Military Friendly Lawyer?

[JBP]

Hello folks,

May seem like a weird question, but does anyone know of a military friendly lawyer in the Edmonton area? I'm deploying in a little while and would like to get a will & power of attourney and all that done before I go.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Pusser]

I'm not in Edmonton, so I can't say for sure, but usually any lawyer who puts "CD" on his/her shingle is military friendly (or claims to be an "expert" in military law, so watch out).  Another option is to check with your local AJAG.  They can normally do up powers of attorney and simple wills free of charge.  They can also usually recommend local civilian attorneys who can help you out.

 

[Sig_Des]

Hello folks,

May seem like a weird question, but does anyone know of a military friendly lawyer in the Edmonton area? I'm deploying in a little while and would like to get a will & power of attourney and all that done before I go.

Thanks in advance!

Did your DAG process not include the option of a PoA?

 

[brihard]

Did your DAG process not include the option of a PoA?

Would you bring your pay problems to a lawyer?

No?

Why would you put your legal faith in pro-formas handed to you by a clerk? No disrespect to clerks, but they aren't lawyers, and legal documents are best looked at by one.

I got my tour powers of attorney (I had two separate ones) and my will done by a lawyer. I think it cost me $150. Worthwhile knowing that if everything went all pear-shaped the legal affairs would be properly administered.

 

[ModlrMike]

I don't know where you live, but when I lived in Castle Downs, I used the folks at Hansma etc over by the Superstore at 113 St and 127 Ave. Likely not any more military friendly than any other firm, but they get a lot of business from us.

 

[Sig_Des]

Would you bring your pay problems to a lawyer?

No?

Why would you put your legal faith in pro-formas handed to you by a clerk? No disrespect to clerks, but they aren't lawyers, and legal documents are best looked at by one.

I got my tour powers of attorney (I had two separate ones) and my will done by a lawyer. I think it cost me $150. Worthwhile knowing that if everything went all pear-shaped the legal affairs would be properly administered.

Our clerks weren't the one's who typed up our PoA's, it was done by AJAG, and there were no issues with it's use when my wife needed it.

 

[brihard]

Our clerks weren't the one's who typed up our PoA's, it was done by AJAG, and there were no issues with it's use when my wife needed it.

Oh, OK- I was thinking of the boilerplate Ontario power of attorney form we got, plus the C.F. Service Will. But if you had a legal officer help out with yours then that's just as good.

 

[Journeyman]

Worthwhile knowing that if everything went all pear-shaped the legal affairs would be properly administered.

As noted, the CF Legal Branch -- lawyers -- writes the POA docs, not the clerks.

Regardless, the POA on your file will be administered in exactly the same way, whether it's the CF doc, the one you spent your time and $150 on, or scribled out with crayon and got duly notarized.

 

[brihard]

Journeyman- what we got for my tour was the generic Ontario 'power of attorney kit'. We weren't given something put together by a JAG. Mm use of the term 'administered' wasn't the right term- what I meant to say was that the words of the document as legally interpreted properly reflect the intent of the person in whose name the powers of attorney or the wills are written without being vulnerable to legal contestation due to technical errors.

I'm sure that in most cases the boilerplate PoA will be fine, and the CF service will should be alright for a single beneficiary or a very simple split- but for the significance of what the use of those documents would have represented, I was just more comfortable having it done by a lawyer.

 

[Journeyman]

....I was just more comfortable having it done by a lawyer.

Fair enough.


The only other bit of 'free internet advice' I'd offer (worth every penny paid  ) is to take time to consider what powers you're allowing in the POA. There's more than a few stories of troops returning home to empty houses and even more empty bank accounts.

Because of the wording of my POA, I didn't make out too badly; she only sold my bike (fortunately, I was much younger and still riding Japanese bikes back then -- a similar event today would be catastrophic! )

 

[brihard]

Fair enough.


The only other bit of 'free internet advice' I'd offer (worth every penny paid  ) is to take time to consider what powers you're allowing in the POA. There's more than a few stories of troops returning home to empty houses and even more empty bank accounts.

Because of the wording of my POA, I didn't make out too badly; she only sold my bike (fortunately, I was much younger and still riding Japanese bikes back then -- a similar event today would be catastrophic! )

Oh frig, no kidding. I think we've all got a buddy that happened to. One of the guys I was on tour with deployed twice to Afghanistan in order to pay off the financial hit he took form a foolish PoA he gave to his then-girlfriend during Bosnia. She was decent enough to leave a hundred bucks on one of his credit cards so he could get back to London from Pet.

 

[captloadie]

You will also want to speak with your bank. I have heard many stories that some branches would not accept the standard CF POA.

Journeyman also provided some very sound advice. It isn't fun when the significant other cashes out all your RRSPs and you're left holding the bag, getting your wages garnished to pay the taxes owing to CRA.

Another sound bit of advice is to put an end date on it, because that piece of paper can be like gold.

 

[Pusser]

Captloadie makes a good point, but I'll expand on it.  A Power of Attorney is simply a device that gives your permission to someone else to act on your behalf.  However, it in no way creates an obligation for a third party to recognize it.  In other words, it doesn't matter who makes up the Power of Attorney, if the bank doesn't want to accept it, they don't have to.

Another thing to consider is that Powers of Attorney can be as broad or specific as you like, so you should think about what you actually need it for.  If you're not planning on doing anything that requires your signature when you're away, then you may not need one at all.  Remember, if you die (heaven forbid) then your will takes over (you DO need a will), but if you expect to come back to the same house with the same family and there are to be no major expenses or legal issues to take care of while you're away, you shouldn't need one.  Things like car insurance and license renewals can be taken care either by pre-payment or joint ownership ( you don't normally need both signatures on license renewal if the vehicle is jointly owned, but you do need both to sell it).  The other thing to consider is that with modern technology, the Power of Attorney is rapidly becoming obsolete.  For example, I once sold a house in Nova Scotia, when I was in Hawaii and my wife (the co-owner) was in Victoria.  Instead of a Power of Attorney, we moved documents around electronically, using e-mail and scanners.  There was a small challenge keeping everything straight, but it got done and no Power of Attorney was required.

On a similar note, another document to take care of before you deploy might be a travel letter for your kids.  This is something for your spouse to show border services agents to indicate that he/she has the other parent's permission to take them out of the country on vacation (i.e. go to Disneyland without you).  My wife was actually asked for one of these when she brought my kids to meet me in the Dominican Republic while I was deployed.

 

[ModlrMike]

Pusser is right. You need a specific POA. You will need to consider what limits you're going to place on your spouse in this regard. There's no intent to be mean here. Many of us have seen guys cleaned out by a spouse who can no longer handle the military lifestyle and separation. I agree as well with the travel letter for the kids. Well worth the effort.

 

[Hammer Sandwich]

For the sake of the thread.....I'll ruin it, and hope it ends up in a more "important" place. POA is not radio chatter, IMO.

 

[ballz]

God these stories give me such a sick feeling in my stomach...

I decided after about 3 weeks of knowing my last girlfriend that my parents would be getting PoA for anything, ever, no matter if we were together 20 years with 2 kids, she'd have to do everything through them. Luckily, a short while later she became "my last girlfriend" anyway.

But the lessons from that one won't soon be forgotten... :facepalm:

I've read about commercial third-party's offering this kind of service as well... but I'm not sure how that's supposed to work...

Pusser is right. You need a specific POA. You will need to consider what limits you're going to place on your spouse in this regard. There's no intent to be mean here. Many of us have seen guys cleaned out by a spouse who can no longer handle the military lifestyle and separation. I agree as well with the travel letter for the kids. Well worth the effort.

F**k em (him or her), if they're that bent out of shape over getting your PoA, they've already got plans made for what they're gonna do once they get it...

 

[mariomike]

I've read about commercial third-party's offering this kind of service as well... but I'm not sure how that's supposed to work...

The legal service we had where I used to work:
http://www.sykesassistance.com/page.php?cid=72&aid=4