By Elliott Topkins, Esquire
8/18/11
Among the learning experiences for parents with children going away to college in a few short weeks is the fact that having reached the age of 18, your child is no longer your ward, and you are no longer your child’s legal guardian. That doesn’t mean that you cannot pick up the tab for tuition, room and board, and furnish your child with some kind of monthly allowance, but you are not, as of right now, entitled to be informed of health issues confronting your child or to make medical decisions for your child. You also do not have the right to make financial, or other decisions, for your child. In a word, your child is fully “liberated” when he or she turns 18, and it is probably wise to consider these issues on your list of “things to do” when you are packing off your student to the next step in his or her education.

Health considerations can be complicated. Having had personal experience with sending four children to college, I can tell you that doctors and nurses in the school infirmary are becoming more and more reluctant to give out information about illnesses or other medical conditions which may arise. In an era of rampant litigious activity, medical professionals are concerned with “right to privacy” issues, and that often governs how much information you can garner with a phone call or e-mail. The only option many times is getting into your car, or getting on a plane, and having a face-to-face discussion.

The solution lies in having your child execute a few relatively straight-forward documents before he or she leaves for school. The most important of these are (1) a health care proxy (which gives you the right to make “informed consent” decisions for your child) and (2) a HIPPA form (which gives you access to your child’s medical records). I suggest that your child execute these forms, and in most instances, a durable power of attorney, before heading away to college.

If you contact me at (781) 849-5906 (my Braintree office), we can discuss how best to implement getting these documents in place. I can also describe to you, in more detail, why having these documents in place makes good sense. I am a Milton resident, and I have no problem making “house calls.” I can prepare the forms with just a few pieces of information from you, and then supervise their proper execution, for a fee of less than $100. With the reticence that many medical institutions have developed to release medical information and records, the health care proxy and HIPPA form have become “don’t leave home without it” items. The power of attorney can be very helpful, as well.