I’ve known for a long time that I needed to have a will drawn up, but, as usual, I put it off. Beyond needing a lawyer, I had no idea what was involved, and, hey, lawyers are expensive, aren’t they? After Sean was born, though, I couldn’t keep putting it off. And besides, we had an appointment looming with our financial adviser, so I finally did the research.

Today’s Military Wife didn’t have anything in it about wills, and Googling ‘military spouse last will and testament’ didn’t yield anything useful. I searched for a number of different combinations of keywords before hitting on ‘military spouse legal services,’ and finding this website: Armed Forces Legal Assistance. I learned from that site that, yes, I can probably get help creating a will at a legal assistance office.

When I used their search tool to find the nearest office, however, it told me it was in Connecticut. So I went back to Google and found that, of course, there was one right here on the base in Newport. I called the office and made an appointment to meet with a lawyer. As a bonus, they also asked if Danielle’s will needed an update.

They e-mailed us a whole slew of paperwork to fill out, most of which was mind-numbingly boring, but some of the research was fun. ‘SGLI is how much now? SCORE!’ All kidding aside, it was nice to have a pretty clear picture of our assets.

It also forces you to ask each other some of the hard questions about the future: What will happen with your kids if both you and your spouse are deceased? Who should be the guardian? Do you need to establish a trust? What’s a trust?

Once all the paperwork was filled out (and it really wasn’t that hard), the rest was easy. Danielle and I met with a JAG at the legal services office, he asked a few questions, and then he set about drafting a will and last testament, a living will, a health care power of attorney, and a durable power of attorney for each of us. While he entered all our info into the computer, we walked to get a cup of coffee.

Once it was done, I couldn’t believe how easy it had been, and I couldn’t believe I’d waited so long to have it done.

And on top of that, it was free.

The legal services offices provide great services to service members and their families, and many of them are underutilized because people don’t know about their services. If you need a power of attorney before the next deployment, or if you need to finally get your will drawn up (and you do), click the link above and find the nearest office. Or just Google it. Chances are, there’s an office on the base you’re stationed at.