Legal document clinic for senior citizens set for June 8

Area seniors can get help setting up their legal documents June 8 at Montana State University-Northern where Montana Aging Services Bureau will be holding a Legal Document Clinic from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Senior Defense Grant Project Coordinator Richard Heitstuman said their staff can handle wills, living wills, power of attorney documents, declarations of homesteads and transfer on death deeds.

He said they can handle most other documents in that legal realm but they can’t really help people with trusts, as they are extremely complicated and different for everyone, so they would need much more time to handle them.

The deadline for making an appointment is June 1, with hour-and-a-half slots open for individuals and 3, hours for couples, he said, and anyone 60 years or older is eligible as well as any enrolled tribal member regardless of age.

Heitstuman said everyone will need to bring a photo identification, but their staff will tell them all the other documents they need to bring when they make their appointment.

To register, people can call 406-444-7787 or 1-800-332-2272.

He said the event, funded by a senior defense grant, helps seniors get these important documents set up for free when it may otherwise cost thousands of dollars, but one of the biggest reasons they do it is to screen for instances of financial elder abuse.

He said having events like this lets their staff keep an eye out for elders being exploited, which is an issue that is extremely under-reported.

Heitstuman said $36 billion a year in the U.S. is lost due to the financial exploitation of elders, whether that’s from family members, friends or plain old scammers, and it’s estimated that only a single-digit percentage of cases are reported.

He said they usually find one big case of exploitation every year, but that’s still a victory, and having these documents done is a significant deterrent for people looking to exploit others.

Anecdotally, he said, the reason so much of this goes unreported is embarrassment.

He said people who fall victim to this kind of exploitation are too embarrassed to look for help and feel ashamed for having trusted the wrong person.

In other cases, Heitstuman said, the people exploiting the senior is someone they depend on, making it hard for them to talk about it.

In some very sad cases, he said, a senior may be so socially isolated that they will let themselves be scammed just because they want someone to talk to.

“We’ve spoken to seniors that know they are being scammed but they keep calling the scammers back, because they are the only people they talk to on a daily basis,” he said.

He said a lot of senior exploitation happens in Montana, since the state has an aging population, but proportionately it’s comparable to most other states.

The day before the clinic, the bureau will also be holding a training from 2-5 p.m., also at Northern, to train people on working with older adults.

The training will feature a presentation by staff attorney Susan Gobbs on assessing senior capacity and how to work with seniors who may have limited capacity; a presentation on signs of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation and how to handle suspected cases, and a presentation by Barb Harris of Montana Legal Services Assocation on Elder Law.

A release from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services says the presentation has been approved for CLE, CEU and Nursing Contact Hours.