Students will be appointed as court visitors for the Travis County Probate Court and will be assigned five wards under guardianship to visit throughout the Austin area. At each visit, students will interview the ward and the ward’s guardian and caretakers. Students then will evaluate the ward’s living conditions, social conditions, physical conditions, and overall care in a written Court Visitor Report. If a ward is interested in ending their guardianship, students also will assess whether the guardianship should be continued or whether less-restrictive alternatives may be available that would provide adequate supports for the ward. If a ward, or the student, has concerns about a ward’s standard of care, students will bring issues to the attention of the Court Visitor Coordinator to address.
Organization
Travis County Probate Courts
The Travis County Probate Courts handle civil proceedings related to the deceased or incapacitated, including guardianships. Guardianship is a court-created entity that gives someone the legal right to take care of an incapacitated person and make decisions on his or her behalf. The Court Visitor Program enables the Probate Court to have first-hand information about the condition of wards whose guardianships are under the court’s supervision. The law student court visitor pro bono project is a collaboration between the Travis County Probate Courts and the Mithoff Program’s Preservation of Rights Project (PORP). PORP hosts clinics related to estate planning, elder and disability planning, and guardianship law.
Project Details
- Project Start Date
September 2024
- Approximate hours of work requested
- 6-16 hours, including training; students should expect to spend 1-3 hours on each visit and evaluation report and must commit to completing a minimum of 5 court visitor evaluations during the fall semester
- Training
- Wednesday, September 18, 11:45am-1pm (TNH 3.129)
- Skills used
- Interviewing; investigation; community engagement; document preparation
- Project location
- Various locations in Travis County where wards reside; students must provide or arrange their own transportation
- Number of student volunteers requested
- 10
- Class year preference
- 1L, 2L, 3L, LLM
- Required skills
- None; student volunteers will be required to complete a background check before they are appointed as a court visitor
- To Apply
- Register at https://cvp9-18-24.eventbrite.com