If your child has reached the age of eighteen, they are now responsible for their own healthcare, medical decisions, and property. If they should become incapacitated, you as the parent do not automatically have any kind of authority to step in and manage their affairs. That’s why it’s important to talk with them about these essential legal documents for young adults.
Statutory Durable Power of Attorney
Every responsible adult needs a statutory durable power of attorney. This enables your child to designate an agent to take over their financial accounts and make important decisions about their property.
You may wonder why you would need to make decisions about a young adult’s financial affairs because right now he or she doesn’t have any property. That may be true. But perhaps they have a storage unit somewhere to put their stuff in when they are in college? Maybe they have a lease for an apartment or for a car? They may have certain financial obligations or responsibilities, even if you are still primarily the financially responsible party for them. So, the statutory durable power of attorney is really important.
Your child can designate one or two agents to act on their behalf. It often makes sense for both parents to be designated as agents. If that’s the case, generally, we want to make sure that either of you can act independently. Then, it doesn’t have to be a joint decision. So, those are just some options as you are filling out the form that you are going to be able to select.
Medical Power of Attorney
This is the document that allows you as a parent to step in and make medical decisions for your adult child. So, if your child has been in an accident and is unconscious, you’d be the one that the doctor would call. Again, this can be designated to one parent or both or someone else, maybe an older sibling. What’s important here is for your child to make sure that they understand what this means. So, generally, the powers of attorney are written so that they only come into effect if their child is incapacitated. If they are otherwise functioning, you are not going to be able to meddle in their affairs but if your child is incapacitated, you have the ability to make these decisions.
Medical Information Release
Nowadays, there are pretty stringent privacy rules around the disclosure of medical information. When you go to the doctor, you’ll have to fill out a form authorizing to whom information can be released. So it’s important that you are designated as the person to whom your child’s medical information will be released, especially if you help them get prescriptions. Unlike the medical power of attorney, this is one that can be terminated at any time, as can be any powers of attorney. But it is one that you want to make sure is in effect when you are sending your kid off to college.
I mentioned three forms but there is a fourth form that I want to bring up and that is the FERPA waiver form. So, just like with the health privacy act, there is also another federal law called, “The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act” which covers the privacy of student information. So, while you may be footing the bill or some part of the bill for your child’s education, it doesn’t give you a right of access to their grades. So, I think it’s really important to sit down and have a conversation with your child about the kind of access you expect to have when you are the one paying the bill. The FERPA waiver is a form that is filled out with the educational institution. So, if you and your child decide that this is something you want to do, your child is going to need to get the form from the school and file it with the school.
Once you have these forms filled out, what do you do with them? Well, it’s important that you give them to the institutions that your child has accounts with, or where your child is attending school, or with the medical providers. I think it’s really important to make a list of the banks and storage units and landlords, all other places where your adult child has a financial obligation. Also, make a list of the healthcare providers.
If your child is in college, you are going to want to make sure that the health department at the university has a copy of these forms, as well as your child’s general care provider.
As a parent, I know that it’s easy to put the necessary documents in front of our child and ask him or her to sign them. But even more important is the opportunity to have a conversation with our children and engage them in the decision-making process.
As young adults, they may not necessarily want Mom or Dad to be the person making these decisions. This is a good opportunity to ask why not. And if your child’s concerns can not be allayed, then talk about who they do wish to designate.
It’s important that kids know that these powers of attorney can be terminated at any time. So, fill them all out now, and if at a later date, maybe when your child gets married or moves on, they can certainly designate somebody else.
When you are completing the forms, some formalities need to be observed. The powers of attorney will need to be notarised. And the medical power of attorney will need to be notarised and witnessed as well.
Where do you get these forms?
There’s a service out there that does this and it’s super easy. It’s called Momma Bear Legal Forms, and I happened to sign up for it. I paid $79 dollars and generated the forms for my child to sign, it was super easy. If you click on the link, you get 20% off, but I’m not so worried about that as I am about making sure you have access to the information.
Also, click through for a collection of forms provided by HHS Texas.org (Health & Human Services). If your child is attending a university, you can Google the university and FERPA and the proper form should pop up or should at least give you the contact information of where you can get that form.
I hope you found this information helpful. As a mom and a lawyer, there are all kinds of issues that I deal with too and I want to make sure we are giving people the valuable information that they need as well. If you have any questions, feel free to leave us a question in the comments.
Dallas Family Law Resources
- Critical Estate‑Planning Documents
- End‑of‑Life Planning: Update Your Will
- Estate Planning for Parents
- Elder‑Care Planning & Estate Issues
- Life Transitions – Financial Planning
- Death & Taxes – Podcast
- Learning to Grab Your Joy
- Tomorrow Is Not Guaranteed
- Find a Dallas Family Law Lawyer
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