As you’re celebrating high school graduation and preparing to send your adult or soon-to-be adult child off to college or out into the workforce, there are some important documents he or she should have in place. Up until your child reaches 18, you are fully entitled to access your child’s medical records and to make decisions regarding the course of his or her treatment. And, your child’s financial affairs are your financial affairs. Once your child reaches the age of 18, this all changes because your now-adult child is legally entitled to his or her privacy, and you no longer have the same level of access to or authority over his or her financial, educational, and medical information. As long as all is well, this can be fine. However, it’s important to plan for the unexpected and for your child to set up an estate plan that at least includes the following three crucial components:

1. Health Care Proxy with HIPAA Release

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, once your child turns 18, the child's health records are now between the child and his or her health care provider. The HIPAA laws prevent you from even getting medical updates if your child is unable to communicate his or her wishes to have you involved. Without a HIPAA release, you may have many obstacles before receiving critically needed information, including whether your adult child has even been admitted to a particular medical facility.

If your child should suffer a medical crisis resulting in the inability to communicate for him or herself, doctors and other medical professionals may refuse to speak with you or allow you to make medical decisions for your child. You may be forced to hire an attorney to petition to have you appointed as your child’s legal guardian by a court. At this time of crisis, your primary concern is to ensure your child receives the proper care, and you do not need the additional burden of court proceedings and associated legal costs. A health care proxy with a HIPAA release would enable your child to designate you or another trusted person to make medical decisions if your child is unable to convey his or her wishes.

2. Durable Power of Attorney

Like medical information, your 18-year-old child’s finances are also private. If your child becomes incapacitated, without a durable power of attorney, you cannot access the child's bank accounts or credit cards to make sure bills are being paid. If you needed to access financial accounts to manage or resolve any problem, you might be forced to seek the court’s appointment as conservator of your child.

Absent a crisis, a power of attorney can be helpful in issues that may arise when your child is away at college or travelling. For example, if your son is travelling and an issue comes up where he cannot access his accounts, a durable power of attorney would give you or another trusted person the authority to manage the issue. An alternative may be to encourage your child to consider a joint account with you.  However, this is rarely recommended because of the unintended consequences for taxes, financial aid applications, creditor issues, etc.

3. Will

Your child owns any funds given to him or her as a minor or that he or she may have earned. In the catastrophic event that your child predeceases you, these assets may have to be probated and will pass to your child’s heirs at law, which would be the parents in most states. If you have created an estate plan that reduces your estate for estate tax or asset protection purposes, the receipt of those assets could frustrate your estate planning goals. In addition, your child may wish to leave some tangible property and financial assets to other family members or charity.

While a will may be less important than the health care proxy, HIPAA release, or durable power of attorney, ensuring that your child has all three components of an estate plan can prevent you, as a parent, from having to go to court to obtain legal authority to make time-sensitive medical or financial decisions for your child.

If you have a child approaching adulthood, encourage them to talk with an estate planning attorney to execute these three crucial documents.