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Code of Federal Regulations Title 22. Foreign Relations § 22.92.81 Performance of legal services

Current as of January 02, 2025 | Updated by Findlaw Staff

(a) Legal services defined. The term “legal services” means services of the kind usually performed by attorneys for private persons and includes such acts as the drawing up of wills, powers of attorney, or other legal instruments.

(b) Performance usually prohibited—

(1) General prohibition;  exceptions. Officers of the Foreign Service should not perform legal services except when instructed to do so by the Secretary of State, or in cases of sudden emergency when the interests of the United States Government, might be involved, or in cases in which no lawyer is available and refusal to perform the service would result in the imposition of extreme hardship upon a United States citizen. There is no objection, however, to permitting persons to use the legal references in the Foreign Service office giving specimen forms of wills, powers of attorney, etc.

(2) Specific prohibitions and restrictions. See § 72.41 of this chapter for prohibition of performance of legal services by consular officers in connection with decedents' estates. See § 92.11 restricting the preparation for private parties of legal documents for signature and notarization.

(3) Acceptance of will for deposit prohibited. Wills shall not be accepted for safekeeping in the office safe. If a person desires to have his last will and testament made a matter of record in a Foreign Service establishment, the officer to whom application is made shall have the will copied in the Miscellaneous Record Book (§ 92.77) and charge the prescribed fee therefor.

(c) Refusal of requests. In refusing requests for the performance of legal services, an officer of the Foreign Service should cite these regulations and should state clearly his reasons for refusing to act. In appropriate cases, the officer may furnish the inquirer with a copy of the annual list of attorneys (see § 92.82) practicing in the consular district or he may refer the inquirer to the Department for a list of attorneys.

(d) Waiver of responsibility. When an officer of the Foreign Service accedes to a request for the performance of a legal service, he should inform the applicant that the service is performed at the latter's risk and without any responsibility on the part of the United States Government or the officer performing the service.

(e) Fees. No fee should be charged for any legal services which may be performed under these regulations, beyond the fees or charges for specific services enumerated in the Tariff of Fees, Foreign Service of the United States of America (§ 22.1 of this chapter).

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Cite this article: FindLaw.com - Code of Federal Regulations Title 22. Foreign Relations § 22.92.81 Performance of legal services - last updated January 02, 2025 | https://codes.findlaw.com/cfr/title-22-foreign-relations/cfr-sect-22-92-81/

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