Have a child heading to college in California? A few legal documents they need before they leave the house

Once your child graduates from high school, they generally head off to college.  If not, they’re probably out in the job market and likely moving out of the house.  Regardless of their plans, they are turning 18 or are 18 already, which means in the eyes of the law, they’re an adult.  What this means is that, even though you’re still their parent, and you may be their next of kin, you may have trouble accessing their medical records or making medical decisions on their behalf should there be an accident or other emergency.

Even if you still cover your child on your health insurance, if your child is 18, you do not automatically have access to your child’s health care records.  There is no special exemption for children until the age of 21.  Here are the simple documents you need to have your child sign before they leave the house, or ideally once they’re 18:

1. Power of attorney for medical decisions and an advance directive.  In California, the power of attorney and advance directive (living will) is the same document.  Signing this simple document allows you to make decisions on your child’s behalf should this become necessary.
2. HIPAA release.  A HIPAA release will give you access to your child’s medical records and to discuss your child’s medical situation with the doctors and other caregivers.  Without this, you could find yourself in court to get the needed access, which is the last thing you want to deal with if your child is injured.
3. Power of attorney for finances.  In addition to the power of attorney for medical decisions, you will want to have a power of attorney for finances.  This document will allow you to access your child’s bank records and pay the necessary bills to, for example, keep the power on in your child’s apartment, or to pay the rent.  It can also become  important if you need to apply for social security on behalf of your child.

These are three simple documents that can help to protect you and your child once your child becomes a legal adult at 18.

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Painful estate planning questions you must answer to avoid disastrous estate planning mistakes

Many of my estate planning clients have put off their estate planning for months, and even years sometimes. Part of this is because death or disability is something we don’t want to think about, and part of it is because some of the questions are difficult to answer.  What my clients do not always understand is that (1) it’s my job to help them to make the decisions, and (2) if they don’t decide, then someone else – a stranger – will decide for them. Here are some questions you need to consider when thinking about estate planning:

1. The guardian for your children. This is probably the most important decision you will make.  In case the unthinkable happens – you and your spouse are out together on date night and get into an accident and are both hospitalized or worse. What do you think will happen to your children, who are at home with the 19-year old neighbor babysitting? The police will likely take your children into protective custody – foster care – until a proper guardian is named.  If you have a formally-named guardian in your estate planning documents (and not some hastily-written page), then you can avoid this awful experience for your children.
2. Who will get your stuff. If you don’t decide who gets your stuff, the state will. And perhaps more importantly than the couch and the jewelry is the estate itself.  Do you have minor children? Do you want them to inherit hundreds of thousands of dollars when they reach 18? Do you perhaps want to hold back some of the estate to pay for college, or at least to let them mature a little before coming into (and losing) a great deal of money right at 18? The only want to do this is through trusts.
3. What do you want the doctors to do if you are in an irreversible coma? If you don’t decide how you want the doctors to treat you and what extraordinary measures will be taken to save your life, then the doctors will endeavor to keep you alive as long as they can.  Do you want to survive by machine alone? If not, then you need to tell someone!  Tell your parents and your children, and create a power of attorney that legally records your wishes.  If you don’t do this, you could cause your family to scramble to determine what YOU would have wanted.
4. Who will help you to manage your assets and estate if you can’t? Most of us are more likely to experience a slow decline than go out with a bang.  Because of the advances in medical and health care, we are living longer and with better-quality lives. But as we slow down, there is a chance that we will start to lose our ability to pay our bills and manage our finances.  To avoid the painful, time-consuming and expensive process of conservatorship, each of us needs to designate someone to make decisions on our behalf if we become unable to.  This is relevant to individuals of all ages, as surviving traumatic brain injuries is getting more and more common.
5. Where are your documents? Part of creating your estate plan in making sure everything is in one place: your will, trust(s), powers of attorney, bank/investment/life insurance/retirement statements, pre-need funeral planning documents, and passwords/keys/online account information.  There is nothing worse than making your grieving family rummage through your stuff to find what they need.

Estate planning is the last thing that you can do for your family to make your passing easier. Isn’t your family worth it?

Why a power of attorney is not enough: Do you have this critical document in your estate plan?

If you created your estate plan more than a couple years ago, you may be missing a crucial piece to the puzzle.  In the past, a power of attorney for health care decisions, which in California includes your advance directive (or living will), was sufficient to name another person (your “agent”) to make health care decisions on your behalf.  But the enactment of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), which was designed to limit the access to your medical records – and was focused on insurance companies – actually resulted in limiting the access to your medical records for everyone, including your agent on your health care power of attorney.

Worse, if you don’t have a health care power of attorney, you may think that your “next of kin” – your spouse, your children, or your parents – will have access to your medical information and to be able to make decisions on your behalf.  Unfortunately, with HIPAA and the stricter privacy regulations on doctors and hospitals, this is not often the case.  While you may be looked to for decision-making, if you want to see the medical records or tests results themselves, for example to get a second opinion, you won’t be able to, not even with a power of attorney.

What’s necessary now is called a “HIPAA Authorization,” which I have been using for a couple years now.  It allows the individuals you designate to have access to your medical records and can save your loved ones from hassle and hardship should you be incapacitated.  I use a separate form document, though my older health care powers of attorney included the HIPAA authorization in the body of the power of attorney.

I’ve talked already about the importance of everyone having a power of attorney once they turn 18, but what is also critically important is that you have all the correct documents in your estate plan as well, and a complete estate plan includes a HIPAA authorization.

Need advice now? Schedule an appointment online, or call us at 925.307.6543.

Have a child heading to college in California? A few legal documents they need before they leave the house

Once your child graduates from high school, they generally head off to college.  If not, they’re probably out in the job market and likely moving out of the house.  Regardless of their plans, they are turning 18 or are 18 already, which means in the eyes of the law, they’re an adult.  What this means is that, even though you’re still their parent, and you may be their next of kin, you may have trouble accessing their medical records or making medical decisions on their behalf should there be an accident or other emergency.

Even if you still cover your child on your health insurance, if your child is 18, you do not automatically have access to your child’s health care records.  There is no special exemption for children until the age of 21.  Here are the simple documents you need to have your child sign before they leave the house, or ideally once they’re 18:

1. Power of attorney for medical decisions and an advance directive.  In California, the power of attorney and advance directive (living will) is the same document.  Signing this simple document allows you to make decisions on your child’s behalf should this become necessary.
2. HIPAA release.  A HIPAA release will give you access to your child’s medical records and to discuss your child’s medical situation with the doctors and other caregivers.  Without this, you could find yourself in court to get the needed access, which is the last thing you want to deal with if your child is injured.
3. Power of attorney for finances.  In addition to the power of attorney for medical decisions, you will want to have a power of attorney for finances.  This document will allow you to access your child’s bank records and pay the necessary bills to, for example, keep the power on in your child’s apartment, or to pay the rent.  It can also become  important if you need to apply for social security on behalf of your child.

These are three simple documents that can help to protect you and your child once your child becomes a legal adult at 18.