Veterans and Military Families Unit

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley believes that those who have served our country deserve equal access to justice at home.

We recognize that veterans, especially women and those who have recently returned from duty, face a broad and unique set of legal problems. Often this is the result of experiences they had while serving which created physical or mental health challenges in civilian life.

For that reason, we designed our Veterans & Military Families Unit as a general practice, which we opened in 2012, encompassing all of our disciplines. It is staffed by attorneys who understand and respect military culture.

This unit works holistically to protect veterans and their family members from homelessness, address barriers to employment, and gain or preserve economic stability.

Veterans with an honorable or general discharge are entitled to disability compensation, pension programs, free or low-cost medical care, and education support. Navigating those benefits can be confusing and overwhelming.

There are also veterans who are not entitled to those benefits because their discharge status is less than honorable, yet a lawyer may be able to get their status changed to secure the benefits they need and protect their legal rights.

LSHV’s Staff Attorneys navigate the complex systems of resources and benefits to which veterans are entitled. Veterans who receive their medical care at VA Medical Centers, as well as veterans who choose to use public hospitals, can greatly benefit from our services.

LSHV help veterans or their family members with the following issues:

Military Specific

Our staff attorneys assist with applying for Veterans Benefits and represent clients before the Board of Veterans Appeals or in federal court if benefits are wrongly denied. We represent individuals with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and other traumas or injuries in filing disability claims.

Basic Needs

Housing Crises / Homelessness Prevention
Eviction from Private Housing – including illegal lockouts, nonpayment cases, and holdover cases (e.g., lease expired, breach of lease, nuisance complaint).
Eviction from Public Housing
Eviction from Subsidized Federal Housing
Foreclosure Process – including both predatory lending/practices cases and non-predatory lending/practices cases
Other Housing Issues – for example, taxes

Public Benefits

Cash Assistance – e.g., Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Program
Food Stamps
Medicaid
Medicare
Social Security
Unemployment Compensation

Future Planning

Power of Attorney – A power of attorney (POA) is a legal document giving one person (the agent or attorney-in-fact) the power to act for another person (the principal). The agent can have broad legal authority or limited authority to make legal decisions about the principal's property, finances or medical care.
Advanced Directives – Advanced Directives are legal documents detailing the wishes of an individual in regard to medical treatment and procedures, i.e., which treatments and procedures he/she wishes to accept or refuse.
Health Care Proxies – A health care proxy is a legal document through which an individual appoints an agent, e.g., a family member or close friend, who is authorized to make medical decisions for him/her when he/she is incapable of making or executing the decisions stipulated in the proxy. Doctors, other healthcare providers and hospitals must follow the agent’s decisions as if they were the individual’s.
Living Wills – A living will is a legal document that tells others what your personal choices are about end-of-life medical treatment. It lays out the procedures or medications you want—or don't want—to prolong your life if you can't talk with the doctors yourself.
Simple Wills and Estates

Advocacy on Behalf of Individuals with Disabilities

Consumer Law

Bankruptcy / Debtor Relief
Abusive Debt Collection Practices and/or Predatory Lending
Collections – Repossessions and Garnishments
“Non Collections” – Loans and Installment Purchases
Financial Scams – According to a 2017 AARP survey, 16 percent of U.S. veterans have lost money to fraudsters, while 78 percent have been targeted by scams specifically crafted to exploit their service history.

Veterans and Military Families Unit