Free Legal Services for Seniors

If you are in the caregiving business, a part of your job is to help the senior you care for get all legal matters in order and ensure important documents are complete and updated. One can get free legal services for seniors. Legal work for seniors can include setting up an estate plan and ensuring availability of essential legal documents such as a living will and power-of-attorney.

It can also include figuring out how to pay for long-term care, qualifying for Medicaid and dealing with housing problems and other disputes necessitating legal action. Having mentioned all of this, it is equally important to know that legal aid for seniors on a fixed income can be costly.

 

Senior struggling financially can seek free legal services through some of the sources mentioned below:

Legal Services Corp:

This is a non-profit organization that provides free legal services for American seniors with low-income. As of today, they fund close to 133 independent non-profit legal aid organizations across the United States of America. LSC-funded programs are aimed at helping people living in households with annual incomes either at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. However, available legal services and income qualifications are subject to change depending on the location.

Community Legal Services for Seniors:

The county in which the concerned senior person lives has an Area Agency on Ageing. This is responsible for providing community resources for seniors and caregivers. The community will connect the senior to local organizations providing free and low-cost legal help for seniors. Seniors interested in searching online for community legal resources in their area must visit Eldercare Locator, Enter Zip Code and Click on “Search” and Select “Legal Services” in the Drop down Menu.

Pro Bono Programs:

These programs match low income people with volunteer lawyers giving their consent in taking their cases for free.The 2 ways to search for a Pro Bono program in your local area would be either through the American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Directory May or through LawHelp.org.

Org:

This and other legal hotlines allow seniors to ask legal questions over the phone. If the question goes unanswered, the hotline helps find out necessary legal aid services within that area.

National Disability Rights Network:

This non-profit organization renders legally based advocacy services to the disabled in the United States of America. Their website must be visited and visiting it will help know more about a variety of problems someone disabled might be facing. The list also covers common issues faced by seniors. Those with adults at home suffering from disabilities must contact their state’s Protection and Advocacy Agency for legal help, which can be found on the list at the right side of the page on the website.

Employer-Sponsored Services:

Large Corporation, though few, offer either free or discounted legal services through their Employee Assistance Program (EAP). More details on this can be sought from the Human Resources department to find out whether legal services or legal insurance is given as a company benefit or not.

Additional Low-Cost Legal Services for Seniors:

In case timely help does not come from organizations offering free legal services, or in case the senior at home is ineligible, then the next best thing to do is to find low-cost or discounted legal help.The American Bar Association offers public-service oriented lawyer referral programs through which seniors seeking legal help can pass on information about their issues and subsequently provide a referral to their lawyer or concerned community organization for help.

These are some of the ways in which free legal services can be sought for seniors so that whatever legal assistance they need regarding paperwork concerning their property or medical aid or settlements is delivered promptly.