Susan J. Link Interviewed by KARE 11 on Minnesota Wills for Heroes

Susan J. Link, chair of Maslon's Estate Planning Group, was interviewed on
KARE 11 Sunrise regarding her work for Minnesota Wills for Heroes. The interview, conducted by host Kim Insley, aired on Thursday, September 4th.

As program director for Minnesota Wills for Heroes, Link explains the project's origination in South Carolina in response to the tragedies of 9/11 when emergency first responders indicated that estate planning services were one of their top needs and describes her role in helping to launch the program in Minnesota this past year through the Minnesota State Bar Association. She comments, "85-90% of first responders have no estate planning documents in place," and cites concerns about cost as a primary deterrent.

Since launching the program in 2007, Minnesota Wills for Heroes has achieved the milestone of preparing its 1000th will for Minnesota's first responders. Sponsored by the Minnesota State Bar Association, the Minnesota Wills for Heroes program is designed to provide free legal services to prepare basic estate planning documents for Minnesota first responders. First responders include: police officers; firefighters; paramedics; EMTs; and corrections officers (in addition to the spouses or widow/widowers of such personnel). This program has been implemented in eleven other states (South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Arizona, California, Illinois, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, and Utah) and is maintained by the bar associations of these states. A committee of the Probate and Trust Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association has developed and oversees the program in Minnesota.