It’s the big day. You’ve taught your child everything she knows from how to tie a knot to how to knot a tie.
She’s an adult ready to head to college. She’s ready to make her own schedule, juggle a job and classes and start a new adventure.
Only you find out that if one of those adventures winds up in the hospital, legally you’re not allowed to help her.
What Happened?
In most states, privacy laws prevent parents from making healthcare or financial decisions for their adult children. Even if you are paying for your adult child’s tuition and health insurance, legally your hands are tied.
Unless you contact a trusted estate planning attorney about preparing the legal documents necessary to continue your guardianship role.
Before your child leaves for college or a gap-year program make sure she signs an advance directive for healthcare and a durable power of attorney assigning you or another trusted adult as her representative.
Without these two documents, she could find herself incapacitated and alone in a hospital or financially stranded in a foreign country. And you could find yourself having to ask a judge’s permission to help your child.
1) An advance directive for healthcare is a document that outlines what life-prolonging treatments if any, you desire in case you are unable to speak for yourself.
These treatments may include cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, artificial respirators, feeding tubes and intravenous rehydration.
The document also appoints someone you trust as your proxy to speak on your behalf if you are incapacitated. This person will be able to make healthcare decisions based on how well they know you with regard to anything not covered in your advance directive. Further, you can nominate a person to be appointed your legal guardian should a court ever determine you are in need of one.
Without this document, your ability to assist your child in a medical emergency or even have access to your child’s medical condition will vary depending on the laws of the state she is in.
You can also get a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) form. A pre-signed HIPAA form will allow you immediate access to medical records.
2) Have your child sign a durable power of attorney.
A durable power of attorney gives someone legal authority to make financial decisions on another’s behalf. These decisions include being able to enter into, renegotiate or amend contracts.
In the case of a child leaving for a gap-year program, a power of attorney would make it easier for the parent to contact the embassy or wire money from the child’s account.
A power of attorney would also allow the parent to sign a lease on the child’s behalf so he has a place to live when he returns.
Hopefully, your child will never need either one of these documents, but wouldn’t it be better to have them just in case?
With all the things that could possibly happen, you will sleep better knowing that in case of an emergency you will be able to be helpful and not helpless.
If you would like to schedule a consultation, please contact our office at (215) 809-3900 or by clicking here.
Located in Merion Station, PA, Sallen Law assists clients with estate planning matters throughout the Philadelphia Main Line area including but not limited to Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Bucks County, Delaware County, and Chester County. Attorney Sallen is also licensed to practice in the state of NJ and serves Burlington County, Gloucester County, Camden County.
