Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy’s Legal Services for the Elderly assists residents of Mecklenburg County who are sixty years of age or older to create simple wills, powers of attorney, and advance directives. There are approximately 150,000 seniors residing in Mecklenburg County, and nearly 27% of them live on incomes under 200% of the federal poverty level. We rely entirely on volunteer support to assist these seniors in creating these important end-of-life planning documents. 

This project is excellent for transactional attorneys and other attorneys who do not wish to appear in court. 

What is involved: 

We conduct initial intake screenings and send the client two questionnaires to gather important information. The responses to these questionnaires provide information about any real estate or assets the client owns, as well as information about family members in the household, and the client’s choices for executors to the will and health care agents. We will send you these completed questionnaires for review. We will also send you a link to our one-hour training video. 

After the case is assigned, we ask that you: 

• Review the client questionnaires 
• Reach out to the client to discuss their responses to the questionnaires and any other question you have regarding the drafting of the documents 
• Use our templates (or your own, if you practice in this area) to draft a simple will, power of attorney, and advance directive. 
• Schedule a time with a notary and a witness to meet execute the will. This generally takes about 30-45 minutes and can be done in our office if you would prefer. 
• Prepare copies of the executed documents and advise the client on what to do with these documents. 

Total time commitment: approximately 5 hours or less 

Return to Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy Pro Bono Program page