Parents of soon-to-launch students need to get their act together and make sure to have critical legal documents firmly in place. Whether your college-bound student is now 18 or will turn 18 while away, don’t make the mistake of being unprepared should unfortunate circumstances arise.
Here’s what you need:
• Advance Care Directive for Health Care;
• Advance Care Directive for Mental Health Care;
• Durable Power of Attorney,
• HIPPA Authorization Form; and
• FERPA Release.
Blame my long, legal background, but if you have adult children, unmarried, 18 or over, consult with your legal representative or financial aid advisor and get it done; signed, sealed, and delivered. Imagine the unimaginable: your son is away at college; he experiences a health crisis, resulting in lack of consciousness and is taken to the ER. As his parent, you may not even be notified of his ER admittance; further, you would have no right to his medical records, or the right to make medical or financial decisions on his behalf. Scary, huh? The FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), if signed, will give parents the right to know and discuss grades, and nothing more. The HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is designed and intended to safeguard who can access an adult’s private health data. A HIPAA authorization, signed by your adult child and naming you as an authorized party, will give you the ability to ask for and receive information from health care providers about his or her health status, progress, and treatment.
Apart from the occasional care-package, this is the number one way you can continue to protect and support your college-bound child. And if you think your little darlin’ won’t do stupid things in college, I ask you to hearken back to your college days.