Pre-Deployment Checklist

Legal Matters

• Consider giving Power of Attorney to someone that you trust to handle your affairs while you are deployed
• Contact your base legal office for information on types of Power of Attorneys and advice on which one you should use
• Contact your base legal office to assist you with updating or creating your will
• Consider establishing a joint account with your spouse so they can more easily pay bills, buy groceries, and take care of finances
• Review your current life insurance coverage
• Confirm your SGLI beneficiaries and update if necessary
• If you are currently renting and need to cancel a lease agreement, notify your property management company of your upcoming deployment
• Understand your rights under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)

Legal Documents

Keeping copies of the following legal documents together and in a secure place will help your family handle certain legal issues that may arise:

• Will
• Power of Attorney
• Insurance policies (Life, Health, Home, Vehicle, Flood)
• Tax Records
• Court orders (child support and custody documents, divorce paperwork, etc)
• Social Security cards of each family member
• Birth certificates of each family member
• Marriage license
• Passports/Visas
• Citizenship/Naturalization paperwork
• Vehicle titles, registrations, and inspection information
• Copy of your most recent LES

Personal Property Matters

• Notify your homeowners insurance company if your home will be vacant during your deployment
• Notify your renters insurance company if you are storing your belongings in a storage facility
• Inventory and photograph your personal property for insurance purposes

Home Maintenance

• Cancel any unnecessary utilities, phone services, cable, etc.
• Replace all smoke detector batteries
• Change air conditioning and heating system filters
• Check and replace any fuses in your fuse panel if necessary
• Make sure your spouse or significant other knows how to check fuses and circuit breakers
• Make sure your spouse or significant other knows how to turn off your water heater, water pump, furnace, and any other major household systems
• Make any repairs or complete any maintenance that may need to be done prior to deploying

Auto Matters

• If your vehicles will not be driven, contact GEICO to place your car or motorcycle into a Storage Protection Plan
• Check your insurance ID cards to make sure you have the most recent copy and keep a copy of up to date ID cards in your vehicle
• Ensure that maintenance records are up to date and kept in the vehicle
• Complete any necessary vehicle maintenance (i.e. oil changes, transmission flushes, tires rotated, etc)
• Make sure the spare keys to your vehicle are kept in a safe place
• Keep an emergency roadside kit in vehicle
• Add Emergency Road Service coverage to your insurance policy
• Keep Emergency Road Service cards in the vehicle
• Call GEICO and give 3rd party authorization to a trusted individual to take care of your insurance matters while you are deployed

Financial Matters

• Notify your credit card companies that you will be deployed
• Create a record of accounts with account information and bill due dates - maintain in a secure place for whoever is taking responsibility for bill payments
• Set up automatic payments - have your bills paid on time automatically
• Ensure your automatic payment account information is up to date including card numbers and expiration dates so payments can continue

Family Matters

• Update your Emergency Data Form ("Page Two") with your family's most current contact information
• Ensure ID cards are current for your dependants and will not expire during your deployment
• Make sure your spouse has all necessary Tricare and dental plan information
• Create a memory book with your family (family photos, mementos, etc)
• Make a personal bag to bring on deployment that includes pictures of loved ones and mementos from home
• Record a birthday greeting for your child or spouse if they will be celebrating their birthday while you are deployed
• Look into international calling plans for your home and cell phones to help maintain contact with your family
• Familiarize yourself and your spouse with the various options for internet chatting (i.e. Skype, Facebook chat functions, etc)
• Set up your Skype account before you leave for your deployment to avoid having to ask a family member to do it on your behalf.

Miscellaneous

• Enroll in Paperless Policy and Paperless Billing options for easy access to policy documents
• Create list of any computer or banking passwords your spouse or significant other may need to access
• Create a list of important phone numbers and email addresses to bring with you on deployment