Dont forget to___________ before he/she leaves for bootcamp, A school, C school, or duty station.

[Michelle (EOD Mom)]

This discussion is for the parents and spouses of DEPPER's. I have heard of alot of things that we should not forget so...If there is something that someone on another group has posted or if someone posts something on our main page and you dont want it to get lost in the shuffle (since we are such an active group :)...). Post it here. I will start with three very important things that I have heard so far that I feel should never get lost.

[Michelle (EOD Mom)]

Dont forget to get a power of attorney. There have been lots of discussions and alot of horror stories about this. The most recent one I have heard lately is...A Sailor did not take his bank information to bootcamp and so they started a bank account for him. Wife is now with out money because they did not do a power of attorney and she has a 2 month old baby at home. He is gone and she has no way to access his funds. Not sure what the outcome of this was but lets not get caught up in that kind of problem

[Michelle (EOD Mom)]

Kathryn posted this link for a power of attorney

http://www.expertlaw.com/library/estate_planning/durable_power_of_a...

[Susan~]

Thanks Michelle

[Mari]

Michelle, does the top part of this form have to be filled out by an attorney? I need to do one for my son who leaves in two weeks.

[Kathryn]

Mari, the form is legal in most states.

I, [NAME], a resident of [ADDRESS. COUNTY, STATE]; Social Security Number [NUMBER] designate [NAME], presently residing at [ADDRESS], as my attorney in fact (referred to as “the Agent”) on the following terms and conditions:

You fill it in yourself. I - would be your son. designate would be whoever he wants to appoint as his POA. Attorney in fact is a legal term and doesn't mean a lawyer.

You do need to have a notary public witness the signing. They should be able to tell you if you have met your state requirements. Or you can google the durable power of attorney laws of your state. There's no need to pay an attorney unless you have to or it makes you feel more comfortable.

[Michelle (EOD Mom)]

Thank you Kathryn for your help with this....I was going to say the same thing LOL

[Phyllis D]

Gosh I never thought of this. My son just opened an account other than the one we had together while he was in school, so my name is not on the new one at all. Thanks for this information!

[Michelle (EOD Mom)]

Which brings me to #2
Dont forget to make sure that your new sailor takes all bank information with him/her

[Michelle (EOD Mom)]

Now for #3
Kathryn posted this to the main page and I feel its an important DONT FORGET
I was just on another group page with a mom who has a sailor deployed and she is wondering how to get him home to see a sick and dying grandmother.
Just wanted to advise everyone to have your sailors get a passport. If they have to come home from outside the country they will need a one. They can only travel without a passport on military orders.
It is a good idea for parents to have one too. If for example your sailor has to be hospitalized (God forbid) in a foreign country you will need a passport to go see them.

[Kathryn]

I just saw a comment from a couple of other moms. One put aside money to have for these types of emergencies. Another keeps a credit card with no balance set aside. Both good ideas.

[Wanda]

This one was really important to us. My husband was on his last ship, which was extended for two months. He and another sailor were supposed to leave the ship in August but could only leave if they had current passports because civilian transport was being arranged. Thankfully I was able to find his and send it to the ship and he was able to leave as scheduled (though not without incident but it was the Navy after all). The other sailor was retiring but unable to leave the ship and had to go through tons of red tape and didn't make it home until November with the rest of the crew.

[Lori (Jake's mom)]

I have a passport question - I've never had a passport so I'm not sure how to answer the question that asks about "travel plans"; will they issue a passport for "just in case".