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Indian Estate Planning Summer Intern Program For the past five summers, the Indian Estate Planning Project has provided estate planning services to tribal members throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Indian estate planning has become particularly complex with the American Indian Probate Reform Act taking effect in 2006. The Project places specially trained second and third year law students on Indian reservations throughout these states. The Project is seeking to expand its services to additional tribal communities both nationally and throughout the Pacific Northwest. The Project funds interns through tribal contributions and provides services at no cost to tribal members and without regard to clients’ income. The law students attend an intense training session on the history of federal laws and policies creating trust lands and fractionation, trust and non-trust estate planning under federal, state and tribal laws, the federal probate process, the American Indian Probate Reform Act, will drafting and working within reservation communities. Upon completing the training, under the direct supervision of licensed attorneys, the interns provide 10 weeks of full-time estate planning legal services to tribal members. Planning for the Summer 2009 Indian Estate Planning Project has already begun. If you are a Tribe interested in having a summer intern provide estate planning legal services to your tribal members, please contact Stephanie Nichols at 206-398-4294 or nicholss@seattleu.edu.
Dakota Plains Legal Services (serving Tribes in South Dakota) In 2003, DPLS received another of the first estate planning grants issued by the ILTF. Since this time, DPLS has been providing estate planning services to tribal members on reservations in South Dakota. Over this five year period, DPLS has provided community education and drafted hundreds of wills, gift deeds, consolidation agreements and durable powers of attorneys which have helped over a thousand Indian clients further consolidation of Indian trust lands. Completed Department of Interior Pilot Project - In August 2005, the Institute, through the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, received a one year $519,634 contract to provide estate planning services in the Northwest and Great Plains Regions. The pilot project funded four attorneys and two paralegals who provided direct community education and legal estate planning services on Washington and South Dakota reservations. The contract also provided partial funding for three regional symposiums which trained attorneys and governmental officials on AIPRA and Indian Estate Planning. The purpose of the federal pilot project was to measure the results of community education on estate planning, to weigh the need for estate planning services in Indian Country and to determine if fractionation of land ownership interests would be reduced through those services. The program was an overwhelming success with more than 1,400 receiving estate planning training or information, and over 1,100 individuals receiving estate planning legal services with those individuals holding more than 8,000 fractionated land interests. 83.5% of the project wills reduced fractionation and 100% of the intervivos (gift deeds, sales to tribes) documents reduced fractionation. The services provided by the staff hired in South Dakota have been continued with funding provided by the ILTF and grant from the Bush Foundation, and in Washington, with support provided by ILTF and a grant from the Paul Allen Foundation.
Currently being updated - November 6, 2008. Legal Services and Private Attorneys Currently being updated - November 6, 2008 Our Brochure
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