Here in Alabama, the “age of majority,” which is the age a person is legally considered an adult, is 19. That means if you have a child who has reached that age or soon will, it’s time for them to prepare to put an advance directive for health care in place.
This includes a living will and the naming of a health care agent or proxy and giving them durable power of attorney (POA) over their health care decisions should they be incapacitated and unable to communicate their wishes.
What do these documents do?
Parents of young adults understandably don’t want to think about these things – nor do the young adults themselves. However, once a child becomes an adult, their parents can no longer make medical decisions on their behalf or even be allowed to get information from their medical team should they suffer a catastrophic injury or illness. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) prevents medical professionals from sharing this information without some type of authorization.
The living will portion of these documents allows people to codify their wishes for things like what kind of life-prolonging measures they do and don’t want under various circumstances – for example, if they weren’t expected to regain consciousness.
Anyone who is a legal adult should have at least these basic documents in place, even if they’re too young to think about a will or other estate planning tools. They can save family members from conflict and uncertainty at an already-difficult time.
Make sure the documents can be easily accessed
Whether your child is in college, taking a gap year (or two) or working full time, it’s important that they have a copy of their documents somewhere they can be easily located if needed. Whether they name a parent as their health care agent or another adult, that person should have a copy as well.
It may be wise for them to name someone to have POA over their finances as well if they’re unconscious or otherwise unable. This can help ensure that any obligations like credit card payments and rent can continue while they’re incapacitated.
With legal guidance, it’s relatively easy to put the documents in place that can give you peace of mind as your teen becomes a young adult.