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Law school program provides free wills to Native Americans

UPPER FRUITLAND, N.M. (AP) — A University of Denver program is helping Native Americans draft wills, helping overcome a cultural aversion to discuss death. The Daily Times reports (http://bit.ly/2nnJAV4 ) that about 20 law students from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law visited the Upper Fruitland Chapter of the Navajo Nation to help tribe members draft wills. The program was created after the American Indian Probate Reform Act of 2004 changed the way some pieces of land are distributed to heirs. The Office of the Special Trustee in the U.S. Department of the Interior reached out to law schools around the country about developing such a program in 2013. The University of Denver was the only one to respond. The project has provided services in Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Utah.