Providing peace of mind
Law students are helping Clevelanders protect their heirs—while gaining real-world experience
Photo: CWRU School of Law held a Pop-Up Wills Clinic at a nonprofit to help Cleveland-area residents write their wills.
Many people don’t like to think about death—much less plan for it. Fewer than half of adults nationally have a will, according to polling in recent years by Gallup and other organizations. And that includes parents with minor children.
The absence of an estate plan can lead to probate challenges, increased family tension and difficulty transferring homes and other assets. So why don’t more people have them?
Procrastination is the top reason cited in a 2025 survey of American adults by Caring.com—a provider of online resources for seniors—and YouGov, which also found that just 24% of Americans have a will. Fees and a lack of knowledge about obtaining a will or living trust were also high on the list.
Such barriers are among the reasons why free Pop-Up Wills Clinics offered by Case Western Reserve University School of Law have been so impactful. They strip away the cost and confusion and give people a chance to take control of what happens with their estate—and in familiar surroundings.
Nearly five years ago, the law school launched the one-day clinics, sending law students to community organizations throughout Cleveland to help create wills.
“We’re not waiting for people to come to us—we moved out of our building and into the community,” said Laura McNally, JD, a professor and associate dean for experiential education who leads the school’s Milton and Charlotte Kramer Law Clinic, which runs the wills clinics.
The clinics have already helped more than 200 Greater Cleveland residents complete not only wills but power of attorney documents, advance healthcare directives and transfer-on-death affidavits specifying who inherits real estate. The sessions are so popular that appointments are quickly taken and most have waiting lists. So, McNally plans to expand the clinics’ partnerships to draw more lawyers to work pro bono.
LaJean Ray, the longtime director of the Fatima Family Center in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood, not only became a client but welcomed CWRU’s law students to the center to help others. Ray herself grappled with a “tangled title” after her mother died and she didn’t have paperwork transferring the family home to her.
“This isn’t just about thinking about death,” Ray said. “We present this to people as a way to ensure that their legacy is protected. It could be five years or 25 years when it is time, but your family will be taken care of.”
Rachel Mancuso, who worked in the wills clinics last year as a first-year law student, called the experience transformational. “You can really sense [the clients’] relief after filling out these documents,” she said. “They’re glad to give their family that peace of mind.”
Most law schools offering community wills clinics don’t involve students until their second or third year of law school, McNally said. But all first-year law students at Case Western Reserve participate in the Kramer Law Clinic, learning to write documents, interview clients and navigate emotionally sensitive conversations.
“I’m not just learning about legal theory,” said Mancuso, who came to CWRU partly for its extensive experiential education. “I’m using the law to make people’s lives better.”
Photographs by Leah Trznadel