Did you know that once a child turns 18, you are no longer considered the legal guardian of your child?

This means you cannot access medical records. More importantly, if your young adult child is seriously ill or injured, you cannot make decisions on their behalf causing delay and decisions being made that may be adverse to your young adult children's wishes.

The famous case dealing with a young adult and the importance of advanced planning became abundantly clear with the Terry Schiavo Case. In 1990, 26-year-old Terri Schiavo fell into a persistent vegetative state after suffering cardiac arrest. What ensued was a fierce and highly public battle took place between her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, and her husband, Michael Schiavo. Michael wanted to disconnect her feeding tube and he argued that Terri would not have wanted her life artificially prolonged, This case sparked a national, as well as international, highly emotional debate regarding quality of life, right-to-die and end-of-life issues.

Ultimately, the courts sided with Michael Schiavo. However, the Florida legislature passed a bill, known as Terri's Law. This law gave then Florida Gov. Jeb Bush authority to prevent the removal of the feeding tube. The law was stricken down as unconstitutional, however. After much back and forth involving state and federal courts, Terri's feeding tube was removed, ending the long legal struggle over her end-of-life, Terri died on, March 31, 2005, at the age of 41.  An enlightening article by two Mayo Clinic physicians published via Mayo Clinic is entitled The Terri Schiavo Saga: The Making of a Tragedy and Lessons Learned and sheds light on this matter from the perspective of the medical community.

For young adults, death can and does occur even though we do not like to face this harsh reality. Worse case -- a prolonged situation with life support in play, as the Terri Schiavo  case illustrates. These are tough conversations to have and illustrate the most extreme of situations. The opposite end of the spectrum is having to access records for your college-aged student or obtain medical records.

Have you considered these scenarios? The below simplified summary of key documents for young adults:

1. Health Care Power of Attorney (aka Health Care Proxy or Health Care Representative) | A Health Care Power of Attorney, also known as a Health Care Representative or Health Care Proxy, is a document that allows a person to designate someone else to make medical decisions on their behalf if they become incapacitated or are unable to make decisions for themselves. This can include decisions about medical treatments, surgeries, and end-of-life care.

2. HIPAA Authorization | HIPAA is a federal law protecting the privacy and security of individuals' health information is known as HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. A HIPAA authorization is a document that allows a person to give permission for their healthcare providers to share their medical information with others, such as family members or caregivers. This can be helpful if the person becomes incapacitated or cannot communicate their wishes regarding sharing their medical information.

3. Financial Power of Attorney | This legal document that allows a person (the "principal") to give another person (the "agent" aka "attorney-in-fact") the authority to act on their behalf in certain situations. This can include managing finances, signing legal documents, or making medical decisions. For example, Mark College Student (21) is involved in a serious car accident and requires the use of a ventilator. His parents have stepped up to assist the medical staff. Unbeknownst to them, the decision-making process will be prolonged because he is an adult, and they are not automatically appointed as the decision-makers absent this important document.

BONUS: FERPA Waiver | For those attending college a FERPA Waiver gives you the right to access and review your child's education records maintained by their school. Without this, a parent is not automatically entitled to the records regardless of who is paying the bill.

At Crossin Law Offices, LLC, we have a Young Adult Advanced Decision-Making™  Package to assist parents and students with this matter. The package is $150.00 and includes the three key documents and bonus document. We are happy to discuss this important advanced planning matter with families. 

To set up a complimentary appointment, please contact us at [email protected] or 219.714.3854.