Jessica Pesce specializes in estate law and elder law. She has helped many people with their estate planning and tax planning since joining Ladimer Law in 2017. Jessica has been named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers three years running.
Back to School Essentials: Legal Documents for Young Adults
Feels like summer is just kicking off, but already, we’re seeing back to school displays at Target. For school-aged kids, this means school supplies and backpacks. And for those headed off to college, we’re seeing sales on dorm essentials like bedding, small fridges, and storage bins. But as you spend the summer planning and anticipating your 18-year old’s next step, don’t forget about the important legal documents that can protect your young adult — and ensure your ability to act as their guardian — in an emergency.
Whether your recent graduate is heading to college, traveling on a gap year, serving their country, or planning to join the working world, you want to make sure that the laws protecting them also allow you to step in when they need you. Imagine the unthinkable – your child is in a car accident while away at school or basic training. You call the hospital for information and they tell you that they aren’t authorized to release any information to you.
Because of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), healthcare providers are unable to disclose information about a patient to anyone, even a family member, unless explicitly authorized by the patient. While healthcare practitioners can use their professional judgment if the patient is unconscious or incapacitated, they may be reluctant to do so as they could face stiff penalties if they violate HIPAA laws.
Similarly, once your child turns 18, companies may not turn over financial information or discuss their accounts with you. Imagine your child is studying abroad and loses their credit card. If you’re not authorized as a user on the account, you may not be able to help.
Three Essential Legal Documents for Young Adults
Luckily, there is a simple solution that will allow you to help the new adult in your family to gain independence, without losing the safety net of their family. Work with an estate planning attorney to develop three critical legal documents before your graduate heads out into the world: the Health Care Proxy; the HIPAA release; and the Durable Power of Attorney.
- The Health Care Proxy allows your child to name someone to make medical decisions if they are unable to. It’s important to understand that if your child is able to communicate to doctors what their wishes are, they will not need to call the parents. This document is intended to be used only when needed such as if your child is unconscious or otherwise incapacitated.
- The HIPAA Release HIPAA is a federal law that protects your health care information. Doctors, nurses, and schools cannot share a patient’s medical information without their express authorization. The HIPAA Release is a document where your child can indicate who is allowed to access their medical records. They can add more than one person to the HIPPA release form so that, for example, the doctor can inform both of parents about medical status. The person named in the Health Care Proxy must also be named in the HIPAA Release so that they can be informed in order to make decisions on your child’s behalf.
- The Durable Power of Attorney works like the Health Care Proxy because it appoints someone to handle financial situations if your child is unable to. Again, this document gives lots of “power” to the person(s) named in them, so the best choice is a parent or someone else your child can trust.
How to Get Your Three Essential Documents
So how does a family ensure their graduating senior has these essential documents when they leave home? At Ladimer Law the process is quite simple.
- The child needs to call or email an attorney to schedule a phone call or Zoom meeting. Yes, you read that right; parents can encourage and counsel, but the 18+ year old must do this themselves.
- Then the attorney will ask your student who they want to name as their agents in the documents.
- At the end of the scheduled phone call, your child and the attorney will book an appointment to meet to sign the documents.
- At the document signing meeting, your child will sign (a/k/a execute) the three documents, and then take them home with them.
The whole process will take less than an hour of your young adult’s time – and can make all the difference if they need help. Add these legal documents to your child’s back-to-school list for their first Fall as a legal adult. You – and they – will enjoy peace-of-mind knowing you can help if they need you to step in in an emergency.
Once these documents are executed, keep the original forms in a secure location for safe keeping. Be sure to send copies to the educational institution that your child will be attending. It’s also advisable to keep an electronic copy of these forms so that they are accessible to you on any device should you need them in an emergency.
If you have questions about these documents, or anything related to estate planning, the attorneys at Ladimer Law are here to help. Contact us today.
And if you’ve been putting off your own estate planning, check out our Wills in a Week program that makes the process fast, easy, painless and affordable.