Kiplinger’s recent article, “Documents that Parents and College Students Need,” explains that many parental rights are no longer applicable, when a child legally reaches adulthood (age 18 in most states) and the key documents for college to have in place.

However, with a few key estate planning documents, you can still be involved in your child’s medical and financial affairs. Many parents don’t know that they need these documents for their children. They think they can access a child’s medical and other information, because their son or daughter is still on the family’s insurance plan and the parents are paying the medical and tuition bills.

Here are three documents your son or daughter will need when they head off to college.

Medical Power of Attorney with HIPPA Provisions. This lets your son or daughter name a person to make medical decisions, if they are incapacitated and unable to make medical decisions. Your child should select a primary agent and at least one secondary agent, in the event the first one is unavailable.HIPPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of medical records. The HIPPA authorization form allows someone to receive information from health care providers, such as the college’s health clinic, about their health and treatment. If your son or daughter doesn’t want to share her entire medical record, he or she can set restrictions on what information the named individual can receive.

Financial Power of Attorney. This lets your son or daughter authorize a person to handle financial or other legal matters on his or her behalf. A financial power of attorney is usually written, so it takes effect when a person becomes incapacitated. However, if your child would like you to manage his or her financial accounts or file tax returns while away at school, they can make the document effective immediately.

Living Will. This allows your son or daughter to express his/her intent that if they were incapacitated and suffering from a fatal illness or disposition from which there was no reasonable hope of recovery, that they would not want any unnecessary treatment or to be kept alive artificially, A difficult topic, but unfortunately, a necessary consideration.

Once your college student has these documents, make sure someone has ready access to them, if needed.

Reference: Kiplinger (September 24, 2019) “Documents that Parents and College Students Need”