Congratulations to all recent high school graduates! As graduation season comes to an end, it is time to think about planning and preparing for their future. Once your child turns 18, they legally become an adult, which comes with many responsibilities. As a parent, now is the best time to encourage them to prepare essential legal documents in case of an emergency, especially basic estate planning documents. Here are a few suggestions on documents your high school graduate should have before heading off to college or their first full-time job.
Health Care Proxy
This is one of the first estate planning documents your child will do once they turn 18. As a legal adult, you, as their parent, no longer have access to their medical records, and you cannot make decisions for them unless they give you this authority. A health care proxy will allow your child to choose who can make medical decisions for them if they become incapacitated. They can also do a HIPAA authorization to allow someone else access to their medical records. If your child has an accident or illness and is unable to communicate their wishes, having a health care proxy in place will grant someone permission to communicate for them.
Power of Attorney
Like health care decisions, as soon as your child becomes a legal adult, you also no longer have access to financial information on your child’s behalf unless they give you that authority. A power of attorney is a good document for your child to have in case they are unable to make or communicate financial decisions for themselves due to an accident or illness. Having a power of attorney in place will allow someone to be able to manage their financial responsibilities for them and ensure that someone has access as needed. This includes any financial or legal tasks such as a lease, school payments, bank accounts or applying for benefits.
Will
While your child may not have many assets or a large estate yet, it is still a good idea for any legal adult to have a basic will in place. While this does not avoid the probate process (which you would want to do if significant assets were in play), it does allow your child to nominate someone as the Executor of their estate in the event this should ever be needed.
If you have any questions or would like to get started on these important estate planning documents for your child, give our office a call! We would be happy to assist them in beginning their estate planning process.