February 16, 2025

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Free legal clinic to help with wills, advanced health care directives, other services

Free legal clinic to help with wills, advanced health care directives, other services

Need help writing a will? Have to prepare an advanced health care directive?

On Friday, low income residents of Chickasaw, Clay, Lowndes, Noxubee, Oktibbeha and Webster counties can get free assistance on those and other civil legal issues at a free family law clinic in West Point.

Hosted by the 14th Chancery Court District staff, the clinic will be held from noon to 4 p.m. at the Clay County Chancery Courthouse.

“It’s mainly to help individuals who are of low income and can’t afford an attorney or don’t really know the procedures in order to represent themselves,” 14th Chancery District Court Administrator Catherine Brock told The Dispatch. “A lot of people can’t afford an attorney to do a will or to prepare an advanced health care directive for them.”

The clinic is open to all residents of the district who reside in one of the six counties and meet the low income requirement. Eligible individuals’ annual income must be below 200% of the federal poverty level, depending on family size. For a family of four, the annual income would need to be below $62,400 to qualify.

Local attorneys volunteering at the clinic can help clients determine if they meet the income requirement and help with issues of no-fault divorce, adult name changes, simple wills, advanced health care directives and power of attorney.

“Once they arrive, they will fill out an intake form,” Brock said. “Then they will be matched with an attorney, and the attorney will guide them through the necessary steps as to why they’re there.”

14th Chancery Judge Paula Drungole-Ellis, who is spearheading the clinic, said attorneys will help both with giving legal advice and preparing legal documents. The main goal is to serve citizens, she said, but the clinic is beneficial for attorneys and judges who volunteer as well.

“It works both ways,” Drungole-Ellis told The Dispatch Monday. “If you can’t afford an attorney, you can come to the clinic. But it also allows these attorneys who volunteer their time, it allows them to give back and give a service to the community.”

Drungole-Ellis said she often sees individuals going before chancery judges pro se, meaning they are representing themselves, especially in no-fault divorce cases. More frequently, she sees pro se documents that are incorrect, a mistake that could be avoided with adequate access to an attorney, she said.

“We get pro se documents (every) month from people, and we see a lot of mistakes,” she said. “Sometimes we have to have our court staff send it back to them to get things corrected. If they had just had an opportunity to have spoken with an attorney, their relief probably would’ve been granted early or sooner if it had been correct. But because they’re not legally trained, they just don’t know.”

Drungole-Ellis has seen seven clinics go off successfully during her tenure. At each one, the volunteers have managed to serve each client who came. Citizens in the district look forward to the clinics, she said.

“We always have a lot of people come, and the feedback is just wonderful,” she said. “Our people are just so appreciative that we had an opportunity to offer this for them. We have people that I see in the streets sometimes ask, ‘So when is your next one?’”

You can register for the event by calling (662) 323-5130 or visiting 14thchanceryms.com. Drungole-Ellis said walk-ins are welcome, and there will be lawyers on hand to help determine if income requirements are met.

McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.

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