RALEIGH — This is no April Fool’s Day joke, Campbell Law School’s Pro Bono Council students are hosting a free Wills for Heroes Clinic from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.on Saturday, April 1, at the law school for residents of Wake and surrounding counties. Registration for the clinic is now closed.
The free legal clinic, offered through a partnership with the North Carolina Bar Foundation, features volunteer attorneys who draft simple wills, health care power of attorney, advance directive and financial power of attorney documents for first responders and veterans and their families, explained Wills and Advanced Directives Project Co-Chair McCaul Nelson ’23. Flex Program law student Jessica Osborn co-chairs the project with Nelson.
Also on hand will be volunteer notaries who can notarize first responder estate planning documents, Nelson said.
First responders and their spouses who are eligible for the Wills for Heroes clinic include firefighters, law enforcement officers and EMS personnel. The Wills for Heroes clinic is made possible through the generous support of Lawyers Mutual Liability Insurance Company of North Carolina.
The North Carolina Bar Foundation Wills for Heroes program is available to first responders and their spouses. WFH provides simple wills, health care powers of attorney and powers of attorney to eligible first responders. All clients must be North Carolina residents and spouses must be legally married. The documents and information that will be provided by WFH volunteers are designed for small or modest estates (under $5 million in total assets) and the information provided by WFH volunteers is general in nature. Large estates or complicated legal matters pertaining to modest estates that require more time and assistance than can be provided by the WFH summary services are not covered under the WFH program and should be handled by more experienced estate, tax and probate lawyers. Clients with blended families that include minor children are not eligible for a Will due to issues of custody outside the scope of this clinic but can receive a Health Care Power of Attorney and/or Power of Attorney document.
The following issues are beyond the scope of the WFH program; therefore, neither NCBF nor WFH volunteers are able to provide any legal assistance in these areas:
- Beneficiary designations on any assets, including land;
- Estate, gift, income and/or Generation Skipping Transfer tax issues;
- Trusts for special needs children or beneficiaries;
- Charitable trusts;
- Citizenship/domicile of a member of the military and/or spouse;
- Business ownership or family business holdings;
- Assets held outside of the United States of America; or
- Any other issues, as determined by the program administrators, that are complicated, difficult, or will require significant time and expertise beyond the scope of the Wills for Heroes program.
Upcoming Wills for Heroes Clinics
- Wills for Heroes: Wake County | April 1, 2023 in conjunction with Campbell Law School
- Wills for Heroes: Wake County | April 12-13, 2023
- Wills for Heroes: Lupus Survivors | May 3, 2023
- Wills for Heroes: Buncombe County | May 18-19, 2023
For more information visit https://ncbarfoundation.org/our-programs/wills-for-heroes/
ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW SCHOOL
Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion, and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others. Among its accolades, the school has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) as having the nation’s top Professionalism Program and by the American Academy of Trial Lawyers for having the nation’s best Trial Advocacy Program. Campbell Law boasts more than 4,700 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. Campbell Law is celebrating 45 years of graduating legal leaders and 14 years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina’s Capital City.