Habitat for Humanity Homeowners Receive Free Legal Services
By Laurie W. Jones

“The most enjoyable aspect of this project for me was certainly the personal interaction with the client. It is tremendously gratifying to assist someone with important decisions and to counsel about and discuss issues of ultimate importance: questions of one’s mortality, deepest values and concerns for those she loves the most, and then to be able to actually help that person have some confidence that those deeply held values will be carried out through her estate plan.”

Stephen Eck, now director of Planned Giving at Oklahoma Christian University, is describing his experience working on the Habitat for Humanity Wills Project last year as a law student at Oklahoma City University School of Law. The project pairs Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity homeowners and OCU law students, who prepare basic wills, advance directives and powers of attorney for the homeowners under the supervision of a lawyer licensed in Oklahoma, at no charge. The project was started by Kelly Baldrate, an OCU adjunct faculty member and a member of Habitat’s homeowner selection committee. Last year, 14 OCU law students prepared wills and estate planning documents for Habitat homeowners, and a number of law students will provide the same services this year.

Over the past six months, Mr. Eck and another law student met with their homeowner client three times. He recounts that she was “very energetic” in the process. She provided them with the deed to her home, insurance policies, retirement accounts, and names and addresses of family members. The law students prepared an advance directive, simple power of attorney and a basic will for the client. To participate in the project, students are required to have completed the wills course at OCU and to participate in additional training with the supervising attorneys. Mr. Eck was also enrolled in an estate planning course at OCU while working on the project. The estate planning course gave him “a fantastic understanding of proper drafting and practical concerns to work through with the client.”

Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity provides affordable housing for hard-working, limited-income families. New homes are built by volunteers who donate their time, money and materials. Each completed home is then sold to a qualifying family at no profit and with no interest. Prospective homeowners must have a stable gross annual income of at least $16,000 and must be willing and able to contribute 300 hours volunteering in some capacity with Habitat. Applicants undergo an extensive screening process and are selected based upon level of need, willingness to become partners in the program and ability to repay the loan.

Support services offered to the homeowners include a three-part Homeowners College that covers topics such as the legalities of owning a home, homeowners insurance, property taxes, city code enforcement, household budgeting, home maintenance and repair, and lawn care. Now, these homeowners can also protect their assets and provide for their families through estate planning documents prepared by the law students, supervised by volunteer lawyers who are faculty members at OCU.

The project allows students to put classroom learning to use for real clients with real needs. It introduces the students to a lawyer’s ethical requirement of pro bono service. Moreover, it enhances access to legal services for those unable to pay but in need of basic estate planning documents to protect deeply held values and a new home.

Ms. Jones is a member of the OBA Access to Justice Committee.