When the planes hit the World Trade Centers in New York City on September 11, 2001, first responders arrived on the scene to help those trapped by flames and falling debris. When the towers collapsed, 403 first responders were killed. Most of them did not have wills.

Anthony Hayes, a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough, LLP in Columbia, SC asked the local fire department what attorneys could do to help the department. It became clear that there was a glaring need for estate planning services for first responders.

Hayes started Wills for Heroes in November 2001. The program provides legal documents free of charge to first responders. The Wills for Heroes Foundation believes that by "helping first responders plan now, they ensure their families' legal affairs are in order before a tragedy hits."

In Pennsylvania, the program is co-sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division which provides estate planning documents for not only first responders, but military veterans too. Programs throughout the state are staffed by lawyers who volunteer their time and expertise, and are offered at meeting halls, police and fire stations.

"Daniel T. McKenna, Esquire, and Verdina Showell, Esquire, brought the program to Pennsylvania," said Lisa Shearman, Esquire, of Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell & Lupin. "They held the first event in Limerick at the Exelon Limerick Nuclear Generating Station in 2008."

McKenna and Shearman are the current co-chairs of the Pennsylvania Wills for Heroes program. Shearman said the program provides wills, financial durable powers of attorney and health care powers of attorney/advance directives for first responders. Most clients choose to have all three documents prepared.

In Allegheny County, Wills for Heroes began in 2009 by the Bar Leadership Initiative class of the Allegheny County Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division.

"Notably, Pennsylvania has more volunteer first responders than any other state in the nation," said Julianne Cutruzzula Beil, Esquire, with Cutruzzula & Nalducci in Pittsburgh.

Notaries are needed to volunteer during Wills for Heroes events to notarize documents; and law students and non-attorneys volunteer to serve as witnesses during the execution of documents. "Having notaries at the program allows us to provide the participating first responders with an extra layer of authenticity to their documents," Beil added. "Additionally, it ensures that these documents will continue to be valid shoudl the participant relocate into a jurisdiction that requires a will to be notarized, and ensures that they are valid as to any property located outside of the Commonwealth."

Shearman said clients are provided with two of each power of attorney and one will, so the volunteers are notarizing five documents for each client. "The notaries are required to check the clients' IDs as well. Sometimes the notaries act as witnesses for other notaries if we are short on witnesses," she added.

At each Wills for Heroes event, it takes about one hour to produce the documents for each participating first responder. Lawyers use laptop computers with special software designed specifically for the program. Participating first responders and military veterans fill out estate planning questionaires prior to the event. This gives the participants time to think through and discuss important decisions with their loved ones.

Those first responders and military veterans then meet with a lawyer volunteer who inputs the information from the questionaire into the software at the event. The lawyer reviews the draft documents with them to make sure he or she understands and agrees to the plan. The documents are finalized, signed, witnessed and notarized so they are effective immediately.

In the fall of 2015, "we held events for the City of Pittsburgh firefighters, sponsored by MSA Company, and the Moon Township Police Department," said Beil. "We try to hold at least four events per year."

On January 30, 2016, a Wills for Heroes event will be held at the University of Pittsburgh Police Department in Allegheny County.

"We are also holding an event on April 9, 2016 in Monroeville for the Pennsylvania Game Commission conservation officers," Beil noted.

Events are posted through the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Web site at www.pabar.org/public/yld/Projects/willsforheroesyld.asp. Volunteers can also find a list of county coordinators on their site.

"There is almost always a need for notaries," said Beil.