Free legal assistance available Published Oct. 24, 2011 By 436th Airlift Wing Judge Advocate General DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Have a car you need to sell in Texas while living in Delaware? Are you deploying and a friend will be caring for your home, vehicle and pets? Perhaps you are having trouble with your landlord and you don't know what to do? Maybe you are facing divorce, a child custody dispute or foreclosure. The base legal office is here to help resolve legal problems like these. "In general, the earlier you ask for advice on potential legal problems, the better," said Capt. Andrew Grogan, chief of legal assistance and preventive law with the 436th Airlift Wing Judge Advocate General. The 436th AW JAG does much more than just carry out courts-martial and non-judicial punishments; one of the most important jobs the legal office has is to provide services to Airmen, dependents and retirees. There are many helpful services the legal office provides for free, including preparation of legal readiness documents like wills, powers of attorney and advance medical directives. Attorneys also provide free legal advice on civil matters. The legal office provides free wills to Airmen, dependents and retirees on a by-appointment basis. Wills are essential life-planning tools. A will allows service members to plan for guardianship of their children and to decide where their property will go. If a service member already has one, they should review it periodically to make sure it is up-to-date. The legal office also helps members by drafting and notarizing various powers of attorney. A power of attorney allows a person to give another the authority to act in his or her name. The authority can be for one simple act or for many acts. The legal office also prepares living wills or advance medical directives expressing a member's medical wishes or appoints an agent to make a health care decision for them. The legal office can prepare all of a members legal readiness documents in one stop during a Wednesday morning appointment. Powers of attorney and advance medical directives are also available on a walk-in basis. Legal assistance allows a person to meet with an attorney to discuss personal civil legal issues. Common issues are divorce, child custody, landlord-tenant problems or various consumer issues. Legal assistance attorneys can also help members with Servicemembers Civil Relief Act issues such as terminating leases because of deployment, reduction of pre-service debt interest rates and stays of court proceedings. Service members, planning on signing or renewing a lease for a home or apartment, should visit the legal assistance attorneys, who are available every duty day to review leases on a walk-in basis. The 436th AW JAG also has a claims office, which can give members information on filing a claim for reimbursement, if any property was damaged during your permanent change of station. "Legal issues can be very stressful in a person's life," said Grogan. "We want to prevent them from becoming real problems if possible, but in any case we have trained legal professionals standing ready to advise service members, dependents and retirees." The legal office is located in Building 200 and is open weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except on Thursdays, the office is closed from 7:30 - 9 a.m. for training. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 677-3300. In addition to calling or visiting the legal office, another resource is the Air Force Legal Assistance website. Visit https://www.aflegalassistance.law.af.mil.