Legal Counsel for the Elderly: Pro Bono Opportunities

Case #1a: Pro Bono Wills & Powers of Attorney

Please agree to handle an elderly, low-income senior’s pro bono will and powers of attorney for health care and finance. LCE will provide you sample forms and a comprehensive client interview sheet, as well as step-by-step instructions for supervising the execution of a will and advance directives for clients who are capable of visiting your offices. We have a backlog of 100 seniors on our waiting list for a pro bono attorney. Please agree to help a needy senior with these important documents.

Case #1b: Pro Bono Wills & Powers of Attorney for Homebound Seniors

Our home visit attorney is seeking DC licensed lawyers who may be interested in preparing pro bono wills and powers of attorney for homebound, frail seniors in the District of Columbia. Please let us know if you are interested in helping her.

Case #1c: Pro Bono Wills & Powers of Attorney for Spanish Speaking Clients

Please agree to handle a Spanish-speaking senior’s pro bono will and powers of attorney for health care and finance. LCE will provide you sample forms and a comprehensive client interview sheet, as well as step-by-step instructions for supervising the execution of a will and advance directives for clients who are capable of visiting your offices.

Case #37: Pro Bono Bankruptcy Case to Discharge Working Senior’s Student Loan

This client requests a pro bono attorney to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition on her behalf to discharge her student loans, which originated in the 1970’s. The client is unable to repay these loans because she endures financial hardship. In addition to the bankruptcy petition, the pro bono attorney will need to file an adversary petition to obtain a ruling on the hardship standard for discharging student loans. To meet this standard, the debtor must satisfy the three-part test in Brunner v. New York State Higher Education Services Corp., 831 F.2d 395, 396 (2nd Cir. 1987). Although she has been billed for over $180,000, most of this student loan debt constitutes accrued interest and penalties. This client works six to eight hours per week at a university, and she receives $850 in Social Security benefits. Despite that the client’s income is below the legal standard for garnishment, the Social Security Administration has been garnishing $100.00 per month from her benefits check to help repay the loans.

Case #39: Pro Bono Tax and Identity Theft Case

On March 1, 2013, this low-income senior had her 2012 income taxes prepared at a community tax aid service. She filed as a student because this senior graduated from school in December 2012. She anticipated receiving a refund of $1,000. Two days later, however, the tax aid office notified this unsuspecting senior that an individual had claimed her as a dependent on his or her income tax forms. The office could not give her more information. She then called the Internal Revenue Service to obtain more information. The IRS confirmed that someone had claimed her as a dependent, but the agent also would not provide more information. According to the client, she encountered the same issue last year and other seniors who used the same tax preparation service claimed to be victims of identity theft as well. The file contains an IRS letter dated May 2, 2013, asking for Form 8863 to support the entry of $1,000 on line 66 of her tax return. When the client contacted the IRS to clear up this issue and to report the apparent identity theft, the agent advised her to seek legal counsel. Please agree to handle this pro bono tax and identity theft case, and help the client obtain her $1,000 refund.

To request a pro bono case from the list above, please email vlp@aarp.org. If you would like to be removed from this list, add another lawyer or update your email address, please email us at vlp@aarp.org. For your protection, your representation on an LCE pro bono case would be covered under Legal Counsel for the Elderly's legal malpractice insurance. For this reason, we closely monitor all referred matters until their closure. Periodically, our volunteers will contact you by email to obtain a status report on your pro bono case.