Inside: When sending their teenage kids off to college, most parents don’t think about the fact that they are now legally adults with all the legal privacy protections that entails. So, if they get into an accident or encounter other serious medical situations, as parents you may get shut out and find yourself unable to help. Don’t let this happen to you, all it takes is putting some simple legal documents in place now to save yourself worry and headaches in an emergency.
My teenage son is an athlete who has been playing sports since he was a toddler. Over the years, he’s had several pretty scary injuries on the field. As a parent, it has been gut wrenching to watch it happen sitting on the sidelines. But in every instance, once he was off the field, his father and I had immediate access to him and we were able to openly talk with his coaches and the trainers. If a doctor visit was required, the doctors provided us all the information about his injury and care options and we would talk with him and decide as a family the best course of action.
But imagine if that wasn’t the case. What if when we went over to check on him, the trainers told us that they couldn’t discuss his condition with us? Or what if at the doctors office, we were told that we had to step out of the room while a care plan was put in place?
Well, now that my son is 18, that is exactly what could happen.
A few week’s before his 18th birthday, I started getting emails from all his medical providers alerting me to the fact that my access to all his medical information was about to be revoked. It caught me a little off guard, but it was a wake up call.
Yes, my son is 18 and legally an adult. And honestly, he’s a very mature and responsible young man who capable of handling many parts of his life just fine on his own. But when it comes to managing his own health and medical care, he and I both agree that there are times it is good that his father and I are still involved. And in a worst case scenario, if he were in an accident and was incapacitated he would absolutely want his father and I to be able to make decisions on his behalf.
So, as we send him off to college this fall half way across the country from us, we are not only making sure he’s got all his dorm essentials, as well as boots and a coat to help our Florida kid survive an Ohio winter, but we are also putting in place several legal documents to ensure we can step in and help should emergency situations arise.
NO Putting In Place These Legal Documents Is Not Being Over Protective, It’s Being Practical and Proactive
Now, some of you may be thinking this sounds like just another form of our crazy helicopter parenting generation. But I assure you this is not the case at all. In fact, if you stop and think for a a moment, there is a good chance that you actually have a power of attorney established.
This is because, once you are over the age of 18 (or in some states, 19) and considered an adult, many entities are no longer allowed to share private health care or financial information with anyone other than that individual – unless a POA is in place.
Signing a power of attorney form is a very adult task. And so having your young adult child takes this step, is a positive first step in helping them establish a lifelong habit of healthy financial and long-term planning.
You may also be worried that getting these legal documents in place will take a long time or be annoyingly complicated and expensive. Actually, none of these things is true.
It Doesn’t Take Long To Create A Young Adult Power Of Attorney Form At All
It takes 15 minutes to create a POA form for your college student through Mama Bear Legal Forms; maybe 10 minutes, if you type fast and have the necessary documents handy.
If you go to an attorney, they can create one for you, likely within a few days to a week, but you will pay attorney fees for that convenience. Mama Bear Legal Forms lets you create the same thing yourself, from the comfort of your home or office, in 15 minutes or less.
All three of the forms in the Young Adult Package are state-specific and include guidance on how to complete them. In fact, there is an online guide that will walk you through the process, step by step, so that you can complete the forms with the necessary information in just ten to 15 minutes.
That’s less time than a Target run for that dorm room item you just remembered your college student needs.
It’s Also Easy, Inexpensive and Customizable By State
Mama Bear Legal Forms offers an all in one package of law firm quality, state-specific documents that are easy to create, simple to download and incredibly affordable.
Mama Bear Legal Forms offers affordable power of attorney (POA) templates and healthcare POA forms you can customize for your children and state(s) of residence. Our Young Adult Power of Attorney Package includes all three documents your college child needs for only $79 – a significantly lower price than the average attorney fee for preparing such documents. (P.S. Use Promo Code PTTCOLLEGE20 and get 20% off!!) And if your child is going to college in another state, a second set for that state is included in the price.
Still Not Convinced Why You Need These Legal Documents
Everyone assumes that because they’re married or a parent, they can automatically handle decisions for their college students. However, that’s not necessarily true. When a child turns 18 health care and financial information becomes private and parents no longer have the right to make medical or financial decisions for their children.
Without a power of attorney form and healthcare power of attorney form in place, parents are not authorized to help adult children manage their financial, legal or healthcare decisions.
By age 18, HIPAA privacy laws pull the curtain fully closed and doctors, banks and insurance companies will no longer communicate with a parent about their young adult’s account or health condition.
Specific laws vary by state, so the situation can become more convoluted when a child attends college out of state. The most common reasons a parent may need to help an adult child make medical or financial decisions are maturity and incapacity.
2 Reasons for a Power of Attorney Form – Maturity and Incapacity
Many people aren’t ready at age 18 to take on all the responsibilities of adulthood. Events rise that are beyond their experience to handle. College students may inadvertently land themselves in credit card debt and need help from parents to make the financial moves necessary to climb out.
Sadly, accidents can happen at any time that cause an adult child to become incapacitated. Someone who normally makes wise, level-headed decisions may become impaired temporarily by an illness or accident and need assistance making medical and financial decisions.
Without these forms, a court may need to appoint a guardian or conservator. The process can be complex, time-consuming and expensive. Power of attorney forms eliminate this concern.
Keep in mind that Young Adult POA forms are very different from HIPAA privacy forms that you may have already filled out at your child’s doctors’ offices.
HIPAA forms typically provide release of health information for a particular office or hospital system only. They provide parents no rights to a child’s personal health information anywhere else.
Additionally, they provide no help if a child becomes incapacitated and cannot sign a HIPAA release at the time they need care. Both a healthcare power of attorney form and universal HIPAA release should be prepared ahead of time.
Signing POA forms – where to get your documents notarized
After you create your POA forms, you’ll need to sign them in the presence of a notary. It takes about the same amount of time as it does to create your POA – 15 minutes.
The National Notary Association recommends these common places to locate a notary public to assist in signing your legal documents:
- Businesses, including: banks, credit unions, tax or CPA offices, parcel shipping stores, and real estate offices.
- Local AAA offices.
- Government offices, including: town hall, city hall, county courthouse, and public library..
- Business offices at colleges and universities (for college students).
- Online searches at sites like 123notary.com and Notarize.com.
In all of these cases, you will want to call, email or chat ahead of time to verify that a notary is there, when they are available and find out exactly what is required to have your will or other legal document, such as a power of attorney or young adult power of attorney, signed.
Be sure to ask what fees the notary charges and what forms of payment are accepted. Then, schedule an appointment with the notary for you and your witnesses to meet and sign your will or other document.
It’s Worth The Peace Of Mind – Get Your POA Package Now
Why not just take care of it right now. It will only take 10- 15 minutes. Click the link below to get law firm quality, state-specific documents that are easy to create, simple to download and incredibly affordable.
All three of the forms we offer in our Young Adult Package are legally valid in all states and include guidance on how to complete them.
It only takes ten minutes to create the three documents a child needs when turning 18. Get yours now.
P.S. Don’t forget to use promo code PTTCOLLEGE20 to get 20%!
When you are in the thick of raising teens and tweens, we recommend Loving Hard When They’re Hard to Love by Whitney Fleming. In Loving Hard When They’re Hard to Love, blogger Whitney Fleming shares her favorite essays about raising three teenagers in today’s chaotic world. Written from the perspective of a fellow parent, each story will leave you with tears in your eyes and hope in your heart because someone else is saying exactly what’s been going through your mind.
Parenting teens during the college years is hard, but these popular posts other parents founds helpful might make it a little easier. Be sure to check them out.
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We live in a state that has a majority age of 19, so for now we have access to my son’s medical care. But he is attending college in another state (Wisconsin). Can I assume that medical care he receives there will fall under their age of majority?
Legally, parents would be surrogate health care decision makers if their adult child became incapacitated, unless the adult child is married (then it’s the spouse). A court would not appoint a guardian in this case. While having forms isn’t a bad idea, it’s misleading to say medical professionals wouldn’t involve parents in care – they legally have to whether these forms are completed or not if the adult child is incapacitated. I’m a medical social worker so this is a major part of my job.