Co-Author: Mara B. Peterson, Esq.

The fall is a very exciting time with children preparing to go off to college. As part of back-to-school preparations, it is important for young adults to understand what legal documents they should have in place before heading off to college or out into the world. Under Colorado law, once a child turns 18, they are considered to be a legal adult. A parent cannot speak on an adult child’s behalf or obtain legal information or medical records without the child’s consent. Having the proper legal documents in place can allow an adult child to grant this authority to their parent or trusted individual, if needed.

Some of these recommended legal documents include the following:

General Power of Attorney

A General Power of Attorney can grant a parent legal authority to take care of financial matters on behalf of a child. If the child is away at college, studying abroad, or unavailable for any other reason, the parent can step in to help. This could include handling banking transactions, making sure bills are paid, and filing tax returns on the child’s behalf.

Medical Power of Attorney

A Medical Power of Attorney can grant a parent authority to handle medical decisions on behalf of a child in the case of a medical emergency. This would allow a parent to speak with hospital staff, authorize treatment, discuss medication and have input on other medical decisions.

HIPAA Authorization

A HIPAA Authorization is a document that grants healthcare providers permission to release someone’s otherwise protected healthcare information to individuals selected by that person. A young adult should get this document in place if they wish to allow trusted individuals (such as a parent) to be able to access this information. This document is very useful in addition to a Medical Power of Attorney, to allow the parent proper access to information to make informed medical decisions on behalf of their adult child.

Simple Will

While most young adults do not typically have many assets in their own name, it may still be a good idea to get a simple will in place. A simple will allows the adult child to choose who they would want to inherit their assets and who would act on their behalf to make these distributions. Whether or not a will is needed varies depending on the child’s specific situation.

Please contact Jeff Cohen or Mara Peterson from our office to discuss this further and to help you and your adult child become educated on these legal documents so you can plan for the future.