Ramstein Law Center

Hello Ramstein 😁 Our office will be closed on Friday 24 May and Monday 27 May for the Memorial Day holiday and a USAFE day. Please feel free to come and see us on Tuesday, 28 May during our open hours of 0900-1500.

Good afternoon, Ramstein 😁 As a heads up, the legal office will be closed from 1100-1300 on Wednesday, 22 May. However, we are still open from 0900-1100 and 1300-1500 on Wednesday, 22 May.

Good morning, Ramstein! The legal office will be closed this Friday, 19 April. Please ensure to come in to our office for any of your legal needs before Friday rolls around 😁

Good morning, Team Ramstein! Tomorrow, 4 April, we will be closed all day for an official function. We will, however, be open on Friday from 0900-1500 🙂

Good morning Ramstein! We will be closed tomorrow, 29 March, as well as Monday 1 April for the Easter holiday. For any legal assistance, our walk in hours are today from 0900-1200.

Good morning Team Ramstein! As a new update for this year and future years to come, we are no longer doing taxes at the legal office any longer. For assistance with your taxes, please contact Military One Source.

Good afternoon KMC! Due to an Air Force wide system issue on the Air Force legal assistance website, the ticket numbers are not populating correctly for the Powers of Attorney. Until further notice, please do not use the website to make your POA or will, as the ticket number will not work when you bring it in to our office. Please ensure you have all the information you need for the POA when you come in and we will happily create the POA for you. Thank you 😁

Motor Vehicle Powers of Attorney (POA) and Agent Appointments

KMC Patrons,

The Ramstein Law Center has seen an increase of clients in need of power of attorney appointments for vehicle registration, deregistration, and transfer issues. We want to help you to avoid these issues. Here are some pointers and strategies to make life easier and less painful.

When granting someone responsibility over your vehicle, ensure the person is aware of and capable of carrying out the related responsibilities on your behalf. A POA gives your grantee, the person you are giving authority to, permission to temporarily possess, use, operate, drive, register, re-register/de-register, insure, re-insure, license, re-license, obtain safety and emissions inspections for, repair, allow repairs for, and maintain your motor vehicle.

There are different types of POAs that you can get depending on what action you need your grantee to complete.

Special POA: A special POA grants limited authority to a trusted person to perform specific acts on your behalf such as selling a car, accessing a bank account, or managing property.

General POA: A general POA allows you (the grantor) to give a broad range of powers to a trusted person (the grantee) to act on your behalf in areas such as banking transactions, business transactions, selling of real estate and personal property, and taxes. This is very broad authority and should only be granted to someone you trust implicitly. Note that offices, such as Finance or Personnel offices, are unlikely to accept General Powers of Attorney.

Below is a list of the different special POAs that we have related to vehicles.

1. POA to operate POV (Normally given to someone who is watching your car for you while you are deployed or TDY.)
2. POA to pick up POV at port (Normally given to someone who is picking up your car for you after shipping it.)
3. POA to purchase POV (Normally given to someone who is buying a car on your behalf)
4. POA to register POV (Normally given to someone who is registering your car for you.)
5. POA to sell POV (Normally given to someone who is selling your car for you.)
6. POA to ship POV (Normally given to someone who is shipping your car for you.)
Once you've decided what your grantee needs to accomplish for you, keep in mind that whether your grantee is a friend, coworker, or relative. The KMC vehicle registration offices will demand an Agent Appointment and a Special POA authorizing them to perform what you need them to do (register, ship, operate). Spouses do not need to be appointed as an agent.

POA PROCEDURE:

Please complete the following steps to obtain a ticket number for your Power of Attorney:
1. Visit the legal assistance website to fill out the applicable Power of Attorney worksheet you may need. https://aflegalassistance.law.af.mil/apps/aflass_public/bin/main.php
2. Click on Powers of Attorney
3. Go to Legal Worksheets;
4. Scroll down to Create a Power of Attorney Worksheet;
5. Select the topic for the POAwhich applies to you;
6. Fill in all blocks on the worksheet for the POA you need;
7. Print or write out your ticket number(s); and,
8. Be sure you have the ticket number with you when you arrive to our office during our walk-in hours:
Mon-Wed & Fri: 0900-1500
Thur: 0900-1200

AGENT APPOINTMENT PROCEDURE:

To successfully appoint a member as your agent, you must accomplish the following steps.

1. Pickup Agent Appointment form from your local legal office at bldg 2137
2. Both parties must be present to sign
3. Agent must be a part of the owner’s command
4. Agent must be at least one grade higher than the owner
5. Valid for 90 days (failure to dispose in time will result in commander notifications)
6. Prior to departure both the owner and agent must complete an AF Form 190-1AA at vehicle registration.

IMPORTANT TO KNOW:

• POAs drafted in our office are normally not accepted on the German economy.

• If either the sponsor or the spouse is absent when a POV is to be transferred, either a notarized bill of sale or a valid POA (accepted only between spouses) is required to enable the spouse who is present at Vehicle Registration to complete the transfer.

• A person wishing to delete his or her name from joint ownership, but who cannot be at Vehicle Registration in person at the time the change is to be effected, must provide the joint owner a notarized statement or a POA.

• If one of the owners cannot be present, the joint or co-owner conducting the transaction must have a POA or a notarized bill of sale from the absent owner.

• Persons transferring a POV on behalf of another must apply for a POA at Vehicle Registration and be listed on AE Form 190-1A as “agent.”

• Deployed U.S. Forces personnel (verified with deployment orders) may add a non-family member as an additional driver to their vehicle registration for the purpose of vehicle care using a special POA. The person added as an additional driver must be a member of the U.S. Forces with full logistic support. The deployed person will provide the additional driver the old registration, deployment orders, and a copy of the POA. The additional driver must pay the fee for replacement documents to show his or her name.

• If an owner is unable to dispose of a POV before departing, the individual’s unit commander will appoint an agent to dispose of the vehicle. The agent must be at least one grade above the POV owner. The agent will be granted special POA (AE Form 190-1AD), which will be valid for 90 calendar days. A copy of the agent’s appointment orders will be attached to the agent‒owner registration.

• Only AE Form 190-1AD, witnessed and dated at Vehicle Registration or the local staff judge advocate (SJA) office, is an acceptable POA. A person may be an agent for only one POV at a time. The use of an agent in no way relieves the owner of the responsibility to ensure proper disposition.

• A POA is granted when both the owner and the agent appear at Vehicle Registration and complete AE Form 190-1AD in the presence of the station clerk.

COMMON ISSUES/PROBLEMS:

• Obtaining a Power of Attorney (POA) and failing to consult with the person you want to represent you ahead of time.

• The agent's lack of awareness of the duty assumed when taking a POA.

• Failing to explain the specifics of the activity that the parties must do.

• The agent did nothing and allowed the POA to expire.

• Lien-hold vehicles that have been abandoned.

For further questions about POAs or to schedule a legal assistance appointment please contact us at email: [email protected] or DSN: 480-5911; COMM: 06371-47-5911.

For further inquiries about vehicle registration please visit the Ramstein Air Base website at https://www.ramstein.af.mil/About/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/303632/vehicle-registration/