Fort Bliss Monitor

Legal readiness offers peace of mind to deployed Soldiers

Tandrew D. Sedivy
Legal Assistance Attorney

In recent times, the possibility of a short-notice or a no-notice deployment has increased for our Soldiers in the military. When Soldiers deploy, life still goes on back home – bills must be paid, licenses must be renewed, property must be secured, and the needs of our families must be met. It is a tragedy for a Soldier, who has performed his military duties in protecting our great nation, to come home and discover a tangle of legal, financial, personal and family problems.

This article will discuss legal readiness. Its intent is to provide the reader with available options to minimize the potential problems a Soldier can face when deploying. Most Soldiers that have processed for deployment are familiar with the need for wills and powers of attorney. In addition to these two legal items, this article will discuss safekeeping documents and resolving legal problems before deployment.

Wills

A will is a legal document that, generally, controls the disposition of your property at death and may provide for guardianship or custody of your minor children. A will becomes effective at the time of your death. The will passes your “estate” to those people you named in it. A person’s estate consists of all of the person’s property and personal belongings that the person owns or is entitled to possess at the time of death. Obviously, a will allows an individual to decide what person, persons, or entities get the estate. One main advantage of a will is to identify the person who would take care of your minor children in the event you die and the other parent is already dead, cannot be located, or incapable of taking care of the children. Probably, the desire of young parents to provide for their minor children through a guardian or custodian is the number one reason most Soldiers obtain a will.

When deploying, you do not want to take this document with you. If the plane you are flying goes down with you and your will, your estate will be probated without a will. Thus, you will lose all the advantages of having a will. You want to keep it at a safe location that your loved ones know and have access if tragedy should strike.

As a compliment to obtaining a will is to ensure that your SGLI beneficiary designation is up to date and in line with the wishes expressed in your will. Quite often, Soldiers will designate a minor child as the beneficiary of the SGLI proceeds. If that is the case, the proceeds will be given to the child’s natural guardian (usually a parent) or to a court-appointed guardian. This person may not be in line with the Soldier’s desires. To avoid this problem, Soldiers should designate a guardian, a custodian, or a trustee in the will to receive any property left to a minor and then designate the guardian/custodian/trustee as the beneficiary of any SGLI proceeds left to the minor child. In this fashion, the Soldier is assured that the SGLI proceeds go to the person they trust for the benefit of any minor child.

During actual deployment, there is not enough time to prepare a will for every Soldier requesting one. Priorities will be established based on legal “need.” If you want to ensure that you have a will, it is best that you make an appointment with the legal assistance office now and not wait until you are at the Soldier Readiness Process.

Power of Attorney

A POA is a document that allows someone else to act as your legal agent. This means that your agent can act or conduct business while you are absent. Basically, the POA will give your agent the ability to sign for you and that signature will have the same legally binding effect as if you had personally signed. It can be used in a variety of ways including to allow a friend to sell your car, let your spouse ship your household goods, or authorize a relative to obtain medical care for your children. It can also be used to create valid and legal debts or to buy property, such as a car, in your name. Your legal agent may follow your wishes exactly and your affairs will be in order when your return. On the other hand, your agent may use the POA to obtain goods, services, or money on their own behalf and leave you with the bill. If that happens, your affairs will be in disarray and unknown creditors will want to speak to you. Therefore, make sure that you appoint someone that you trust.

There are two different kinds of POAs – general and special. A general POA allows your agent to do any and all things that you could legally do with a few exceptions. A special POA lists a particular act or a few acts that the agent is allowed to do and nothing else. In other words, the agent’s authority is limited to the acts listed in the special POA.

While POAs can be very useful when needed, they have disadvantages. For married people who have just separated, the spouse with a general POA could use it to wipe out bank accounts, sell the car, and obtain loans in the other spouse’s name. Often, older people provide a POA to a younger relative only to discover that monies have been taken from their bank accounts without their knowledge and contrary to the reason the POA was given. The bottom line is to provide your agent with only the amount of authority needed and no more. Don’t give a general POA if all you need is a special POA. Therefore, if you only need your agent to do one specific act, you should only give a special POA in order to protect yourself.

To use the POA, your agent must have the original signed document. Though POA can be revoked at any time, the only way to effectively revoke a POA is to destroy the original signed document. In addition, it is a good idea to send a letter to all the businesses and agencies that the POA was used stating that the POA has been revoked.

Note: The Fort Bliss Legal Assistance Office does not draft POAs longer than 18 months. Thus, the POA will no longer be in effect after that time. In addition, the POA may be revoked if grantor is incapacitated if the POA is not a durable POA. Also, all POAs will be automatically revoked upon death. Most POAs drafted by the legal office are durable, thus they are not revoked at incapacitation.

Finally on the topic of POAs, businesses are not required to accept a POA. Some businesses only accept a special POA specifically designed for their business. Soldiers should check with the business they deal with before obtain or using a POA to be sure it will be accepted.

Resolving legal issues first

When a Soldier deploys from Fort Bliss, a variety of legal issues can surface. Generally, these issues involve local leases of rental property, storage of personal property, utility charges, and payment of debts. Upon notification of a deployment, every single Soldier, or married Soldier who spouse will leave the area, who is renting premises should immediately inform the landlord in writing and try to reach an agreement on terminating the lease. Experience shows that this is the best and most successful time to resolve rental issues. Most landlords understand the rigors of Army life and are willing to work with our Soldiers. If the lease contains a “military clause,” this might provide an avenue to terminate the lease. Finally, if all else fails, an appointment with the legal assistance office should be obtained.

Also, this is the time to start considering where you will store your personal property, if that is an issue. Talk to your chain of command and your buddies, and start comparing prices of local storage businesses. If you have to store your personal property with a local retain business, be sure you truly understand the terms of the storage and the cost. Ask yourself how you plan on making the payments – a relative or friend through a POA, or an allotment.

Quite often deploying Soldiers forget to pay their final utility bills on their rental premises when leaving the area. This eventually causes credit rating and future utility hook-up problems. Prior to your departure, ensure that each utility, telephone, water, gas, and electric is aware of your leaving and provide each utility with a forwarding address to send the final bill. Upon your return to the area, you will have a much easier time obtaining utility hook-up and the requirement of a large security deposit will not become an issue.

The major consumer problem Soldiers have during deployment revolves around allegations of non-payment of debts. Generally, we find the Soldier does not have an automatic mechanism for paying on-going debt such as a monthly car payment. Soldiers are strongly advised to set up allotments to cover these kinds of debts to avoid debt problems, possible loss of the asset, such as a car, and credit rating problems. Alternatively, married Soldiers can rely on their spouse to make the payment. Of course, this alternative requires the Soldier to fully inform the spouse of all payment obligations and provide mechanisms for the spouse to pay the debt, such as a joint checking account, providing funds through an allotment to the joint account or to the spouse’s separate account.

One federal law that assists Soldiers that deploy is the Service Member Civil Relief Act. The SCRA is a federal law designed to protect Soldier from some legal obligations when military service interferes with them. The Act can allows a Soldier to postpone certain civil actions, (not criminal), during their absence. In addition, the act allows for reduction of interest rates to 6 percent on Soldier’s pre-service loans. This reduction does not apply to college loans. Further, the Act provides protection against foreclosures and repossessions without court order. The SCRA is a technical law, and there are obstacles to being able to use its protections. It is best to consult a Legal Assistance Attorney before a problem arises, if possible.

If you have any questions regarding this article, you may obtain an appointment to talk to an attorney, 568-7141 or 568-4704.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	February 10, 2005

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	Legal readiness offers peace of mind to deployed Soldiers Tandrew D. Sedivy Legal Assistance Attorney In recent times, the possibility of a short-notice or a no-notice deployment has increased for our Soldiers in the military. When Soldiers deploy, life still goes on back home – bills must be paid, licenses must be renewed, property must be secured, and the needs of our families must be met. It is a tragedy for a Soldier, who has performed his military duties in protecting our great nation, to come home and discover a tangle of legal, financial, personal and family problems. This article will discuss legal readiness. Its intent is to provide the reader with available options to minimize the potential problems a Soldier can face when deploying. Most Soldiers that have processed for deployment are familiar with the need for wills and powers of attorney. In addition to these two legal items, this article will discuss safekeeping documents and resolving legal problems before deployment. Wills A will is a legal document that, generally, controls the disposition of your property at death and may provide for guardianship or custody of your minor children. A will becomes effective at the time of your death. The will passes your “estate” to those people you named in it. A person’s estate consists of all of the person’s property and personal belongings that the person owns or is entitled to possess at the time of death. Obviously, a will allows an individual to decide what person, persons, or entities get the estate. One main advantage of a will is to identify the person who would take care of your minor children in the event you die and the other parent is already dead, cannot be located, or incapable of taking care of the children. Probably, the desire of young parents to provide for their minor children through a guardian or custodian is the number one reason most Soldiers obtain a will. When deploying, you do not want to take this document with you. If the plane you are flying goes down with you and your will, your estate will be probated without a will. Thus, you will lose all the advantages of having a will. You want to keep it at a safe location that your loved ones know and have access if tragedy should strike. As a compliment to obtaining a will is to ensure that your SGLI beneficiary designation is up to date and in line with the wishes expressed in your will. Quite often, Soldiers will designate a minor child as the beneficiary of the SGLI proceeds. If that is the case, the proceeds will be given to the child’s natural guardian (usually a parent) or to a court-appointed guardian. This person may not be in line with the Soldier’s desires. To avoid this problem, Soldiers should designate a guardian, a custodian, or a trustee in the will to receive any property left to a minor and then designate the guardian/custodian/trustee as the beneficiary of any SGLI proceeds left to the minor child. In this fashion, the Soldier is assured that the SGLI proceeds go to the person they trust for the benefit of any minor child. During actual deployment, there is not enough time to prepare a will for every Soldier requesting one. Priorities will be established based on legal “need.” If you want to ensure that you have a will, it is best that you make an appointment with the legal assistance office now and not wait until you are at the Soldier Readiness Process. Power of Attorney A POA is a document that allows someone else to act as your legal agent. This means that your agent can act or conduct business while you are absent. Basically, the POA will give your agent the ability to sign for you and that signature will have the same legally binding effect as if you had personally signed. It can be used in a variety of ways including to allow a friend to sell your car, let your spouse ship your household goods, or authorize a relative to obtain medical care for your children. It can also be used to create valid and legal debts or to buy property, such as a car, in your name. Your legal agent may follow your wishes exactly and your affairs will be in order when your return. On the other hand, your agent may use the POA to obtain goods, services, or money on their own behalf and leave you with the bill. If that happens, your affairs will be in disarray and unknown creditors will want to speak to you. Therefore, make sure that you appoint someone that you trust. There are two different kinds of POAs – general and special. A general POA allows your agent to do any and all things that you could legally do with a few exceptions. A special POA lists a particular act or a few acts that the agent is allowed to do and nothing else. In other words, the agent’s authority is limited to the acts listed in the special POA. While POAs can be very useful when needed, they have disadvantages. For married people who have just separated, the spouse with a general POA could use it to wipe out bank accounts, sell the car, and obtain loans in the other spouse’s name. Often, older people provide a POA to a younger relative only to discover that monies have been taken from their bank accounts without their knowledge and contrary to the reason the POA was given. The bottom line is to provide your agent with only the amount of authority needed and no more. Don’t give a general POA if all you need is a special POA. Therefore, if you only need your agent to do one specific act, you should only give a special POA in order to protect yourself. To use the POA, your agent must have the original signed document. Though POA can be revoked at any time, the only way to effectively revoke a POA is to destroy the original signed document. In addition, it is a good idea to send a letter to all the businesses and agencies that the POA was used stating that the POA has been revoked. Note: The Fort Bliss Legal Assistance Office does not draft POAs longer than 18 months. Thus, the POA will no longer be in effect after that time. In addition, the POA may be revoked if grantor is incapacitated if the POA is not a durable POA. Also, all POAs will be automatically revoked upon death. Most POAs drafted by the legal office are durable, thus they are not revoked at incapacitation. Finally on the topic of POAs, businesses are not required to accept a POA. Some businesses only accept a special POA specifically designed for their business. Soldiers should check with the business they deal with before obtain or using a POA to be sure it will be accepted. Resolving legal issues first When a Soldier deploys from Fort Bliss, a variety of legal issues can surface. Generally, these issues involve local leases of rental property, storage of personal property, utility charges, and payment of debts. Upon notification of a deployment, every single Soldier, or married Soldier who spouse will leave the area, who is renting premises should immediately inform the landlord in writing and try to reach an agreement on terminating the lease. Experience shows that this is the best and most successful time to resolve rental issues. Most landlords understand the rigors of Army life and are willing to work with our Soldiers. If the lease contains a “military clause,” this might provide an avenue to terminate the lease. Finally, if all else fails, an appointment with the legal assistance office should be obtained. Also, this is the time to start considering where you will store your personal property, if that is an issue. Talk to your chain of command and your buddies, and start comparing prices of local storage businesses. If you have to store your personal property with a local retain business, be sure you truly understand the terms of the storage and the cost. Ask yourself how you plan on making the payments – a relative or friend through a POA, or an allotment. Quite often deploying Soldiers forget to pay their final utility bills on their rental premises when leaving the area. This eventually causes credit rating and future utility hook-up problems. Prior to your departure, ensure that each utility, telephone, water, gas, and electric is aware of your leaving and provide each utility with a forwarding address to send the final bill. Upon your return to the area, you will have a much easier time obtaining utility hook-up and the requirement of a large security deposit will not become an issue. The major consumer problem Soldiers have during deployment revolves around allegations of non-payment of debts. Generally, we find the Soldier does not have an automatic mechanism for paying on-going debt such as a monthly car payment. Soldiers are strongly advised to set up allotments to cover these kinds of debts to avoid debt problems, possible loss of the asset, such as a car, and credit rating problems. Alternatively, married Soldiers can rely on their spouse to make the payment. Of course, this alternative requires the Soldier to fully inform the spouse of all payment obligations and provide mechanisms for the spouse to pay the debt, such as a joint checking account, providing funds through an allotment to the joint account or to the spouse’s separate account. One federal law that assists Soldiers that deploy is the Service Member Civil Relief Act. The SCRA is a federal law designed to protect Soldier from some legal obligations when military service interferes with them. The Act can allows a Soldier to postpone certain civil actions, (not criminal), during their absence. In addition, the act allows for reduction of interest rates to 6 percent on Soldier’s pre-service loans. This reduction does not apply to college loans. Further, the Act provides protection against foreclosures and repossessions without court order. The SCRA is a technical law, and there are obstacles to being able to use its protections. It is best to consult a Legal Assistance Attorney before a problem arises, if possible. If you have any questions regarding this article, you may obtain an appointment to talk to an attorney, 568-7141 or 568-4704.