by the doctor. As for forms, you'll need to submit the Claim for Paid Family Leave (PFL) Benefits (DE 2501F). Hope this helps!
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Jasmine Quinn
•Thank you so much! This is really helpful. Do you know if we both need to submit separate forms?
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Oscar Murphy
•Yes, you'll each need to submit your own forms. The process is separate for each parent.
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Nora Bennett
•Just a heads up, make sure you submit everything on time. I was late by a few days and it caused a huge delay in my claim 😫
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Ryan Andre
ugh, the EDD is such a nightmare to deal with. good luck getting anyone on the phone if you have questions 🙄
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Lauren Zeb
•For real! I spent hours on hold last month trying to sort out my claim. It's ridiculous.
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Daniel Washington
•I found a way to get through! There's this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that calls for you, waits on hold, and then connects you when a real person picks up. It costs $20 but saved me hours of frustration. Here's a video about it: https://youtu.be/DOLxZQb92wM
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Aurora Lacasse
•$20 just to talk to someone? That seems kinda sketchy...
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Daniel Washington
•I thought so too at first, but it actually worked for me. Saved me a ton of time and headache. Worth it imho
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Anthony Young
Here's a comprehensive guide for parental leave claims: 1. Medical Certificate: - Yes, you need one for pregnancy disability. - Use form DE 2501 (Pregnancy Disability Claim Form). 2. Forms to submit: - For birthing parent: DE 2501F (Claim for Paid Family Leave Benefits) - For non-birthing parent: DE 2501FP (Paid Family Leave New Parent Claim) 3. Timeline: - Birthing parent can claim up to 4 weeks before due date and up to 6-8 weeks after birth. - Non-birthing parent can claim up to 8 weeks within first year of birth. 4. Additional tips: - Submit claims online for faster processing. - Keep copies of all documents. - Follow up if you don't hear back within 2 weeks. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
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Jasmine Quinn
•Wow, this is incredibly helpful! Thank you so much for taking the time to write all this out. 🙏
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Charlotte White
•This should be pinned to the top of the subreddit tbh
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Admin_Masters
anyone else feel like the whole system is designed to be confusing on purpose? 🤔
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Matthew Sanchez
•100% agree. It's like they want to discourage people from claiming benefits they're entitled to.
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Ella Thompson
•Nah, I think it's just bureaucracy being bureaucracy. Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence lol
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JacksonHarris
Pro tip: start the process early! I waited until the last minute and it was so stressful. Give yourself plenty of time to gather all the docs and fill out the forms.
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Jeremiah Brown
Does anyone know if theres a way to check the status of your claim online? I submitted mine weeks ago and havent heard anything back 😕
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Royal_GM_Mark
•Yeah, you can check on the EDD website. Log into your account and look for the 'Claim Status' section.
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Jeremiah Brown
•Oh awesome, thanks! I'll give that a try.
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Chloe Mitchell
Just went through this process myself a few months ago! One thing I wish someone had told me earlier - make sure your doctor fills out the medical certificate completely and legibly. My first one got rejected because the doc's handwriting was illegible and they missed a required field. Had to go back and get it redone, which delayed my whole claim by like 2 weeks. Also, if you're planning to take leave consecutively (like one parent right after the other), coordinate your start/end dates carefully so there's no gap in coverage. Good luck with everything! 🍼
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Chloe Davis
•This is such valuable advice! Thank you for sharing your experience. The part about coordinating dates between parents is something I hadn't even thought about yet. Did you and your partner both take the full 8 weeks, or did you split it differently? Also, when you say "no gap in coverage," do you mean to make sure one person's leave starts exactly when the other's ends?
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