Students will interview clients about their estates, help educate them about estate planning and alternatives to probate, and use a template to draft wills that reflect their clients’ preferences about what should happen to their estates upon death. Students also may draft deeds designed to transfer property outside of the costly probate process. If probate is necessary, a will allows the client to elect to have a more cost-effective independent administration, dictate who should receive their personal possessions or other assets, and plan for any adult incapacitated or minor children.
Organization
Mithoff Pro Bono Program
The Wills Clinic is part of the Mithoff Program’s Preservation of Rights Project (PORP). PORP hosts clinics related to estate planning, elder and disability planning, and guardianship law. The Wills Clinic enables students to provide free legal services to persons who historically have had inequitable access to the probate process, and to help clients mitigate economic challenges created by the legalities of death.
Project Details
- Project Date
Saturday, October 26
- Project Time
- 12pm-4pm
- Approximate hours of work requested
- 9 hours, including asynchronous self-study and training
- Training
- Asynchronous review of self-study materials on Canvas (3 hours, completed by Wednesday, October 23) AND in-person training on Thursday, October 24, 5pm-7pm (TNH 3.126; Zoom access available)
- Skills used
- Client interviewing/counseling; community education, document preparation; cultural competence
- Project location
- Little Walnut Creek Branch, Austin Public Library, 835 W. Rundberg Lane (carpools can be arranged if needed)
- Number of student volunteers requested
- 20
- Class year preference
- 1L, 2L, 3L, LLM
- Required skills
- Students with Spanish fluency or fluency in another language are encouraged to apply but foreign language skills are not required; students with an interest in estate planning, probate, fiduciary litigation, guardianship law, and property law are strongly encouraged to apply
- To Apply
- Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wills-clinic-oct-26-registration-1045023111257