Once your child turns 18, you are no longer considered their legal guardian. This means that as they encounter challenges in the world, your ability to support them medically and financially is limited.
For example, without legal documents, you can no longer access their medical records or make decisions on their behalf in case of an emergency. This can result in delays in receiving necessary medical care and could lead to decisions that are contrary to your child's wishes or best interests.
Every fall, families across Indianapolis, Carmel, Fishers, and Noblesville send a child off to Indiana University in Bloomington, Purdue in West Lafayette, Butler, IU Indianapolis, or a school out of state entirely, often without realizing that turning 18 already changed their legal relationship to that child months or years earlier. Say a Fishers family's son is a sophomore at IU Bloomington and ends up in the emergency room after a bike accident near campus. Without a healthcare representative document on file, hospital staff may not be able to discuss his condition with his parents or let them help make a treatment decision, even though they're the ones paying his tuition and covering his health insurance. It's a scenario no parent wants to think about, and exactly the kind of gap this package is built to close before it becomes a crisis.
With Dillman & Owen Estate & Elder Law's Young Adult Advance Directives package, you can ensure your child is fully supported no matter the circumstance.
It's easy, affordable, and gives you peace of mind as your child embarks on their next adventure.
Our Young Adult Advance Directives package includes three essential documents that give you the authority and information you need to protect your adult child’s health and financial well-being, all at a fraction of the cost of a full legal service.
A power of attorney is a legal document that allows a person (the "principal") to give another person (the "agent" or "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. Having a power of attorney in place can be helpful in case the principal becomes incapacitated or is unable to make decisions for themselves.
A healthcare representative, also known as a healthcare proxy or medical power of attorney, 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.
HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a federal law protecting the privacy and security of individuals' health information. 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.
In addition to the documents above, we've added a 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.
Yes. In the state of Indiana, your powers of attorney should be notarized to ensure their authenticity and validity. Notary services are easy to find almost anywhere, including through a bank, a UPS Store, or your child's own college, many university registrar or student services offices offer notary services on campus, so this is usually simple to arrange no matter where your child ends up.
Yes, accidents and unexpected illnesses can happen even if you are young and healthy. A healthcare directive can ensure that your wishes for medical treatment and end-of-life care are respected if you become incapacitated and cannot make these decisions yourself. This is especially true for a college student living away from home for the first time, where roommates or friends may be the first people on the scene, but only a properly named healthcare representative has the legal authority to actually make decisions.
Yes, you can change or update these documents at any time. Reviewing these documents periodically is important to ensure they reflect your current wishes and circumstances. This is worth revisiting at natural milestones, such as transferring schools, studying abroad, or graduating and moving to a new state for a first job, since your circumstances and the people you'd want involved can change quickly during this stretch of life.
The power of attorney templates we created do not reference Indiana specific code, and should work across state lines. That means if your child attends an Indiana school like IU or Purdue, or heads out of state entirely, these documents travel with them rather than needing to be redone for each location.
We have created these documents specifically for individuals who do not have children or a sizeable estate. Once a person marries, has children and/or begins to accumulate assets, we recommend they consult with an attorney who can provide guidance on what documents are most appropriate for your individual needs and circumstances. If that's where you are, our Estate Planning and Elder Law practices can help you put the right documents in place for yourself, the same way this package does for your child.
Without the right documents in place, you may not be able to speak with their doctors, access their medical records, or help make treatment decisions, even in a true emergency. Hospitals are legally required to protect patient privacy, which means they cannot share information with parents by default once a patient turns 18, regardless of how involved you've always been in your child's care. A healthcare representative designation and HIPAA authorization are what give you that access back.
No. Unlike something such as a guardianship, these documents don't need to be filed with a court or with your child's college. Instead, they should be kept somewhere accessible, both by you and by your child, so they can be produced quickly if needed. We recommend keeping both physical and digital copies, since a hospital or financial institution may ask for the document on short notice.
It's actually the ideal time. Many families complete this package over the summer before their child leaves for school, so everything is in place before move-in day rather than after something has already happened. Whether your child is headed to a dorm at IU Bloomington, an apartment near Purdue, or a campus across the country, having these documents signed and notarized before they leave means one less thing to worry about once they're settled in.
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