Wills for Heroes

The Capital Area Bar Association will perform a Wills for Heroes event on Tuesday, February 7, and Wednesday, February 8, 2012, at the Pearl Fire Department. We are looking for attorneys to volunteer for a morning or afternoon shift on either day. Volunteers will prepare wills, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives for first responders. Estate planning experience is not necessary, but this is a great way to obtain a basic understanding of these instruments.

For those unfamiliar with the Wills for Heroes Program, it is a great way for attorneys to perform worthwhile pro bono service for some of the most important members of the community. The program was developed after 9/11 when it was discovered many of the first responders who died did not have wills.

Here is a basic overview of the Program:

  • Participant first responders are given questionnaires beforehand to be completed prior to coming to an event.
  • The participant also signs a disclaimer to clarify that no actual legal advice is provided and it is the participant’s sole responsibility to keep the original documents and have them updated as necessary.
  • At the event, each volunteer attorney will receive a laptop with the program loaded on it that has the forms for the estate documents (these forms have been reviewed by the estate section of the Mississippi Bar).
  • The bar provides the eight laptops (so we generally have 8 working attorneys at each shift) and eight printers.
  • The participant meets with the attorney and his documents are completed, executed before a notary and witnesses, and printed for the participant to take with him/her.
  • All attorneys participating receive pro bono hours for the hours they are at the event.
  • There will be a brief training session prior to each shift for those unfamiliar with the software.

Please email Troy Odom at troy@bbfirm.com, if you would like to participate, and let him know which day and which slot (either morning or afternoon), and which day, you are available to work. We are also looking for notaries.