Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law will begin offering free estate planning document preparation services this year to IU employees, students and parents who meet certain economic requirements.
The Indianapolis law school announced Tuesday that trained second and third-year students will be available to draft simple will and health care power of attorney documents at no charge to employees, students and parents with an annual income of $50,000 or less. The students’ work will then be reviewed by a staff attorney in the university’s legal office.
“The McKinney School of Law has a long-standing history of pro bono assistance; in fact, our graduating class of 2017 contributed over 20,000 hours of pro bono services to the community,” Andrew Klein, IU McKinney dean and Paul E. Beam professor law, said in a statement. “We are incredibly please to be a part of this program.
IU McKinney’s program comes on the heels of an identical service at the IU Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, which launched in 2016. The free drafting services are available for employees, students and parents at any IU-managed campus, including IU East, IU Kokomo, IU Northwest, IU South Bend and IU Southeast.
“We are delighted to partner with the McKinney School of Law to offer this benefit to IU employees, students and their parents who meet the economic threshold, which will help clarify intentions and ease the burden on families in times of stress,” IU Vice President and General Counsel Jacqueline Simmons said in a statement. “People who die without a will have their estates distributed according to Indiana statutory law, which might not reflect their wishes. People who do not designate a health care power of attorney deprive family members of the right to make important end-of-life decisions on their behalf.”
The law students and staff attorneys involved in the document drafting project were trained by Kristine J. Bouaichi, chair of the trusts and estates group at Ice Miller LLP.
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