Before your children head out to college or out into the “real world” take some time to get their affairs in order. Once your child turns eighteen, you are a legal stranger to them. You no longer are entitled to information about their health or finances and you can no longer make decisions for them. A health care directive enables your child to select who is entitled to receive health care information and act on their behalf if they cannot speak for themselves. A power of attorney enables you (or whomever your child chooses) to act on your child’s behalf for their financial affairs. In a perfect world, you won’t need to use these documents to protect and advocate for your adult children. But it’s sure nice to have these in place before you need them. You never know when you might need to speak with your child’s doctor or speak with the financial aid office, registrar or their bank.
Don’t just take our word that this is worth doing: https://www.consumerreports.org/health-privacy/help-your-college-age-child-in-a-medical-emergency/
We’ll charge you $100 for a health care directive and power of attorney and we can handle this in a 30 minute appointment. We have a quick information form we can send you—it would be great if they fill that out in advance, but we don’t need them to. We’ll have them come in so we can discuss their various choice, prepare the documents while they wait, get the documents signed and send them on their way. We’ll make it quick, painless and as least disruptive of their summer vacation as possible.
Every adult needs at least health care directive and power of attorney because once a person turns eighteen, no one has legal authority to make decisions on your behalf—not even your parents and, generally, not even your spouse. A freshly minted adult might not yet need a complete estate plan, so this is a great starting place. But perhaps it’s time you review your estate planning to ensure your needs are met as well.
Call or email today to get started and book a 30 minute appointment.
