Wills for Veterans

By PNC Harvey Weiner

The Massachusetts Department of the Jewish War Veterans of the USA once again sponsored its annual Wills for Veterans program a few weeks after Veterans Day. With the joint sponsorship of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, this was the fifth such annual event. Nine estate planning attorneys from the Boston office of the law firm of Day Pitney LLP once again donated their services and office space to draft wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, and/or health care proxies for eight veterans and two spouses from seven different Massachusetts cities and towns. Army, Navy, Marine and National Guard veterans were among the eight. One Vietnam veteran brought the yellowed carbon copy of his 1968 will, the original of which apparently still resides somewhere in Fort Meade, Maryland.

The experience was so meaningful to the estate planning attorneys that they offered to have a second Wills for Veterans day around Memorial Day. When performing pro bono legal work, lawyers usually get more out of it than they give.

Once again, those departments interested in a template of how to create and implement such a rewarding program, do not hesitate to contact PNC Harvey Weiner.

Volume 77. Number 4. 2023