Recently, as I was sitting there minding my business, I received a message from our family doctor callously reminding me that in two months, my twins were going to turn 18!
Also, they were shutting down my access to their medical information.
After I swallowed the lump in my throat, I realized that a lot changes at 12:00 a.m. on their 18th birthday. Their new rights include voting, joining the military, entering into contracts, applying for credit without a cosigner, buying personal property and real estate, making a will, and obtaining medical treatment without parental consent. (FYI, the legal age in my state is 18, in a few others, it is 19 or when you graduate high school. You can check here.)
Luckily, I feel like I have an open and honest relationship with my two almost-adults, so I’m not worried what they will do with these new freedoms; it’s more of the complications that come with it as we are still navigating the parent-child relationship and wanting to be there if they need me.
But in order to be there for them, I had to make sure I had the legal forms needed when a teen turns 18.
Related: How to Embrace the Transition of Your Teens Growing Into Adults
Everything Changes the Minute They Turn 18
While I already had a release in place to address my state’s privacy policies (there is state-by-state variability in adolescent privacy laws), when they turn 18, everything changes regarding access. A parent no longer has the right to access their child’s medical information once they have turned 18 without their child’s permission. That means you would need a new Release of Health Information form on file with your child’s doctors.
The problem arises in a medical emergency. If your teen is away from home, parents may be unable to easily or readily find out what is happening and have almost no authorization to make treatment decisions. This is particularly scary for scenarios in which adult children are unable to consent to the release of information to the parents.
That means if your 18-year-old becomes incapacitated, medical professionals do not have to tell you what is going on or allow you to make decisions on their behalf.
18-Year-Olds Are Entering Adulthood, but Still Need Our Help and Guidance
I’m a big believer in letting kids fail to build resiliency. I also think teens need to have input and control over important life choices and learn how to take care of their health and wellness.
However, a normally level-headed young adult (or person of any age, really) may become temporarily sidelined by an illness or accident and need help making medical or financial decisions.
As responsible adults, many of us have power of attorney forms, a living will, and health care directives set up with our spouses or other relatives. It is, in fact, a very grown-up thing to do.
Health care power of attorney forms and financial POAs give you as the parent the ability and authority to receive necessary information and make healthcare and/or financial decisions for or with your child.
It does not mean you override your 18-year-old’s decisions or have access to all of their personal health information.
But without these forms, a state may appoint a guardian or conservator for you if they are not in place. Or, a hospital or doctor may be unable to share medical treatment information with you. Power of attorney forms eliminate these concerns.
3 Types of Legal Forms Needed When Your Teen Turns 18
1. Medical Release
As referenced above, since an 18-year-old is now an adult and able to seek medical treatment on their own, they are also protected by The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This Privacy Act protects personal medical information from being shared without patient authorization. In many cases, permission can be easily given by your child signing a HIPAA release at each healthcare provider’s office.
This can make it easier if you are trying to help your child get the necessary forms for sports, college applications, employment, etc.
2. Young Adult Power of Attorney Form
If your teen is planning on traveling away from home, heading to college, or leaving town to pursue another path, you also may want to consider a Young Adult Power of Attorney form.
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. (We did it for our twins in 20 minutes end to end.)
Mama Bear offers an all-in-one package of law firm quality, state-specific documents that are easy to create, simple to download, and incredibly affordable. The power of attorney (POA) templates and healthcare POA forms can be customized for your children and state(s) of residence. The 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.
3. Financial Power of Attorney Form
If your child needs help dealing with financial affairs related to banks, landlords, student loan officers, insurance companies, or credit card institutions, you will not be able to converse with any of those agents unless you have a financial POA signed and ready to show.
With a Financial POA, however, you can sign the necessary paperwork for your child, gather information about the situation at hand, communicate with financial agents and companies on your child’s behalf, and manage their accounts.
While we never want our children to fall into credit card debt, or find themselves in financial situations they feel ill-equipped to handle, those situations do occur. Putting these forms in place ahead of time allows you to be able to assist your child in tough situations.
Putting a financial POA in place also can help when your teen goes to college. For example, if you want to check tuition and fee balances, you may not be able to do so without a financial POA form in place or a FERPA waiver. Or, if they’re setting up their own bank accounts or filing their first tax return, and need a little guidance as they get started as newly minted adults.
Related: Financial Literacy For Teens: Get Money In THEIR Hands
Helping Our 18-Year-Olds Is Not Enabling or Helicopter Parenting
Without a durable 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.
Also, if you’re carrying the burden of tuition payments, you might want to look into family educational rights so that you can access your son or daughter’s educational records. While hovering and telling them to do their homework isn’t really appropriate anymore in college, it’s also not too much to ask to know that your kid (who is now an adult) is actually passing the classes you’re paying for.
The truth is, you may never need these forms, but if you do, you will be so thankful you have them in place.
Signing POA Forms – 5 Places 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
Some of these venues require an appointment, so make sure you check ahead of time to verify hours, costs, and what documentation you may need to bring with you. You may also want to ask if you need to bring a witness, or if they have someone there who can be a witness on your behalf.
What Is Your Peace of Mind Worth?
It only takes a few minutes to create the documents you need for your 18-year-old.
Get the legal documents you need for your 18-year-old now.
P.S. Don’t forget to use promo code PTTCOLLEGE20 to get 20%!
Disclaimer: Please note that the information presented here is an educational service, and while it contains information about legal issues, it is not legal advice.
Are you in the thick of raising your tweens and teens? You may like this book by Whitney Fleming, the co-owner of Parenting Teens & Tweens: Loving Hard When They’re Hard to Love: Essays about Raising Teens in Today’s Complex, Chaotic World.
*This post contains affiliate links where we may earn commissions for items purchased from links on our site.
Parenting teens and young adults is a tough job, but you’re not alone. These posts might help:
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