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What Are Your Legal Rights With Your Student?

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HaveUHeard that once your child is 18, they are considered a legal adult?

It was close to 10 p.m. when I received the call from my daughter, now a junior in college, that she had fallen during an intramural soccer game and was pretty sure she broke her elbow. Her friend was driving her to the emergency room. Here I was, over 350 miles away, it was late at night and I would not be able to do much of anything but worry. I told her to put me on speakerphone when she saw a doctor so I could hear what was going on. I had not given any thought to the fact that my daughter was over 18 years of age, so legally, I was not entitled to the same level of information, or access, that I had been for her first 18 years. Click here for access to the legal forms you need.

I am a CPA with elderly parents. As my father’s thought process began to diminish, they had granted me Durable Power of Attorney and had signed off on a health care proxy so I would be able to access their medical records. They also had a will. Understanding that it is not until a crisis hits that many realize they are left helpless, I had my kids sign off on these documents before they left for college. While at the hospital, because my daughter had a signed Health Care Proxy already executed, I was able to listen in on what the doctor was saying which allowed me to hear that her elbow was only dislocated and she would be fine.

But what if she was incapacitated and I had not had those documents? I would not have been legally entitled to get her medical information.  You may be forced to hire an attorney to petition to have you appointed as your child’s legal guardian. The same holds true for educational and financial information. HaveUHeard that once your child reaches the age of 18, they are considered a legal adult granting you no access to their financial, educational, and medical information? Hopefully, you will never need access but you should have a plan in place just in case.

We’ve teamed up with Mama Bear Legal Forms to give you 20% off a Young Adult Power of Attorney. The package includes Health Power of Attorney Documents, Finance Power of Attorney Documents, and HIPAA Release Form. The pandemic created a rush to update your legal forms. It most certainly lit a fire under me to revisit my forms. My adult daughters, like many, only need basic forms. For those that require more extensive and detailed legal forms including a will, consult an attorney or a law firm.

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2021-08-23T13:30:49-04:000 Comments

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