If Your Kid Is 18, They Need These Documents to Protect Their Future and Financial Independence

In most parts of the United States, a child becomes a legal adult when they turn 18 years old. This is known as the age of majority, meaning that your child is now legally entitled to both the rights and the responsibilities of adulthood.

The exceptions are Alabama and Nebraska, where the age of majority is 19, and Mississippi, which sets it at 21.

This changes your rights as a parent, even if your child is still a dependent. For example, if your 18-year-old were incapacitated due to an illness or injury, you would not automatically be able to make medical decisions on their behalf.

Some families may be ready for their 18-year-olds to take on full legal and financial responsibility for themselves. Others, however, may want or need to use the next few years to help their child transition to managing these decisions for themselves. If your child still wants your help managing their healthcare, finances, and education, the two of you need to put certain legal documents in place.

HIPAA Authorization

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted to manage private medical information. It sets standards for how medical information is stored and shared to prevent fraud and protect patient privacy. HIPAA dictates that while some medical information about a person may be released to third party, it will only be under certain circumstances and only as much information as is required by those circumstances. For example, a hospital can send information about a medical procedure to a health insurance company in order to receive payment.

For parents of young adults, this means that you no longer have the right to view or access your child’s private healthcare information, even if they are on your insurance (though you can still see the information on any bills that you receive.)

If you and your child agree that you should still have access to their healthcare information—for example, if you assist them with managing a chronic illness or potentially life-threatening condition—they can authorize the release of certain information to you with a HIPAA release form. Your child must be the one to sign the authorization, which will include an expiration date, and they have the right to revoke their consent at any point.

While you have the option to ask your child to sign a HIPAA release form, your child has the right to refuse. You may also decide that you don’t need one. If you have been teaching your child to take responsibility for their doctors’ appointments, and if you trust them to share important information with you, legal paperwork may not be necessary for you to continue helping them manage their healthcare decisions.

Medical Power of Attorney

When your child turns 18, they can sign a form granting you medical power of attorney. Medical power of attorney—also known as healthcare power of attorney or a healthcare proxy—allows you to make medical decisions for your child if they are incapacitated or otherwise unable to do so.

This doesn’t give you the right to make all your child’s medical decisions. They can still, for example, consent to surgery, or choose a course of treatment on their own. However, if they are incapacitated, you will be able to serve as their personal representative.

For example, if your child is having surgery and is placed under anesthesia, you should be designated as their personal representative so you can make any necessary medical decisions. Medical power of attorney also applies in more extreme cases. A designated personal representative, for example, can make decisions for someone who is in a coma.

Durable Power of Attorney

In addition to health care power of attorney, your child can grant you durable power of attorney. This allows you to manage financial and business matters for them if they are incapacitated or otherwise unable to do so themselves, such as accessing bank accounts, renewing a car registration, or signing a tax return on your child’s behalf.

For example, if your child is out of the country studying abroad and has a problem with their bank, durable power of attorney would allow you to resolve the issue on their behalf. Your child can also grant limited power of attorney and restrict which transactions or accounts you can access. Durable power of attorney can also be granted with a specific start and stop date.

If your child is at college and you want to be able to access their tuition or housing account, some schools will allow you to set this up without needing to have durable power of attorney. You also have the right to access any bank or credit card accounts of which you are a joint owner.

FERPA Release

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provides parents with certain rights regarding their child’s educational records, such as grades, transcripts, and disciplinary records. Parents have the right to access these records, request that they be amended, or limit who they are shared with. However, these rights transfer to the child at age 18. At that point, FERPA requires that students provide written consent before their education records can be shared with parents.

This law applies to any school that receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education, so most public high schools, colleges, and universities, as well as some private ones, will notify parents of the requirement. If your child wants you to be able to access their records, they will need to sign a release granting you permission to do so.

Living Will

Finally, your child should put together a living will, also known as an advance directive. This document outlines their wishes regarding end-of-life medical decisions, such as life-extending treatments or organ donation. State law regarding living wills varies; some have a standard form, while others allow you to draft your document.

Having a living will in place can help avoid the anguish of different family members disagreeing about how to handle a tragedy, such as a car accident that leaves your child in a coma. It will only impact medical treatment in situations that involve life-continuing care, not routine medical care or medical conditions that are not life-threatening. A living will is only used when the person whose life is at stake is incapacitated or unable to make decisions.

The Bottom Line

As your child moves into adulthood, it’s important to consider which legal documents you need to have them sign and which you can do without. In some cases, such as seeing grades or health information, building a trusting and open relationship with your child may serve you better than insisting on legal access to their information, while also helping them learn to take responsibility for their own medical, academic, and financial responsibilities.

However, some legal documents should never be skipped. Every adult should designate a representative (or representatives) with medical power of attorney and durable power of attorney for emergency situations, and every adult should have a living will to ensure that their end-of-life wishes are honored. That doesn’t just mean your child. While you are helping them put these documents together, make sure your own paperwork is in order as well.