Estate Planning for College Students - Pandemic Style
Several years ago, I wrote about estate planning needs of college age individuals. I wrote this after I had just checked my oldest daughter into her dorm for her first year at Utah State University. Fast forward and she is now a recent college graduate and today my son will start his first day of classes at USU. Back then I wrote that it was a crazy time around the Hallock house. Well, this year, it is not only a crazy time in the Hallock house, it is a crazy time in the world. Sending a son or daughter off to college is bittersweet and a little scary in the best of times. Doing it during the pandemic of 2020 is downright terrifying. Just yesterday, a story in the Washington Post reported: “More than 500 cases at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Nearly 160 at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Dozens at the University of Southern California. Colleges and universities that brought students back to campus are expressing alarm about coronavirus infections emerging as classes have barely started, raising the possibility everyone could be sent home.”
This year, the threats that always exist in the bigger world, are staring us square in the face. Whether we want to or not, in this time of pandemic, we are sending our kids off to school, no longer as children, but as adults. Now, more than ever, if you have a child who has now turned 18, there are a few additional items you might want to add to your back to school checklist:
Financial Durable Power of Attorney;
Advance Health Care Directive/Medical Power of Attorney
Living Will
Once a child turns 18, whether they are in high school, college, on a mission or otherwise heading out into the world, they are legally an adult. You, as the parent can no longer just step in and help out on their behalf without legal authorization. Your child must grant you this authority, just like you have hopefully granted it to a spouse or other trusted individual. You cannot communicate with their school because of educational privacy laws, you cannot communicate with their health care professionals because of HIPAA, and you cannot make life and death decisions if they are unable to do so, unless they have given you this authority. Having these three documents in place will allow you to more easily step in and provide assistance when your adult child desires that assistance.
Whether you are 18 or 81, you should have someone nominated who can step in and help with legal, financial, and health care decisions when an emergency arises. So in addition to laptops, books, and other necessities, consider helping your son or daughter to get these important legal documents in place. Especially in these uncertain times, we just never know when the need will arise. When it does, it is often too late. And one more thing, please encourage them to wear a mask.
This post is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact an attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Nothing herein creates an attorney-client relationship between Hallock & Hallock and the reader.