Legal

What can the typical military base legal office do for you?

The first step retirees should take is to check with their nearest legal office to see if they provide service to military retirees and surviving spouses because not all of them do.  Eligible persons seeking legal advice can visit the USAF Legal Assistance website at https://aflegalassistance.law.af.mil where they can find useful information on a variety of legal topics, such as family law, wills and estates, and consumer affairs.

For bases that do provide services, many military retirees and/or surviving spouses go to base legal for estate planning to include wills, powers-of-attorney, advance medical directives, and living wills.  Retirees also visit base legal for assistance with matters such as probate, lease/rental contract review, divorce, elder abuse/scams, and other legal matters.  Typically, base legal does not help with any of the following:  criminal matters; real estate/closing documents; official matters in which the US Government has an interest; matters on behalf of third parties (their children); commercial enterprise to include private organizations, rental properties, home businesses; trusts; any representation of a client in a court or administrative proceeding.  Base legal will usually do wills and witness/notarize documents but they will not do trusts. 

 Chances are most of the things you can get done by base legal will also be done by appointment only.  Again, you will need to call the specific legal office you want to use to determine their specific policies and information on which services they provide. 

Buckley AFB

Phone: 720-847-6444, Bldg 1030, Suite 230

The majority of the retirees go to base legal for estate planning to include wills, power-of-attorneys, advance medical directives, and living wills.  All of these are generally done by appointment only.  They also visit legal for assistance with matters such as probate, divorce, elder abuse/scams, and other legal matters.  These are generally by appointment as well.  Legal does not provide assistance for any of the following:  criminal matters; real estate/closing documents; official matters in which the US Government has an interest; matters on behalf of third parties (their children); commercial enterprise to include private organizations, rental properties, home businesses; trusts; any representation of a client in a court or administrative proceeding.  Legal will do wills and witness/notarize documents but they will not do trusts.  Customers can make an appointment with legal by calling 720-847-6444 (Bldg 1030, the Garrison HQ building).

  There are some lawyers and legal organizations that provide free and low cost legal services to military veterans.  For example, in CO the Colorado Bar Assoc (CBA) has the “Colorado Lawyers for Colorado Veterans” program.  In Denver they typically provide services for this program at the Bill Daniels Veteran Service Center (1247 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, 80204) the second Tuesday of each month from 1200-1400. You can contact the Bill Daniels Veteran Service Center for more info at 720-501-3367 or visit the CBA website at www.cobar.org/clcv  You can also check with local Veteran Service Officers (VSOs) and the RAO has at least one lawyer they worked with to provide pro-bono will preparation services for the widow of a retiree.

After being closed to retirees and their dependents since Mar 2020, base legal began offering limited services in early Jul 2021.  The first appointments to have wills done was on Thursday, 8 July 2021.  Wills for retirees and dependents will only be done on Thursdays of each week from 1300 to 1500 and you must have an appointment.  For notary services and powers of attorney, walk-ins for retirees are available on Mondays and Wednesdays from 0800-1200.  Retirees have the option of conducting their legal assistance appointment by telephone or in person.  Legal expects the will appointments to fill up very quickly and they will not have a “waitlist.”  Thus, legal may ask that retirees call back in 2-3 weeks to check for open appointments once they are booked for several weeks. Prior to scheduling an appointment for a will, medical directive or power of attorney, legal will require a ticket # or worksheet, as well as your DoD ID Number which is located in the lower right front of the old (DD Fm 2) ID card (10-digit number). You can obtain a ticket # from the AF legal assistance website at U.S. Air Force Legal Assistance (AFLASS) when you go to the site to fill out the required information for whatever document it is you want completed.  If you call legal to make an appointment, they will not give you an appointment unless you have the ticket number issued by the website.  For any questions call base legal at 720-847-6444.

Following this paper are some separate attachments that list other areas where veterans and/or retirees can get legal assistance or help finding employment.