Before They Leave for College
The Three Estate Planning Documents Every Child Should Have
By: Elizabeth A. Lahey, Esq.
The shopping is done. The dorm room is packed. You’ve bought the extra-long twin sheets, stocked the mini refrigerator, and reminded your child not to wait until the night before a paper is due.
But there’s one important item that rarely makes the college checklist.
Once your child turns 18, you no longer have the legal authority to make medical or financial decisions on their behalf.
“But I’m Their Parent.”
Legally, adulthood begins at age 18. Even if your child is still covered by your health insurance, lives at home during the summer, and depends on you financially, they are now considered an adult under the law.
That means if your college student is injured, becomes seriously ill, or is unable to manage their affairs, your ability to help may be much more limited than you expect.
Advance Directive and Living Will
Imagine your child is involved in a serious car accident several hours away at school.
The hospital will certainly contact you if it can. Doctors generally recognize that parents are often the first people to call in an emergency. However, once your child is an adult, there may come a point where health care providers need legal authority to communicate with you or rely on your decisions if your child is unable to make them.
An Advance Directive and Living Will allow your child to appoint someone they trust—often a parent—to make medical decisions if they are unable to communicate those decisions themselves.
Without these documents, family members may need to seek a guardianship through the court before they can make certain medical decisions. That process can be expensive, time-consuming, and emotionally difficult, particularly when your child is away at school or studying in another state.
HIPAA Authorization
A HIPAA Authorization allows your child to designate the individuals with whom medical providers may discuss their protected health information. In many cases, this means doctors and hospitals can speak openly with parents about a diagnosis, treatment plan, medications, test results, and other important medical information.
While an Advance Directive authorizes someone to make medical decisions if the patient is unable to do so, a HIPAA Authorization helps ensure that parents can receive medical information and communicate with health care providers even while their child is still capable of making their own decisions.
These documents work together. One allows you to receive important medical information. The other allows you to make health care decisions if your child is no longer able to make those decisions independently.
Durable Financial Power of Attorney
Medical emergencies often create financial issues as well.
If your child becomes incapacitated, who can:
- Access a bank account to pay bills?
- Deal with an insurance company?
- Sign documents if necessary?
- Manage a lease?
- Handle tuition or other financial matters?
A Durable Financial Power of Attorney allows your child to appoint someone they trust to manage these matters if they are unable to do so. For most families, that person is a parent.
These Documents Will Not Hinder Independence
Some parents and students worry that signing these documents means giving up independence. It does not.
Properly drafted documents allow your child to choose who can act on their behalf, under what circumstances, and with what authority. They remain in control of their own decisions unless they become unable to make them.
These documents are simply an emergency plan—one you hope is never needed but will be grateful to have if the unexpected occurs.
Before Move-In Day
If your child is heading to college this fall—or has recently turned or is about to turn 18—consider meeting with an estate planning attorney before they leave.
Preparing an Advance Directive and Living Will, HIPAA Authorization, and Durable Financial Power of Attorney is often straightforward, but the protection these documents provide can be invaluable when your family needs it most.