ELDER LAW OVERVIEW - AND MORE
Training opportunity for potential hotline volunteer attorneys,
student interns, advocates at senior legal services programs, others
Friday March 12, 2010, Sacramento; 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Afternoon breakouts sessions on foreclosure counseling, pension
assistance and "grandparent rights"
1. California Senior Legal Hotline staff and guests will present a slightly abbreviated version of its Elder Law Overview, covering the most frequent legal issues confronted by seniors - particularly low-income clients, and how we tackle them - from 8:30 to 1:00 on Friday, March 12.
The class will comprise basic information and legal updates on a wide range of topics, including surrogate decision-making; Social Security and public benefits; estate planning; probate; consumer issues; housing; health care; long-term care, including Medi-Cal issues and facility resident rights;
family law issues; and ethical dilemmas in representing elderly clients. Four hours of MCLE, including one hour of ethics.
The training is particularly geared toward potential new hotline volunteers in Sacramento. It has also proven valuable for new advocates with senior legal services programs. Presenters will be staff and volunteer attorneys from the hotline, the private elder law bar and the National Senior Citizens
Law Center.

Come at 8:00 for coffee and bagels. (Program will start at 8:30 sharp.) Lunch will be served at 1.
2. In the afternoon on the same day, we'll conduct three simultaneous sessions on topics for which we
could especially use extra help at the hotline:
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Home loans and foreclosure prevention, including the rights of renters in foreclosed properties and the possible use of reverse mortgages to save threatened homes. The session will be practically oriented, meant to provide advocates with an understanding of the current
situation in the area and tools used at SLH to give meaningful help to seniors. From 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.; 2.75 hours of general MCLE credit. If the subject is relatively new for you, we recommend you first watch on line a talk given in late 2008 by Tara Twomey of the National Consumer Law Center, who will also be a presenter on March 12. Defending Subprime
Mortgage Forclosures is available free at http://www.pli.edu. Click on the "CLE Now" link and look for the date Nov. 14, 2008. The class is divided into six segments of about an hour each, and it comes with great handouts that can be downloaded and printed.
•
Pension advice and counseling: SLH houses the Western States Pension Assistance Project, which advises clients in California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii - or anyone whose pension- related issue is connected to an employer or former employer in those states. Volunteers are
needed to work with staff on finding "lost" pensions; researching whether the benefit amount being provided or offered is correct; determining pension entitlement involving a deceased or former spouse. As more and more baby boomers enter seniorhood with 401(k)-type accounts,
we expect growing interest in the financial planning-related issues.
•
Kinship care issues: Popularly known as "grandparent rights," the subject encompasses the already huge number of seniors who have taken on major responsibility for raising related minor children. SLH works with support groups locally and frequently helps individuals navigate family law, probate guardianship and juvenile court, when needed.

The pension and kinship care sessions will run from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.; 1.75 hours MCLE.

Please see the attached flyer for costs, location, and other logistical details.