Estate Planning Documents for a College-Bound Child

A lot of planning goes into sending your child off to college. One critical aspect that you should not forget is establishing necessary legal protections for your young adult child. In Georgia and most other states, a child who reaches the age of 18 is legally an adult. Unless you and the child create a few important estate planning documents, you both may not have important legal protections in some significant, unanticipated situations.

Healthcare and Financial Protections for a Young Adult

Healthcare and financial protection for a young adult is crucial. Whether or not your child is going to college, Georgia and many other states legally treat them as an adult when they reach the age of 18 years. When that happens, parental rights cease to apply to situations involving healthcare and finances. To ensure your adult child has important legal protection, they need to execute a few estate planning documents similar to those in your own estate plan.

Taking these steps are important for any adult child, whether or not they are going to college. The protection is especially important when the child is leaving home for a school that is hundreds of miles away.

Healthcare Matters

If your adult child is injured or becomes ill, you may need to petition the court to get information about their condition and make critical medical decisions, unless the child has properly executed an advance medical directive and HIPAA waiver form. An advance directive for healthcare, also referred to as a medical power of attorney or advance medical directive, designates a trusted person to make medical decisions if the principal becomes incapacitated and unable to make decisions for themselves. The directive also may express the person’s personal healthcare wishes, including for life-sustaining procedures.

A HIPAA waiver form is also necessary under the provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The HIPAA form allows hospitals and healthcare providers to disclose medical information to others, including parents of adult children, which is not permitted in the absence of a signed waiver.

Financial Matters

A durable financial power of attorney enables your child to designate you as an agent to manage their financial assets in the event they become unable to do so themselves. While a young adult may not have substantial assets, this permission is necessary to pay bills, file taxes, manage financial accounts, and perform other essential tasks in the event of incapacity. In the absence of this document, a parent may be required to ask a court to provide this important authorization. An adult child who has assets may also consider creating a will (and even a trust, in some situations) to determine distribution and administration of their estate.

Other Legal Documents

In addition to the basic documents discussed above, it is a good idea to ask a college-bound child to sign a FERPA release. The provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which are intended to protect the privacy of college students, may also deny parents important school information in an emergency. A FERPA release allows school officials to talk with you about your child and to release their school records and information to you. The form should be available from the school. A model form is available from the U.S. Department of Education.

Importance of Estate Planning Documents for Young Adults

If a child over the age of 18 years does not have these documents in place, a parent may not be able to act quickly in the face of emergency situations involving the child. Delays in making healthcare and financial decisions due to lack of legal authority can be extremely detrimental, in addition to being time-consuming and costly.

Talk With Us About Estate Planning For Your Adult Child

In our Cartersville estate planning practice at Asset Protection & Elder Law of Georgia, planning for parents and their adult children is an important part of our services. We serve clients throughout the communities northwest of Atlanta, including in Bartow County, Cobb County, Cherokee County, Gordon County, Floyd County and Paulding County. Call us at (770) 382-0984 or contact us through our online form to schedule a consultation.