My first estate plan: College Edition

The scene is always the same, Bags are packed, car is loaded, mom is crying, dad has “allergies” and the kid is excited but secretly scared. Never fails the last thing said is “Call us if you need us!”

And for us, that call came late one evening, it was not our son, it was some of his friends, they had just stuck him in an UBER and directed the driver to the hospital! He had severely broken his leg. We rushed the 3 hour drive from Houston to Austin and he was in surgery, they asked for our documents to release his information. Luckily we had them!

Did you know, a child over 18 years is an adult in Texas!? Often, parents assume they are only a phone call or text away from responding to an emergency. In reality, HIPAA laws can make that difficult. Healthcare providers are prohibited from sharing medical information without the adult patient’s consent. This means that if a college student is injured or hospitalized, parents may not be able to participate in decision-making, even though their college student is still on their health insurance policy!

When you think of estate planning so many people thing of wills, trusts and other means of managing and distributing property. No one thinks they have an “estate”. Estate planning may be the last thing on the minds of your college student. And as a parent there’s a million other things to think about so estate plan for an 18 year old is not on the top of the list, But estate planning also includes measures to deal with potential health crises, which can be faced by people of any age.

At a minimum, the Power to make medical decisions and financial information access and management are the priority. The following are legal documents that should be in place before an adult student moves away: 

• Medical Power of Attorney with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) release form — In the event your student cannot speak for themselves you have the right to make decisions on that skateboard accident and the decisions over pins or plates in that leg! This simple document allows the parents and other designated individuals to receive medical information and communicate with providers on the student’s behalf.

• Durable power of attorney — This instrument lets the student appoint parents to handle banking, leases, tuition payments, credit card accounts or other financial assets and debts if the student is incapacitated or abroad. This power can be activated immediately or with a doctors letter.

• Last Will and Testament – A Will handles what happens if someone passes away. Unfortunately, it is something we all think about but pray daily we never ever never ever have to deal with. The assets that do not have a joint owner or do not have a beneficiary will have to go through the Will.

Without advance planning, parents may be required to go through GUARDIANSHIP which is a much more complicated legal process to obtain the authority to act. 

Other medical-readiness steps parents and students can take before college begins include:

• Meeting with the student and their doctor to discuss ongoing health needs

• Making sure vaccinations are up to date, uploaded to campus portal and keep a copy for yourself.

• Transferring prescriptions to a pharmacy on or near campus and ensure they have your healthcare insurance information.

• Ensuing the student carries their health insurance card

• Make sure your student knows where the nearest Emergency Room is and the Nearest clinic for non-emergencies that takes your health insurance

• Storing digital copies of legal documents in a secure cloud folder 

Other Financial-readiness steps paren

ts and students can take before college begins include:

• Ensure you are joint owner or Power of Attorney & Payable on death beneficiary of your students accounts

• Make sure the School has a copy of the Statutory Durable Power of attorney

• Make sure the apartments have a copy of both Medical and financial and have you down as emergency contact (always use your cell phone number and save the complex’s number in your phone so you don’t ignore it as spam!)

• Ensure your student keeps you updated on any new accounts (watch out for those credit card offers!)

When creating a basic plan to ensure a young adult’s protection in an emergency scenario, it is best to seek counseling from an experienced estate planning attorney. This can prevents mistakes that could lead to potential confusion and conflicts, legal delays and unnecessary stress for your family members.

Generations Law Group of Texas is eager to help your family get peace of mind and protect the next generation! Call 713-429-0218 for a free consultation!

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