TRIBAL WILLS CLINIC MAY 20 – 23

Celebrate a well-lived life by making sure that your wishes are carried out by the next generation. To make sure that your wishes are respected after you pass, please consider drafting a will, either through the Tribal Wills Program or with a local attorney. The Office of the Solicitor General announced the dates for the Tribal Wills Clinic will be May 20 through 23, 2024.

The Tribal Wills Clinic is a group of volunteers including law students and licensed attorneys, who donate their time to help Tribal Members write wills. The service is being offered to Mille Lacs Band members at no cost.

The process will take approximately two hours on two different days. The first day, you will talk with a law student about what you would like to have included in your documents.

You will have plenty of time to ask questions. The law student will write up all of the documents, and have them checked by a licensed attorney. On the second day, when the documents are ready, you will come back for the signing ceremony, which will take at least an hour, as the law student goes over everything to be sure that it is right.

Why Write a Will?

Federal law includes provisions that say how Indian Trust Lands pass after a Tribal Member passes on.

Over time, parcels may have been split into hundreds of small shares as Indian Trust Land, passed from generation to generation. This process is called “fractionation.”

A federal law, A.I.P.R.A., is now attempting to decrease fractionation by providing that most Indian Trust Land will go only to the one oldest descendant — unless the owner writes a will.

To make sure that your Trust Land, and other important items of property go to the people you want to have that property, you should write a will.

If you have any questions, or to make an appointment, call Tabatha Boyd at 320-364-9539.