Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog
As most young adults are about to return to college, most parents do not think about the fact that not that their child is 18 they are an adult in the eyes of the law. Deborah Jacobs has written an article on this in Forbes outlining two documents that are needed. Most professionals would agree that there are actually 3 that are needed.
Now that they are an adult, parents can no longer make health care of the financial decisions for their children without the legal authorization to do so.
If a child or young adult is injured or needs help with a financial matter, a parent cannot speak with doctors or help the child with financial decisions with our a power of attorney. Once a child reaches the age of 18, it is important to prepare financial and medical powers of attorney to that someone can help the child if they are injured or disabled without having to go through the expensive process of setting up a guardianship.
A Durable Power of Attorney is a document that lets someone select an agent who can speak or act for them if they are unable or unwilling to do so.
A Designation of Health Care Surrogate is a similar document that permits a predesignated agent to speak to doctors and make health care related decisions when you are unable to communicate or make decisions.
Along with a Designation of Health Care Surrogate, it is important to sign a HIPAA release so that doctors can talk with your agents and disclose your private information that would be otherwise restricted.
If you have a young adult in your family, you should talk with a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer to prepare these documents to permit the child to appoint a representative to help them if they are ever injured or would like you to have the ability to talk on their behalf.