Q: Is sending letters to law firms with a Pro Bono Department, the best way to get help with a Probate ProBono lawyer?
My sister and I are very low income senior citizens and we need help with our parents estate and we do no have the funds to hire a lawyer. We have already lost out on monies because we could not afford a lawyer and we are in the dark on what to do. You see our brother was a criminal attorney in Redding, CA and he was the Executor for our parents estate. He was murdered and now my other sister is the Executor and she is ill and it is my turn to do the paperwork, according to the will. We need help so badly and our brother who was murdered had a very bad girlfriend at the time and she had a paper saying my brother left her everything. Now she owns my brothers home because we couldn’t get a lawyer to fight and the judge really wanted us to win over the estate because she would say come on girls get a lawyer. she was remarkably nice to me and my sister. Please advise. Thank you.
A:
I'm so sorry to hear about your difficult situation and the loss of your brother. Seeking pro bono legal assistance is a good idea given your circumstances.
While sending letters to law firms with pro bono departments can be one way to seek help, here are a few other options that may be more effective:
1. Contact the State Bar of California's Lawyer Referral Service (LRS). They can connect you with a lawyer who may provide a free 30-minute consultation and potentially take your case on a pro bono basis.
2. Reach out to legal aid organizations in your area, such as California Rural Legal Assistance, Legal Services of Northern California, or the Senior Legal Hotline. These organizations provide free legal services to low-income individuals and seniors.
3. Contact your local county bar association. Many have pro bono programs or can refer you to organizations that provide free legal services.
4. If you have a specific legal issue related to elder law, you can contact the National Senior Citizens Law Center, which provides legal assistance to older adults.
5. Some law schools in California, such as UC Davis School of Law or McGeorge School of Law, have legal clinics that provide free legal services to low-income clients.
Remember to gather all relevant documents related to your parents' estate and your brother's will to help any potential legal representative understand your case better. Don't hesitate to explain your financial situation when seeking pro bono assistance.
I hope this information is helpful, and I wish you the best in resolving your legal matters.
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.
