POA for college-bound kids

By Patricia Nugent

For parents with kids heading off to college, this month is a frenzied scramble of list-making and checking off items like bed linens, tiny microwaves, refrigerators and laundry baskets. But while you’re focusing on the tangible goods, it’s good to take stock of your child’s legal status.

Even though you’re paying the bills most of the time, if your child is over 18 and something catastrophic happens, you couldn’t communicate with doctors or be part of medical decision-making.

“This is a situation parents don’t think about often,” says Attorney Margaret T. Karl, who helps people handle their estate planning. “This time of year, I receive a lot of calls from concerned parents who are interested in obtaining a durable power of attorney (POA) for health care to cover their child heading off to college. It ensures you can make decisions, as well as access their medical records, medications and treatment plans and communicate with medical practitioners. Doctors, hospitals and medical centers today are well aware of their legal responsibilities, and even though you can prove you’re the patient’s parent, they are bound to carry out those responsibilities.”

In a worst-case scenario, she says, if your child is incapacitated in the long term, if you don’t have a healthcare POA, you’d have to go to court to ask for guardianship.

Drafting this document is a quick and simple one-appointment process. Margie says she only need the names and addresses of the child and parent and/or grandparent who will be listed. The parties and two disinterested witnesses sign it and can have it notarized at her office or anywhere else.

The peace of mind this document affords might make it the most important item to check off your list before your child heads off.

Margaret T. Karl, Attorney at Law, is located at 25800 North Depot Street, Suite 102, in Olmsted Falls. Call 440-782-5051 or visit OlmstedOhioLaw.com.