Legal Assistance of Olmsted County Connects Seniors and Volunteer Lawyers

Started in 2017, a free wills clinic hosted by Legal Assistance of Olmsted County (LAOC) has been helping area seniors with legal paperwork. Volunteer attorneys review and update wills, powers of attorney and health care directives during the clinics. LAOC executive director Karen Fairbairn Nath said that seniors frequently think their wishes are covered, but it’s best to have a legal expert review and update documents. Pro bono attorneys with the program have seen the negative consequences of not having a valid will play out in court.

Chris Wendland of Rochester’s Wendland Utz law firm, and Alyssa Jerde of Wagner Oehler, both work with estate planning on a routine basis and volunteer regularly at the clinics.

“People attending the LAOC wills clinics are not that different from the clients I work with privately,” Wendland said. “They might not know as much about event planning coming in, but their needs are the same.”

Along with legal help, the wills clinics have begun including consultations with advocates from Elder Network, who can provide additional community resources and support. In collaboration with the Rochester Public Library, wills clinics provide a comfortable setting for what can be a difficult conversation.

The next clinic will be held in late April at the Rochester Public Library for income eligible residents who are at least 55 years old. LAOC is taking reservations for the available spaces, based on the number of volunteer attorneys on hand. For more details, read “Income-restricted seniors offered help with wills and other paperwork” in the Rochester Post Bulletin.

Home Ownership Pro Bono Project: Helping Seniors Keep Their Homes

Attorney at Law Magazine recently featured a story about a unique and impactful partnership — the Home Ownership Pro Bono Project, a collaboration between Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA), Fredrikson & Byron, P.A., and the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Real Property Section. The partnership focuses on assisting senior homeowners with low incomes who are at risk of losing their homes. The volunteer attorneys involved in the project work with MMLA’s pro bono coordinator to identify cases where having an attorney could prevent foreclosure and possibly homelessness. They are often able to resolve cases through negotiation and before a trial is necessary.

Starting this year, the Minnesota Supreme Court requires all licensed attorneys to report their pro bono hours to the Lawyer Registration Office of the Supreme Court. Colleen Daly, MMLA’s pro bono coordinator, encourages attorneys to volunteer through a project like the Home Ownership Pro Bono Project, or with their firm or law school.

“We can likely find pro bono cases in any area where an attorney has expertise, but we welcome paralegals, law students, and attorneys to work outside of their practice area,” Daly says. “We have several projects where we will train and support you even if you are brand new to that area of law.”

Read about how the project made a difference for an 80-year-old Vietnam veteran facing foreclosure in “Home Ownership Pro Bono Project Saves a Senior’s Home.”

MMLA Consumer Attorney Helps Seniors Facing Reverse Mortgage Problems

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Brittany McCormick, staff attorney with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid in Minneapolis, has seen reverse mortgages backfire for seniors, which can mean losing their homes. She recently helped one such Minnesotan with a repayment plan that prevented foreclosure on the home he has owned since 1989. Falling behind on property taxes and insurance payments are what typically triggers the foreclosure process.

In a recent Next Avenue article, McCormick noted, “Nine times out of ten, it’s [unpaid] property taxes. The home is their only asset.” The article also emphasizes the disproportionate impact that reverse mortgage foreclosures and predatory lending tactics have on low-income and marginalized communities. It also looks at whether the pandemic will lead to a rise in reverse mortgage foreclosures after the federal foreclosure moratorium lifts. Read more in Next Avenue.

LSAP and Elder Advocates Hope to Accelerate New Assisted Living Protections

Until August 12, most evictions are banned in Minnesota, but for some seniors in assisted living facilities, termination of medical services effectively means an eviction during a pandemic. Last year, the state legislature passed new protections for seniors who might have a suspension of medical care while in an assisted living facility, but many of the rules are not scheduled to be implemented until next summer. The Legal Services Advocacy Project (LSAP) and other elder advocates would like to see the new regulations implemented much sooner.

The new regulations are part of a first-time licensing system for assisted living, legislated after widespread elder abuse in Minnesota’s long-term care industry was reported. Ron Elwood, supervising attorney for LSAP, said Minnesota was the last state in the country to license assisted living housing.

In the meantime, seniors remain unusually vulnerable to losing housing, and as a high risk group for COVID-19, it is cause for alarm. Read more in MinnPost.