Recommended Website: HALT

WHAT WE DO FOR YOU:

Improve Legal Access – HALT works to strengthen protections that assure consumers access to accurate and timely legal information and assistance.
Empower Legal Consumers – HALT educates policy makers, the media and the public about the rights of legal consumers, and promotes increased accountability in the legal profession.
Hold Lawyers Accountable – HALT works to strengthen consumer protections against unethical, negligent and incompetent attorneys.
Strengthen Small Claims Courts – HALT publicizes the advantages of small claims courts, educates consumers about how to use these user-friendly courts, and advocates for systematic reforms that increase access to them.

Source:
HALT

Iowa Supreme Court Sides With HALT

On August 26, 2011, the Iowa Supreme Court rejected a proposal offered by the Office of Professional Regulation that would have allowed lawyers who voluntarily agree to be suspended to keep the reason for their suspension confidential.

"The Court's decision to give this anti-consumer proposal the boot before it could even be distributed for public comment is very promising," said HALT Executive Director Rodd Santomauro. "HALT has long supported increased transparency in lawyer discipline systems and applauds the Iowa Supreme Court's quick action."

According to a new HALT study, Iowa is one of 21 states that provide online access to court decisions or case briefs associated with attorney disciplinary proceedings. Thirty states give legal consumers absolutely no information about the details of an attorney's misconduct.

The Iowa Office of Professional Regulation has now been tasked by the Court to come up with proposals that actually increase consumer protection. Those proposals will be released for public comment before the Court takes final action.


Full Article and Source:
Iowa Supreme Court Sides With HALT

The Quick & Legal Will Book

Start the new year off by writing your will!

The Quick & Legal Will Book is your essential guide to preparing the most important legal document any of us possess—your will. With easy-to-use forms and step-by-step instructions, this invaluable resource will help you to craft a will that meets all of your estate planning needs.

Source:
HALT Books

The 101 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes

101 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes offers an informative and entertaining look at what not to do when setting up an estate plan. The author, an estate planner for some of today’s most famous celebrities, explains how to avoid common pitfalls and make decisions that will allow you to execute a fool-proof estate plan that protects you and your family.

Source:
The 101 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes

HALT Releases New Citizen's Guide

HALT has just released its latest Citizens Legal Guide Is Your Lawyer's Bill Too High? How to Avoid (and Resolve) Fee Disputes. This easy-to-understand guide, the newest addition to HALT's library of free self-help publications, explains how lawyers typically charge for their services and how billing practices can sometimes go awry.

While some fee disputes are the result of a lawyer padding his or her bill, many are actually misunderstandings or simple bad math. Fee disputes can be triggered by internal law firm practices that are unfair to clients, such as overstaffing, uncompensated staff turnover, unnecessary research, and redundant expert witnesses and consultants. They can also reflect lax financial controls for expenses, overhead costs, travel, and entertainment. There may even be issues caused by outright fraud - for example, when a lawyer charges for more hours than were actu­ally worked. If you receive a legal bill that seems too high, you need to question it.

Source:
HALT Releases New Citizen's Legal Guide

Read Is Your Lawyer's Bill Too High

The Executor's Guide

If you're faced with wrapping up the affairs of a loved one who has died, you may feel overwhelmed by all the work ahead—especially when you're grieving. But with the right legal and practical information, you can do it. The Executor's Guide shows you how to get organized, get the help you need and make progress one step at a time. You will also learn how to navigate an unfamiliar land of legal procedures and terminology.

Source:
HALT

NASGA Supports HALT's 'Lawyer Discipline Best Practices Petition'

Make sure your voice is heard - sign HALT's Lawyer Discipline Best Practices petition. We need every member of the legal reform movement to stand up and be counted.

Every year, tens of thousands of people who pour hard-earned money into lawyers' pockets find themselves battling the very person they hired to help them. And every year over 100,000 Americans who file complaints against lawyers with their state's disciplinary agency walk away unhappy. In 2006, more than 123,000 complaints were filed against lawyers, but 92% led to no discipline or only informal "private" discipline. Less than 1% led to disbarment.

Signing HALT's petition is one way you can demand action on ten common-sense reforms that push discipline agencies to:

*Disclose a lawyer's complete and disciplinary history so that consumers can make informed decisions about whether to hire an attorney.
*Host a user-friendly Web site that is easy to find and provides helpful information about the discipline process.
*Discipline lawyers with formal, serious and public measures.
*Permanently disbar lawyers who commit abusive practices against clients.
*Abolish gag rules that prevent people from speaking publicly about complaints they've filed.
*Publicize the availability of lawyer discipline programs through required client notification and local advertising.
*Open lawyer discipline hearings to everyone to increase the public trust.
*Provide ordinary citizens with a majority voice on the panels that decide attorney misconduct cases.
*Grant clients and witnesses immunity from civil liability for any information given to the agency during a disciplinary investigation.
*Allow citizens to appeal initial complaint dismissals and hearing panel discussions.

HALT's reform efforts are having an impact. Oregon, California and Nebraska are just three states that have implemented reforms that improve transparency and accountability.

But we need to show that legal reformers support HALT's efforts in every state. Will you please help?

Our goal is to collect 1,000 signatures from each state.

Sign HALT's Petition

Guide to Avoiding Probate

Looking for ways to save money? Avoid probate.

Probate, the legal process for settling a deceased person's estate, can be a nightmare even for those acquainted with the law. The process takes eighteen months on average, and much longer if administrative mishaps occur or family members fight. It can also be expensive with attorney's fees and court costs eating up substantial shares of the estate.

For these reasons, many people prefer to avoid probate altogether. Here are the most popular estate-planning strategies for doing this:

Owning Property Jointly
Naming a Beneficiary on Retirement Funds
Naming a Beneficiary on a Life Insurance Policy
Opening "Payable on Death" Accounts
Creating "Transfer-on-Death" Registrations for Securities and Vehicles
Creating "Transfer-on-Death" Real Estate Deeds
Writing a Living Trust
Giving Outright Gifts
Using Simplified "Non-Probate" Alternatives

Full Article and Source:
Avoid Probate To Save Time and Money

HALT—An Organization of Americans for Legal Reform
1612 K St NW Suite 510
Washington, DC 20006

202-887-8255
Visit HALT at www.halt.org

Understanding Attorney Fees

Consumers spend billions of dollars each year on legal fees. While some are satisfied customers who are getting competent legal help at reasonable prices, many others believe legal fees are way too high and would rather leave a legal problem unresolved than pay for services they cannot afford. As a legal consumer, your best defense against paying more than you should is to educate yourself about legal fees before signing on the dotted line.

To learn more about lawyer fees and tips on how you can lower your legal costs, download HALT’s new guide Understanding Attorney Fees (pdf)

Visit HALT at www.halt.org

or write to HALT for a free copy at:
HALT—An Organization of Americans for Legal Reform
1612 K St NW Suite 510

Washington, DC 20006
202-887-8255

Issue: Guardianship Abuse

Each year thousands of Americans are placed under the supervision of court appointed guardians. Guardianships are sought for individuals (called wards) who are considered legally incompetent to make decisions for themselves.

HALT research shows that the nation’s guardianship system offers few procedural protections, and has spawned a profit-driven professional guardianship industry that often enriches itself at the expense of society’s most vulnerable members—the elderly.

Yet despite numerous calls for reform, most states have done little to monitor professional guardians and prevent abuse. This issue brief points to emerging reform strategies for dealing with professional guardians and other problems currently plaguing the nation’s guardianship system.

Issue Brief addresses:

1. How the System is Supposed to Work

2. Serious Problems - Few Procedural Protections

3. A Profit-Driven and Poorly Regulated Guardianship Industry

4. A System Plagued by Abuse

5. Poor Record-Keeping and Oversight

6. Reforming the Guardianship System

7. Regulating the Professional Guardianship Industry

8. Adopting Standards of Conduct for Guardians

9. Improving Court Monitoring and Enforcement

10.Establishing Compensation Guidelines and Restricted Accounts for Guardians

11.Revising the Procedures for Emergency Guardianships

12.Notifying Wards of the Right to File for Restoration of Rights

13.Establishing Regulatory Bodies and Disciplinary Mechanisms

Source:
HALT - Issue Brief: Guardianship Abuse

HALT is an organization of Americans for legal reform.
Email: HALT@HALT.org
Phone: 1-888-FOR-HALT
http://www.halt.org/
(202) 887-8255
Fax: (202) 887-9699
1612 K Street, NW Suite 510
Washington, DC 20006

Guardians and Guardianships

Guardians and Guardianships:

• Hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been declared incapable of handling their own affairs are placed under the supervision of court appointed guardians.

• The principle of limited guardianship, which requires that a guardian “should be appointed only when necessary, only for as long as necessary, and with only those powers as are necessary,” has been adopted in many states.

• To be wrongfully subjected to guardianship may be the greatest loss of rights a person can experience short of being sent to prison. Although you can usually respond to a guardianship petition or challenge an existing guardianship informally, professional representation increases your chances of being taken seriously by the court.

• A for-profit guardian acts principally out of economic motives, not from affection or family obligation, and an unscrupulous for-profit guardian is uniquely positioned to exploit you and your assets given the scope of a guardian’s powers.

• Fighting an unwanted guardianship is not easy. To begin with, your loved ones will be petitioning the same court that originally declared you incompetent.

• To contest an existing guardianship arrangement, your relatives or loved one may file a formal legal petition asking that the guardian be removed or replaced by the local court that established the guardianship.

• While most people establish trusts to transfer property to loved ones after they die, another popular reason for setting one up is to provide for the continual management of your financial affairs if you become disabled or incapacitated.

Warning Signs of Guardianship Abuse:

• The guardian “forgets” to file regular reports with the supervising court, or submits dubious ones.

• The guardian fails to file prompt and accurate tax returns.

• The guardian becomes the ward’s sole trustee or attorney-in-fact, thus avoiding court supervision.

• The guardian bills at professional rates for performing ordinary tasks, or seems to look for excuses to generate fees.

• The guardian deposits money from the ward’s funds into his own account.

• The ward seems to have lost a lot of money since the guardianship began.

• The guardian hires cronies, perhaps as attorneys and money-managers, on the ward’s behalf.

• The guardian sells real estate or other property at unusually low prices.

• The ward receives an eviction or foreclosure notice even though the ward owned the house.

• The guardian refuses to keep the ward’s family informed of the ward’s condition or attempts to stop them from visiting the ward.

• The guardian cannot explain why the ward has signed legal documents.

• The guardian seems to spend very little time with the ward.

Source: HALT: Guardians & Guardianships: A Primer

HALT is an organization of Americans for legal reform.
Email: HALT@HALT.org
Phone: 1-888-FOR-HALT
http://www.halt.org/
(202) 887-8255
Fax: (202) 887-9699
1612 K Street, NW Suite 510
Washington, DC 20006

See also:
Red Flag Warning Signs
Ten Dirty Tricks of Guardians