POA question and advice

[opielei]

Hi all!

My son leaves for bootcamp in 3 weeks.  We are trying to get things ready for when he leaves.  We met with an attorney last week about drawing up POA papers and he advised against it.  He said that a Living Will would be better for him.  My son is not married and does not have any children.  He does not have any assets aside from his checking account. 

I am still adamant that he needs to have one drawn up.  I work in healthcare/nursing home and have seen the unfortunate results of NOT having a POA.  Not that I am wishing ill upon my son, I just want him to be as prepared as he can be.

Is there any advise that you Mom's can give regarding having a POA vs not having one. 

Thanks! 

[NavyMum]

We didn't do a power of attorney - we didn't see a need to. My son is an adult and capable of handling his own financial affairs - he files his own taxes and I don't need (or want) access to his bank accounts. I did encourge him to do a living will - that way if something medical happens and he isn't able to communicate his own wishes for medical care, there is something in writing to guide us and his doctors.

He did write a will and he added me as his beneficiary on his retirement accounts and life insurance etc.. None of that would kick in unless he died (God forbid) but that would be when it would need to kick in.

[NavyMum]

if he's 20, then it's probably overdue time for him to learn. He'll be encouraged to set up a NFCU account at basic as well as a Thrift Savings Plan (similar to a 401k but for the military/federal employees). Once he's done with basic - there will be help available on base for filing taxes.

(((Hugs))) Mama -it's hard to let go when there's a chance that they'll screw things up but better to do so now (financially) than later when he's got a wife and kids to be impacted by it and who knows, he might well do just fine.

[PrayingNavyMomsHusband]

I am not an attorney, but am a financial and tax advisor and have worked with this stuff for years.  Both of our sons are in the service, one AF, one Navy, one married, one single.  We have a general power of attorney for both of them because you never know when you need a copy of something from a government agency or other entity that requires it.  If he is stationed overseas (or on ship) it makes it even harder to get things done if you don't have it.  So I would concur with your desire to get it in place.  I don't think it even has anything to do with your son's capabilities.  It just gives you the ability to help out if he needs it.  Just make sure you keep it in a safe place.  Regarding the comments about a living will, this is NOT the same thing as a regular last will and testament.  The living will is basically a "pull the plug" document in my lingo.  If you want someone to speak to treatment options if you r sailor is incapacitated you will need a healthcare POA, like "dylansmom" referred to. Since HIPAA, this has become a big deal because of privacy concerns at the hospital.

[Jackie]

From advise from our attorney we did do a POA. Better safe than not.

[LucindaC]

After he graduates from Boot Camp he should have access to some free legal (JAG) services for simple things like wills and POA's. He will or should be filling out the military Service Member Group Life Insurance (SGLI). The military works with the families, just know your son's wishes should anything tragic happen to him. He will have to learn how to take of himself so prayers momma that he does it. My husband and I are both retired military and hubby still works at a Air Force Base where he is a financial counselor, many young enlisted troops get sent to him when they fail at meeting their financial responsibilities and he does many briefings to prevent stuff like this. The Navy has the Fleet and Family Support where the Navy, Marine Corps Relief Society officer is. I would suggest POA's and there are different types any time your son deploys, as long as he is stateside I wouldn't worry about it. Our recruiter suggested to my daughter that she open up an account with the Navy Federal Credit Union before she left for Boot Camp and she HAD to take the Direct Deposit form with her. They have to have a direct deposit to some financial institution before he leaves, so depending on where he banks at he may want to consider the Navy Federal Credit Union because they are probably at most Navy bases, maybe he can add you to his account. I use to have my mom on my accounts before I married. My daughter shipped out 1/25 and she said she should get her first paycheck March 1st.