Get Legal Help

Legal Aid of Western Missouri provides assistance to our low-income and elderly neighbors in civil (non-criminal) matters.

Our attorneys are able to provide counsel and advice, draft correspondence and pleadings, negotiate settlements, and provide representation in court and administrative hearings.

Qualifying for help may be based on income and assets of all people living in your home. It is also based on the type of legal problem you have.

If you are not sure, go ahead and contact the nearest Legal Aid office.

Types of Cases We Often Handle

Consumer Law

We help individuals with creditor/debtor problems and victims of deceptive or predatory lending.

Domestic Violence Protection/Family Law

We help survivors of domestic violence and their families achieve safety and stability

Our experienced family law advocates provide legal help that allows their clients to get protective orders, establish paternity, obtain divorces and orders for child custody and support.

Due to our limited resources, the family law cases we accept all involve domestic violence and primarily situations in which children are at risk.

Economic Development

Our Economic Development Unit represents nonprofit and community organizations in neighborhood improvement activities:

Legal Aid brings lawsuits on behalf of lower income community groups and neighborhood associations to gain control of run-down, vacant homes, or to require the owner to repair them.
Legal Aid helps neighborhoods in legal disputes over liquor licenses and zoning issues.
Legal Aid works in partnership with City Codes Enforcement, and collaborates with other City neighborhood improvement efforts, such as the Green Impact Zone plan to address problem properties.

2017 Before & After – Check out the dramatic property transformations!

Special Project: Adopt-A-Neighborhood

Guardianships

We help clients obtain guardianships for minors and incapacitated adults.

Healthcare Access

We help clients with legal issues affecting their access to health care.

Cases accepted include hearings/appeals regarding denial or loss of MO HealthNet (Medicaid), Medicare, marketplace insurance

Special Projects:
Advocates for Family Health
Healthy Housing (Mosaic Life Care – St. Joseph)
Access to Healthcare

Housing Law

We help clients with landlord/tenant issues, foreclosure and other housing problems.

Cases accepted include assisting clients with the creation and preservation of low-income housing, tenants rights, unlawful evictions and lock-outs, foreclosures, quality of housing, termination of utilities, unsafe housing, and loss of shelter because of natural disasters.

Self-Help for Tenants

Justice in the Schools

Immigration Law

We help immigrants with residency and citizenship.

Legal Aid handles cases of Lawful Permanent Residents/green card holders (LPR) who want to apply to become a US Citizen, LPRs who need to renew their green cards, assist LPR or US citizen to apply for their family members, help adults or children prove that they may already be a US Citizen because of their parents, as well as assist in US passport applications.

We routinely assist eligible persons to apply for an immigration application fee exception.If you are “Conditional Resident” or have a green card that is only valid for 2 years, a refugee or asylee, we maybe able to assist you in obtaining a permanent green card.

Legal Aid is also able to assist survivors of domestic violence, crimes and human trafficking review their immigration options. Legal Aid also provides immigration services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers in Missouri and Kansas.

Low Income Taxpayer Clinic

Our Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) staff help low-income taxpayers with the following:

IRS Notices, including Notices of Intent to Lien or Levy and Notices of Deficiency
Petitions to the United States Tax Court
IRS Liens and Levies
Installment Agreements
Innocent Spouse Relief
Injured Spouse Relief
Earned Income Tax Credit Eligibility and Denials

The Low Income Taxpayer Clinic also provides tax education and outreach on the rights and responsibilities of U.S. taxpayers to individuals who speak English as a second language (ESL) or who have limited English proficiency.

Our LITC may be reached by calling 816-474-6750.

RESOURCES:

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – a step by step guide

The Taxpayer Advocate Service is your voice at the IRS –
(This site provides great info about your rights as a taxpayer & help with your tax issues.)

Mental Healthcare Access Project

Legal Aid’s Mental Healthcare Access Project offers assistance to individuals with a mental health-related disability who need help with the Medicaid or Social Security process, have been wrongfully terminated from or denied their Medicaid or Social Security benefits.

Migrant Farmworkers Project

Our Migrant Farmworkers Project staff help seasonal and migrant farmworkers with a variety of legal needs, legal education and referrals, including the following areas:

Public benefits eligibility and access
Education access and special services
Immigration benefits—including naturalization, resident cards, lost documents, passport applications
Healthcare access and eligibility
Labor issues—compliance with federal and state safety standards, wage claims, unemployment claims
Family law issues
Referrals for workmen’s compensation claims, traffic tickets
Car titles, license plates, drivers licenses

The Migrant Farmworkers Project can be reached by calling: 816-627-4813.

Municipal Court Defense Unit

What we do:

We represent on OPEN cases in Kansas City Municipal Court in which the city is seeking jail time.
We represent everyone in custody.
We follow our clients through the appeals process and represent them in the high court.
We represent defendants who are eligible to participate in the Mental Health, Veterans and Drug Court programs.

What we cannot do:

Represent in any other jurisdiction outside of downtown Kansas City, Missouri, Municipal Court
Assist with warrants
Expunge convictions
Represent on drivers license reinstatement
Represent on felonies
Do intakes for clients at the office
Give referrals

Specialty Court Programs with Kansas City Municipal Court

Public Benefits

Our primary goals are income maintenance and food security

Cases accepted include:

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) benefit appeals, cessation and overpayment cases
Hearings/appeals regarding denial or loss of TANF, food stamps, childcare assistance, and unemployment benefits
Hearings/appeals regarding Blind Pension and Supplemental Aid to the Blind

Veterans Relief Project

Our Veterans Relief Project helps veterans and their families in a variety of legal matters.

Some examples are:

Filing for bankruptcy to escape debt and remain financially secure
Saving their home from foreclosure to avoid homelessness
Obtaining veteran benefits that allow them to receive needed medical care
Getting a disabled veteran’s student loans forgiven, reducing their debt and giving them peace of mind
Acquiring guardianship over a veteran for their loved one to ensure their needs are met and best interests are prioritized
Securing an order of protection to help them escape an abusive partner

Don’t see your legal problem?

This list is not complete. If you are not sure whether we can help you, go ahead and contact us.

PLEASE NOTE: We do not handle criminal matters. We handle only civil matters.

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