Legacy Without Barriers
Expanding estate planning access and legal preparedness for BIPOC families.
A community-based legal access initiative designed to help Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color protect their loved ones, preserve decision-making authority, and begin planning for their long-term legacies.
BIPOC individuals & families served
Powers of Attorney completed
Attorneys & notaries engaged
Pathways: execution-ready & planning-stage
Powers of Attorney are delayed until a crisis has already happened.
Many families associate estate planning with substantial wealth or end-of-life planning. Essential documents such as Powers of Attorney are often postponed until a medical, financial, or caregiving crisis has already occurred.
A Power of Attorney allows a trusted person to manage defined financial or legal matters when someone is unavailable or unable to act. Obtaining one, however, may require navigating a series of barriers.
Common barriers
- Attorney fees and unfamiliar legal terminology
- Scheduling difficulties and technology gaps
- Notarization logistics
- Uncertainty about where to find trusted assistance
Who is most impacted
Caregivers, working families, older adults, immigrants, multilingual households, and communities historically underserved by legal and financial planning services.
Legacy Without Barriers reframes estate planning as an act of family care, preparation, dignity, and protection.
Power to Protect: a BIPOC estate planning clinic.
The inaugural virtual clinic will focus exclusively on Powers of Attorney. A single document type lets us create a consistent participant experience, measure completion rates, identify operational barriers, and refine the model before expanding.
Delivery
Hosted virtually via Zoom, with registration on Luma or a comparable platform.
- 11 participating attorneys
- 11 commissioned notaries
- Community outreach & caregiver-engagement partners
- Program leadership, marketing, operations & participant support
Execution-ready
Participants arrive prepared, consult with an attorney, and complete signing and notarization when legally and practically appropriate — all in one session.
Planning-stage
Participants receive education and an attorney consultation, then complete documents afterward with clearly defined next steps and continued-assistance referrals.
Every participant leaves with an educational toolkit explaining foundational estate planning documents and guidance on evaluating and hiring an estate planning attorney.
Measurable legal outcomes and broader indicators of readiness.
Every participant leaves with a clear understanding of Powers of Attorney, next steps for their own estate planning, and referrals to trusted attorneys and notaries for continued assistance.
Complementary experience across community, legal, and execution.
Participant-facing communications come from trusted community partners wherever possible — strengthening participation and introducing the program through credible, familiar voices.
A fiscal sponsor accelerates access without building a new organization.
Legacy Without Barriers is ready to operate under the umbrella of a qualified fiscal sponsor. This model keeps resources focused on participants and legal outcomes while the sponsor provides the governance, compliance, and financial infrastructure required by funders and regulators.
What we are looking for
- 501(c)(3) status to receive tax-deductible contributions and grants
- Fiduciary and financial oversight, including grant funds management
- Insurance and liability coverage appropriate to legal services programming
- Compliance, reporting, and audit infrastructure for funded projects
- Administrative backbone for contracts, payments, and vendor coordination
- A shared commitment to expanding legal access in underserved communities
What the sponsor receives
A fully scoped pilot with clear deliverables, experienced program leadership, a trained legal-execution team, and a community outreach model designed to produce measurable outcomes. We bring the operational plan; the sponsor brings the organizational home.
For funders, this means a streamlined path to support a high-impact initiative without waiting for a new nonprofit to form.
The foundation for a repeatable and scalable legal service model.
Every family deserves access to the tools that protect the people they love.
A trusted, virtual, attorney-supported clinic can help 100 BIPOC families take meaningful steps toward legal preparedness — producing a service model, outcome data, and a foundation for scale.