Generally, an 18 year old college student is an adult in the eyes of the law. As a result, unless your child has certain documents in place, you will have no legal right to access your adult child’s financial and medical records, even in the event of an emergency. Accordingly, it is crucial to establish your legal authority to access your adult child’s private information and act on their behalf by having your child execute the following legal documents:
HIPAA Authorization Form
In the HIPAA Authorization form, your child authorizes the release of his or her medical information and records. Without a HIPPA Authorization appointing you as your child’s agent, your child’s doctors will not discuss a medical emergency with you, even though you are his or her parent.
Advance Directive for healthcare (also known as a Living Will and healthcare Proxy)
In the Advance Directive for healthcare, your child will appoint you or another adult to make medical treatment decisions on his or her behalf in the event of his or her incapacity. Your child may also declare his or her desires concerning artificial life-sustaining medical treatment. Without one, court approval may be necessary to make medical decisions on your child’s behalf, even if your child is only temporarily incapacitated.
Power of Attorney
In the Power of Attorney, your child will appoint you or another adult to manage his or her financial and legal affairs and handle financial transactions on his or her behalf. This may include, without limitation, managing bank accounts, paying bills, filing taxes, and breaking a lease.
Will
In addition to the above, your child may consider executing a will. Although, generally, most college students do not have significant assets, and the intestacy laws typically provide that a predeceased child’s parents receive his or her property in the event a child dies without a spouse or children, a basic Will may still be useful for a college student in connection with the transfer or management of his or her digital assets (such as online social media accounts and musical holdings). Today, many people live much of their life online, especially young adults. That means that it is essential for a college student to plan for his or her digital afterlife. In order to properly follow procedures established by many companies for transferring or managing digital assets, it is important to have a Will in place to identify the proper person who can take custody of these digital assets. Many states have laws which allow a fiduciary to have access to an individual's digital assets if the Will specifically grants such fiduciary access to such assets.
By executing these documents, you and your child will be putting some important safeguards in place.
If you wish to discuss the topics contained in this article with one of our Trusts & Estates attorneys, please contact Stephen J. Pagano at spagano@riker.com or Lauren N. Spitser at lspitser@riker.com.
