Office offers wide range of free, low-cost legal services to seniors
For more than 30 years, the Senior Citizen’s Law Office has provided an array of legal services to those aged 60-plus, and it’s still going strong. The office staff of 16 serves more than 3,000 seniors annually in Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance and Valencia counties, advocating for them and providing legal representation on issues such as housing, health care benefits and decisions and financial planning.
“We are only the agency in New Mexico that provides this type of legal services for seniors,” executive director Ellen Leitzer said.
Leitzer and fellow attorney Patricia Stelzner founded the office as a nonprofit in 1983. Stelzner retired in 2010 but continues to volunteer with the agency.
Most of the services are free but they also offer low-cost estate planning, such as simple wills, for people of modest means. The fees for estate-planning help support those services for which there is no charge. The agency also receives funding through the state, the city of Albuquerque and private donations.
Educational services agency staffers provide free clinics at senior centers around Albuquerque and centers in the region. Topics cover general legal matters, Medicaid and estate planning and powers of attorney. A clinic schedule is available on the Law Office website sclonm.org. Those who wish to attend
should call the office at 505-265-2300.
Leitzer said it is critical to have a financial power of attorney that designates a person you trust to handle your financial affairs in case you become incapacitated and unable to speak for yourself. Having a financial power of attorney document in place avoids expensive and litigious proceedings through which a court could appoint someone to pay bills and handle other money matters.
Agency staff can help seniors create a power of attorney for health care which contains directions on what type of care they want and who can make decisions on their behalf.
They also provide advice on how to prevent ID theft. Recently, they have started holding clinics on how to understand the Real ID Act which requires individuals to supply specific official documents in order to renew a drivers license.
The Law Office has two projects that reach statewide.
The agency is collaborating with New Mexico Legal Aid and United South Broadway, to help people avoid foreclosure.
“We’re seeing more and more seniors being foreclosed on by companies that they have reverse mortgages with. It’s becoming the new foreclosure issue,” Leitzer said.
Reverse mortgages, available to seniors aged 62 years and over, enable homeowners to get money from a lender in return for equity in their house. The equity is the collateral for the loan and the lender typically sells the property after the owner passes away. There are no monthly mortgage payments, but the borrower has to pay property taxes and insurance.
Advice on Medicare and Medicaid benefits is another area where the agency provides support to seniors statewide through collaboration with the New Mexico Primary Care Association and clinics on tribal lands.
“Medicare and Medicaid are very complex and there are many ways of qualifying for services,” Leitzer said.