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While shopping for extra sheets and fluffy mattress pads for your soon-to-be college freshman, consider adding these items to your checklist:
- Financial Power of Attorney (POA)
- Medical Power of Attorney (MPOA)
- Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) Authorization
You are probably wondering why your barely-an-adult child needs these documents. Most high school grads have already turned or are about to turn eighteen. When a child turns eighteen, he or she becomes a legal adult. The law considers adult children capable of making their own decisions and permits them full legal privacy. Your rights as legal guardian have ended.
This new legal independence can create hurdles for you and your ability to provide assistance to your adult child. For example, imagine if your child needs medical attention but the doctor refuses to speak to you about your child’s condition because of HIPAA concerns. With a HIPAA authorization, the doctor is allowed to inform you of your child’s condition. Furthermore, what if there are immediate medical decisions that need to be made, but your child is unconscious? If you are the appointed agent under a Medical Power of Attorney, you are able to make those critical and important medical decisions. These documents can be a part of the ultimate care package for your newly-minted young adult.
Financial Power of Attorney
The first document to add to your college student’s shopping cart is the financial power of attorney (“POA”). In a POA, the principal (your child) appoints an agent (you) to make financial and related decisions or actions on behalf of him or her in the event of need. For example, the POA gives you the authority to continue signing for your child for banking and tax purposes.
Medical Power of Attorney
An MPOA appoints an agent to make medical related decisions on behalf of or for the principal.
HIPAA Authorization
A HIPAA authorization permits doctors and healthcare providers to share health information with a list of individuals authorized by the principal. Otherwise, HIPAA law generally prohibits medical personnel from discussing your adult child’s health information with you.
Customization Options
Each document can be customized to fit your child’s needs. The powers and decisions given to an agent under the POA and MPOA can be as broad or as limited as the principal specifies.
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