Why Every College-Bound Young Adult Needs a Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy

Sending a child off to college or out into the world after graduation is a milestone full of preparation. One of the most important pieces is also one of the most overlooked: the legal documents that take effect the moment they turn eighteen.

Most parents in Western New York spend the months leading up to their child’s departure thinking about housing deposits, course schedules, health insurance cards, and packing lists. What they often do not realize is that on the morning of their child’s eighteenth birthday, the legal relationship between parent and child changes in ways that have real consequences if something goes wrong. A parent who has spent eighteen years making medical and financial decisions for a child no longer has the automatic legal authority to do so.

That gap can be quietly closed with two short, inexpensive documents prepared in advance. At Klafehn, Heise & Johnson P.L.L.C., we regularly prepare these documents for families across Monroe, Orleans, and Genesee Counties — usually as part of the same conversation in which parents are doing their own estate planning.

The Legal Reality of Turning Eighteen

Once a person turns eighteen in New York, they are an adult for legal purposes. Their parents are no longer entitled to access their medical records, speak with their doctors about their care, make health care decisions on their behalf, manage their bank accounts, or access their financial aid records. Even when a parent is paying tuition, providing health insurance, and listed as the emergency contact, none of that creates legal authority once the child is an adult.

That arrangement works well in the ordinary course of things. The trouble begins when something is not ordinary — an accident, a hospitalization, a mental health crisis, a financial issue while studying abroad. In those moments, a parent who would gladly help may find themselves blocked by privacy laws and bank policies that were not written with their family situation in mind.

What a Health Care Proxy Does

A health care proxy is a short legal document in which a person (in this case, your young adult child) names someone else — typically a parent — to make medical decisions on their behalf if they are unable to do so. It is one of the most important documents in any adult’s legal toolkit, and it is especially important for a young adult who is leaving home for the first time.

Why Being Listed as an Emergency Contact Is Not Enough

Many parents assume that being listed as the emergency contact at a college’s health services office is the same as being authorized to make medical decisions. It is not. An emergency contact is who the hospital calls. A health care agent is who the hospital takes direction from. When your child is unconscious in an emergency room or unable to communicate due to a serious illness, the difference between those two roles is the difference between being told what is happening and being able to make decisions about what happens next.

What a Power of Attorney Does

A power of attorney authorizes another person (again, typically a parent) to handle financial and legal matters on the young adult’s behalf. The scope can be tailored — some families want a broad power of attorney that allows the parent to step in for any reason, while others prefer a narrower document focused on specific tasks like signing tax returns, accessing financial aid records, communicating with the school’s registrar or bursar, or managing a bank account in an emergency.

For a young adult who is studying abroad, working a summer job in another state, or simply living on their own for the first time, having a parent legally authorized to act when something comes up — a frozen credit card while traveling, a delayed financial aid disbursement, a legal matter that arises while they are unreachable — can save weeks of inconvenience and real expense.

Has a child in your family just turned eighteen, or are they about to? Reach out to our office for a quick, focused conversation.

HIPAA Authorization: The Often-Forgotten Third Document

Even when a health care proxy is in place, federal HIPAA privacy rules can prevent a doctor from sharing information with a parent unless the patient has signed a separate HIPAA authorization. We typically recommend that young adults sign all three documents at the same time — health care proxy, power of attorney, and HIPAA authorization — so that there is no doubt about who can access medical information and who can make decisions if needed.

Conversations to Have Before They Sign

These documents work best when they reflect a real conversation between parent and child rather than a stack of forms shoved across the kitchen table the night before move-in day. A few questions worth talking through together:

• Who do you want making medical decisions if you cannot speak for yourself? A parent? The other parent or an older sibling as a backup?
• How much do you want your parents to be involved in your day-to-day finances, and where do you want to draw the line?
• Who would you want notified in an emergency, and in what order?
• Are there strong personal beliefs about medical care — religious, ethical, or otherwise — that should guide your agent’s decisions?

The conversation is often more valuable than the paperwork. The paperwork just makes the conversation legally binding.

It Is Not Just for College Students

Although these documents are usually framed around college, they apply just as much to young adults who are not heading to a four-year school — those starting trade school, beginning a job, joining the military, taking a gap year, or living at home but legally independent. Anyone who is eighteen or older is, in the eyes of the law, an adult who needs to put these documents in place to authorize someone else to act for them.

A Small Step That Pays Off

Compared to most estate planning work, a young adult’s health care proxy and power of attorney are quick to prepare and inexpensive. Most families wrap them into a broader estate planning conversation in a first meeting and walk out of the office after another meeting with everything signed and notarized. The peace of mind that comes from knowing you can step in if your child needs you is hard to overstate, especially in those first months after they leave home.

If your son or daughter has just turned eighteen, is about to leave for college, or is starting any new chapter that takes them out from under your roof, this is the kind of conversation worth having now rather than later. Our attorneys help families across Brockport, Holley, Hilton, Spencerport, Albion, Batavia, Rochester, and the surrounding communities prepare these documents every year — often in the same meeting where the parents are updating their own plans.

Call us at 585-637-3911 or send us a message online to set up a time to talk.

Legal Disclaimer: This article provides general information about powers of attorney, health care proxies, and HIPAA authorizations under New York State law. It is not legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Individual circumstances vary, and decisions about which documents are right for a young adult should be made with the guidance of an attorney familiar with your family’s specific situation. For guidance tailored to your circumstances, please consult with the attorneys at Klafehn, Heise & Johnson P.L.L.C. Portions of this content are considered ATTORNEY ADVERTISING under the New York State Unified Court System Rules of Professional Conduct (22 NYCRR Part 1200). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.