Milwaukee attorney Kristine Havlik witnesses signature of Justin Wheelock, a Stoughton volunteer firefighter.
Nov. 17, 2009 – To support Wisconsin’s first responders who are prepared to pay the ultimate price in the line of duty, a group of volunteers from Foley & Lardner LLP, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, LexisNexis, and the Young Lawyers Division have worked with the State Bar pro bono program to launch the Wisconsin Wills for Heroes program. The Wills for Heroes program offers free preparation of basic estate planning documents to eligible first responders (publicly employed or volunteer police officers, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, and their spouses/domestic partners).
Trained volunteer attorneys and support personnel will go to locations across Wisconsin at the request of first responder organizations and set up clinics, at which time the volunteer attorneys will draft basic wills, Living Wills, Health Care Powers of Attorney, and Financial Powers of Attorney for eligible first responders and their spouses or domestic partners. Volunteer attorneys also provide state planning education.
During a trial run of the program at the State Bar last month, volunteers Renate Gray, Jeff Wilcox, Kristine Havlik, William Hughes, Eric Guerin, and Anthony Hilsabeck tested the process and tools developed for the program while preparing a set of estate planning documents for a local volunteer firefighter and his spouse. The first full clinic is scheduled for Dec. 5, 2009, in Milwaukee and will be followed by a clinic in the Appleton area.
History. Anthony Hayes, a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough, LLP, in Columbia, S.C., started the Wills for Heroes program shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Anthony emailed the Columbia Fire Department asking what lawyers could do to help that department. During an impromptu focus group, it became clear that there was a glaring need for estate planning services. The Wills for Heroes Foundation was created to support and spread the project nationally.
Since then, Wills for Heroes programs in 10 states have provided more than 7,000 free estate planning documents for first responders. Because of the tremendous success of these programs, attorneys and bar associations across the United States started requesting assistance with implementing Wills for Heroes programs in their communities.
