The Legal Documents You Need When Your Child Turns 18

The day your child turns eighteen they become an “adult” by legal standards, even if they are still in high school and living in your home. When your child turns eighteen, your parental legal decision-making capabilities fundamentally change. Without your child’s approval and consent, you can no longer call his or her doctor and talk about medications and treatment plans or call the bank and ask about funds that you deposited into his or her checking account. While you are preparing your child to leave the nest and go to college with dorm lists, book lists, and class syllabi, you should also be prepared with the legal documents necessary for you to continue to assist your adult child in making sound decisions medically, financially, and educationally. The four most important documents needed are listed below.

1. Healthcare Power of Attorney: When a child turns eighteen, parents no longer have the authority to make medical decisions for that adult child. If your adult child is injured or sick and is unable to make their own medical decisions, a health care power of attorney appoints a designated agent (a parent or family member) to make medical decisions on their behalf. An attorney can draft a healthcare power of attorney for your adult child to sign and designate an agent. It is wise to identify a back-up designated agent (a second parent or close other family member), in case the first parent is unavailable at the time an emergency medical decision needs to be made on your adult child’s behalf.
2. Durable Power of Attorney: If your child is going to college across the country or only a few hours away, it may be necessary for you to have the authority to make financial decisions on your adult child’s behalf. A power of attorney appoints a designated agent (presumably a parent) that allows the agent to sign off on tax returns, access bank accounts, and otherwise make financial decisions on the student’s behalf. A power of attorney can vest that decision making power upon the parent immediate after signing the document or only if your child becomes incapacitated, depending upon how it is drafted. As with the healthcare power of attorney, your adult child should designate an alternate agent in case the primary agent designated is unavailable.
3. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Authorization: What if your adult child was in an accident and in the hospital while you were hours away? If your adult child did not sign a HIPAA Authorization giving the hospital authority to share medical information with a parent or family member, the hospital would not be permitted to share your adult child’s healthcare status or information with you. A HIPAA Authorization permits healthcare providers to disclose your adult child’s healthcare information and records to you or anyone else they specify. Sometimes HIPAA authorizations are specific to healthcare providers, but an attorney can also prepare a general HIPAA authorization that your adult child can sign.  
4. ​FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) Waiver: Once your child turns eighteen, Federal Law in the form of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) mandates privacy for your child’s educational records. Without your child’s consent, you no longer have access to your child’s educational records, including grades, even if you are paying their college tuition directly. Typically, the registrar’s office at your child’s college or university will have FERPA waivers available for your student to sign and give parents access to their educational records. Make sure that your college student has completed a FERPA Waiver so you if you need access to his or her grades or transcripts, you can do so without delay.​

​While going to college is a huge transition for the adult child and the parents, taking care of the formal legal documentation can the bring the peace of mind of knowing that as a parent you can care for your adult child even in a worst-case scenario. If you need any of these documents prepared for you or your adult child, please reach out to our office to schedule a consultation.