Getting legal help is especially important for older Coloradans. It helps them keep control over their lives, be treated with respect, have enough money, stay healthy, and ensure their rights are upheld. Sometimes, older people who need legal help don't ask for it because they might not have enough money or they might not even realize they have a legal issue.
Colorado's Legal Assistance Program works to protect and promote the rights of Colorado’s older adults and to improve their quality of life. The program can help older adults address a variety of legal issues, such as:
- Efforts to save their home from foreclosure and from home repair scams
- Responding to creditor-initiated bank garnishments for unpaid medical bills
- Financial exploitation, including misuse of a power of attorney by a relative or caregiver
- Denials, reductions and terminations of Medicaid and other public benefits
- Preparation of deeds, wills and advance directives
- Guardianships and conservatorships
Find legal assistance
For legal assistance, contact the legal assistance provider in your area or call your local Area Agency on Aging.
How the program works
Title III of the Older Americans Act makes funds available specifically for legal assistance to those 60 years of age and older with the greatest social and economic need. The Legal Assistance Developer provides oversight of the Title III legal assistance programs and ensures that at-risk older people have access to the civil justice system.
Each of Colorado’s 16 Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) contracts with local attorneys or firms to provide services. The attorneys who contract with the AAAs to provide services are known as Legal Assistance Providers. Based upon the needs of the community, each AAA establishes both the types of legal services to be offered to older adults in the region and what services should be prioritized. Priority legal services are provided free of charge. Priority legal issues typically include:
- Housing issues
- Accessing health and long-term care
- Elder abuse and neglect
- Financial exploitation
- Public benefit issues (Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, etc.)
- Consumer protection
Annual reports
Contact information
Candise Johnnie
Colorado Legal Assistance Developer
720.788.5506
candise.johnnie@state.co.us