For more than two decades, Bet Tzedek has comprehensively served the legal needs of low-income seniors in Los Angeles. Because of our expertise, Bet Tzedek is the exclusive provider of free legal services to low-income seniors through contracts with the City and County of Los Angeles.

Our staff includes specialists on the legal issues that affect seniors—consumer fraud and elder abuse, nursing homes and residential care facilities, public benefits, family and kinship caregiver needs, and housing—and our staff regularly meets with clients at more than 30 senior centers around the county.

Seniors receive free legal services and representation on a broad range of issues, including:

• Housing
• Consumer Fraud
• Social Security and other Public Benefits
• Caregiver Issues
• Nursing Home Issues
• Wills
• Bankruptcy

Listing of Senior Centers visited by Bet Tzedek staff >>

Legal Clinics

We’re proud of our ability to innovate to meet the changing needs of L.A.’s seniors, and recently have added to our array of services with a series of legal clinics.

In the past year, Bet Tzedek has developed four new legal clinics designed to help seniors help themselves. Each clinic provides an overview of a particular legal issue and guides seniors in the preparation of the appropriate legal documents. These programs empower seniors by giving them the tools they need to address basic legal issues on their own, and also save valuable staff time by reaching more clients than possible through one-on-one meetings.

Clinic topics include:

• Debtors’ Rights
  This clinic is designed to educate seniors about various legal issues surrounding their relationship with creditors, including bankruptcy and other forms of debtor protection.
• Wills and Simple Estate Planning
  With the assistance of the law firm of Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal, this clinic offers basic estate planning to seniors who need something more than a statutory will (which our advocates currently offer at senior center one-on-one visits).
• SSI Overpayment Clinic
  This clinic is designed to educate SSI recipients about their rights and responsibilities, particularly with respect to overpayment issues. The program includes a 32-page handout for each participant.
• Power of Attorney for Healthcare
  Through this program, Bet Tzedek staff train volunteer attorneys, who in turn, visit a senior center and assist 4-8 clients with powers of attorney for healthcare.

See clinics currently being offered by Bet Tzedek >>

Educational Workshops

These clinics are in addition to the ongoing, educational programs that Bet Tzedek staff conducts on the following topics.

• Conservatorship
• Home Equity Fraud clinic
• Planning for Long Term Care and Incapacity
• IHSS Consumer Training
• Surrogate Decision Making
• Home Equity Fraud and Predatory Lending
• Elder Law
• Elder Abuse TRO’s
• Public Benefits for Caregivers
• Holocaust Restitution Assistance
• Elders at Risk - Making a Difference
• Nursing Home Residents’ Rights
• Protecting Yourself Against Senior Fraud & Abuse
• Legal & Financial Planning

See clinics currently being offered by Bet Tzedek >>