by Cathrine M. Castaldi

This year the OCBA honors an extraordinary woman with the 2010 Harmon G. Scoville Award, Mary Pat Toups. Born on August 4, 1928, Mary Pat humbly describes herself as “a product of the world I was born into,” but a glimpse at her life and accomplishments unveil a woman who used her skills as a lawyer to serve as an agent of change in the lives of thousands.

Growing up in Irontown, Ohio, 13 year old Mary Pat observed that black people only swam on Thursdays, after which the pool was drained and re-filled for the use of white people. She did not need for anyone to tell her this was wrong, it was obvious to her. She sought out church members, who she thought would join her in requesting that Irontown end segregation at the pool. In 1941, her pleas were met with uncomfortable silence. Rather than join in Mary Pat’s cause, they wanted her to quit stirring up trouble and just stop talking about it. Disillusioned, Mary Pat was silenced, but at 17 she left Irontown for California, and in her words, “I haven’t shut up since.”

After graduating from UCLA in 1950, Mary Pat occupied her time raising two sons and two daughters, serving on the Board of Trustees of the North Orange County Community College District and engaging in numerous volunteer activities. When her first two children left for college, she decided to focus her considerable energy on one larger goal. A neighbor suggested that Mary Pat would make a good lawyer, and soon thereafter, Mary Pat enrolled in the Orange County branch of Pepperdine University School of Law. Graduating in 1974, she was admitted to the State Bar at the age of 46. As many of her fellow students planned careers of courtroom glory and wealth, Mary Pat decided that she would work for those who didn’t have the means to hire her colleagues.

After passing the bar, Mary Pat began over three decades of pro bono service. In her first year as a lawyer, she volunteered at the Public Defenders Office in Juvenile Court and worked three days a week at the Legal Aid Society of Orange County. She also volunteered for the OCBA’s Limited Means Panel, where she specialized in family law cases and earned just enough to keep the doors of her small law office open.

In 1979, her husband was transferred to Washington, D.C. Mary Pat joined him and immediately sought to put her legal skills to work. At the time, the D.C. courts had a staggering number of child abuse cases, and each child needed representation. Mary Pat offered her services to a D.C. court program for volunteer attorneys and assisted hundreds of children over a 10 year period. When the courts finally obtained funding for the program, Mary Pat served as a mentor for newer lawyers, earning $35.00 an hour.

Mary Pat’s services at the D.C. Court led her to become an invaluable resource for grandmothers who often served as guardians for their grandchildren. Unable to resist the urge to help, she began offering free legal advice to these women. Soon, she started volunteering at AARP’s Legal Counsel For The Elderly. Twice a week, she was stationed at the hotline screening cases. Whenever a conservator or guardianship case came in, Mary Pat received the call. Her transition to elder law was complete, and Mary Pat’s commitment to senior clients has not wavered.

In 1992, she returned to Orange County and reacquainted herself with the Legal Aid Society of Orange County, where she still serves in the Senior Citizens Legal Advocacy Clinic. Because of the Older Americans Act, which mandates that U.S. citizens age 60 and over must be provided free legal services, Mary Pat is given the opportunity to advise clients with respect to consumer protection issues, MediCal claims, and protection from elder abuse.

For several years, Mary Pat listened to low-income seniors who couldn’t afford the services of a competent estate planning lawyer. She worried about the expense and inconvenience of probating their home at death. Some in search of a simple solution, transferred the family home to children expecting that the house would remain available for the senior’s use. Unfortunately, Mary Pat heard one too many stories about seniors facing loss of their homes through eviction or foreclosure due to their children’s financial entanglements or misfeasance. Mary Pat began searching for a solution. Several other states solve this problem through a Revocable Transfer On Death Beneficiary Deed, a form that provides for the transfer of real property to specified beneficiaries upon the grantor’s death.

In 2003 and 2004, Mary Pat offered the Revocable Transfer On Death Beneficiary Deed as a resolution to the Conference of California Bar Associations, where she served as a delegate for the Orange County Bar Association. While the Conference did not adopt the resolution, Mary Pat received valuable feedback from bar associations throughout California and forged valuable relationships.

In 2004, she found an ally in Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who sponsored AB12, now AB724, which would effectuate Mary Pat’s proposal. The Assembly voted in favor of the bill, but it has yet to emerge from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Mary Pat’s proposal, and the evolving bill, face vigorous opposition from the State Bar of California Trusts & Estates Section and others, who argue that the simple form may lead people to make important legal decisions without fully understanding the ramifications of their actions.

A far cry from the teenager who retreated from a fight back in Irontown, Ohio, Mary Pat speaks out in favor of change that she believes will benefit California’s seniors and their families. She has appeared before the legislature on several occasions and she continues to garner the support of critical backers. In 2009, on a return trip to the Conference of California Bar Associations, language mirroring AB724 was approved. The idea has also obtained the backing of the California Law Revision Commission, AARP, the California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA), California Communities United Institute, California Church IMPACT, and Congress of California Seniors. Mrs. Toups’ fight in support of the Transfer-On-Death-Deed are detailed on her website: http://www.transfer-on-death-deeds.com.

Mary Pat Toups is a remarkable woman, whose life of service to others is humbling. It is time that she receive the recognition of the OCBA, who honors her lifetime of pro bono service, her dedication to serving the OCBA as its ABA representative from 1997 to 2009, and her work to effectuate change within our constitutional system of justice. Congratulations to Mary Pat Toups, the 2010 Harmon G. Scoville award recipient.

Cathrine M. Castaldi is a member of Rus, Miliband & Smith, A Professional Corporation in Irvine, California, where she represents corporate debtors, creditors, and equity security holders in litigation matters, business reorganizations and workouts. Ms. Castaldi was the 2008 President of the Orange County Bar Association.