Protect Your Adult Children Today
Even young adults should have Health Care Proxies and Powers of Attorney. When they go away to school or move out on their own for the first time, these documents are more important than ever.
Join Gentreo today, and you can help your children create the documents they need so you can talk to their medical team, help them coordinate bills and finances and protect their choices.
Protection is everything.
Even though your young adult children are still your babies, they’re typically considered adults under the law. Make sure they’re prepared and protected as they enter the next stage of life.
Getting Your Child Ready for College During COVID-19
As a parent of a college-age child, you need to make sure that they have completed important Power of Attorney documents, so that you or whoever they choose is empowered to help them, should an emergency happen.
Additional Articles:
Your college-age child can learn all about creating their first estate plan with Gentreo.
Why is a Power of Attorney for Health Care necessary for young adults? Learn more in this article.
Why is a Power of Attorney for Finances necessary for your college-age child? Learn more in this article.
Safe, secure, and one click away.
- Create important legal documents.
- Gather doctor's information, allergies, medication lists, and other information you might need in an emergency.
- Securely store and share documents and information in the Digital Family Vault.
- Your vital information stays in one secure place and is accessible online in an instant, from anywhere.
I’m nervous enough about sending my kid off to college this year. At least with Gentreo, I know they’re protected and that I’ll be able to help if something happens to them.
Susan D.
Make sure you can protect your adult child in an emergency.
After your child turns 18, they are legally considered adults and can make their own decisions. In an emergency, you may not be able to make health care or financial decisions on their behalf unless they have a Power of Attorney that designates you as their agent.
A Health Care Proxy, also known as a Power of Attorney for Health Care or Advance Directive, is a legal document in which your adult child appoints someone to make medical decisions for them in case they are incapacitated due to COVID-19 or some other health crisis or emergency.
Once your child reaches the age of majority, which in most states is 18, the law recognizes them as an independent adult entitled to make their own decisions. Even though you may still financially support them and they are not really "independent” from you, the law views it differently. Accordingly, you no longer have legal rights to decide for them. Your child needs a Health Care Proxy in place that names you as an agent in order for you to make decisions for their medical care if they are incapacitated.
A Gentreo Health Care Proxy enables your adult child to appoint a health care agent and successor agents. It also includes HIPAA authority, which lets them give permission for their doctors to discuss their medical care. A Health Care Proxy lets them make additional specific health care treatment choices and address other important issues.
A Power of Attorney for Finances, usually known simply as Power of Attorney, is a legal document in which your adult child appoints someone to make financial decisions for them in case they can’t make them for themselves. Your adult child can choose who they want to make financial decisions for them and decide how long the authority is good for and what authority should be given.
Most college-age students have basic bills and a checking account. However, you can’t manage even these basic financial issues absent a Power of Attorney. Without a Power of Attorney, you will not be able to go to the bank and access the funds without either a court order or a valid Power of Attorney.
