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Taking Care of Business While You Still Can – The Importance of Making a Will

  • Published
  • By Capt. Aaron Wilson
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing assistant staff judge advocate
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  In the event of your untimely death, who would you want to get your possessions? Who would you want to care for your children? These are questions that must be answered by everyone as early as possible - don't wait for a deployment to write a will. Unfortunate, unforeseeable incidents can happen at any time to anyone.

A will is a chance for you to decide who gets your possessions when you pass away. For parents, it also provides you the opportunity to say who you want to raise your children in the event of your death. If you die without a will, someone will get your belongings and someone will raise your children, but the court will not necessarily choose who you would have wanted.

When you come to the legal office for a will, you will also have an opportunity create a living will and a durable power of attorney for health care decisions. A living will states that you want your doctor to remove life support if you are unable to communicate with your physicians and you have a terminal condition with no reasonable hope of recovery. A durable power of attorney for health care allows your agent to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to make them for yourself.

If you are active duty military or the dependent of an active duty member, making a will is free and easy. The attorneys at the base legal office take will clients during regular legal assistance hours. We operate legal assistance hours on a walk-in basis. Simply check in between 8 and 9 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday and you will see an attorney in order of arrival. The average appointment lasts 30 to 45 minutes for an individual and about an hour for the average couple. You will leave with a fully executed document that day.

To prepare for your meeting with the attorney you should think about to whom you would like to leave your possessions, who would be good at carrying out your wishes and filing paperwork (an executor) and who you would want to raise your children (a guardian). Then think of a back-up for each of those individuals. Be sure to discuss these matters with your spouse.

To assist you in this process we have created a will worksheet. You can pick one up at the legal office or download it from Staff Judge Advocate page on the 92nd Air Refueling Wing SharePoint website. We look forward to assisting you in preparing for life's contingencies. If you have any questions please stop by our office on the first floor of the wing headquarters building or call us at 247-2838.