5 Must-Have Documents When Your Child Turns 18.
Updated: Sep 6
The Day They Turn 18, the Rules Change
To you, they will always be your child.
But when they turn 18, something significant happens: in most of the United States, they reach the age of majority and are legally considered an adult.
And with adulthood come new rights, responsibilities, and privacy protections.
For the previous 18 years, you've been responsible for making many decisions on your child's behalf. You've scheduled doctor's appointments, communicated with schools, helped manage finances, completed forms, and had access to information because you were their parent or legal guardian.
The day they turn 18, the rules change.
Your son or daughter is now a young adult with the legal right to make their own medical, financial, educational, and other important decisions. As their parent, you no longer automatically have the same authority to access certain information or act on their behalf simply because you are their parent.
And this transition often happens at exactly the same time they are becoming more independent.
They may be:
Leaving home for college
Attending school in another state
Studying abroad
Starting their first full-time job
Living independently
Traveling without you
Opening their own financial accounts
That's why turning 18 is an important time for families to talk about planning ahead.
The goal isn't to take away your young adult's independence.
It's about giving your young adult the opportunity to decide whom they trust to receive information, assist with important matters, or act on their behalf if the need ever arises.
Imagine This...
Your 18-year-old is attending college several states away and is unexpectedly hospitalized.
You receive a phone call and immediately want to know what happened, speak with the medical team, and help however you can.
But your son or daughter is now an adult.
What information can the hospital give you?
Who can make medical decisions if your young adult cannot communicate?
Who can handle an urgent financial matter back home?
Can you contact their college and obtain information about their education or health records?
The answers can depend on the circumstances, applicable federal and state laws, and the legal documents and authorizations your young adult has put in place.
Planning ahead can make an already stressful situation easier to navigate.
So, what should families consider before that 18th birthday or before their young adult leaves for college?
Here are five important documents to discuss.
1. Health Care Power of Attorney / Health Care Proxy
A Health Care Power of Attorney, sometimes called a Health Care Proxy, Medical Power of Attorney, or by another name depending on the state, generally allows an adult to designate a trusted person to make health care decisions on their behalf under circumstances specified by applicable law and the document.
This can be particularly important if your young adult becomes seriously ill or injured and cannot make or communicate medical decisions independently.
Why might this matter?
Imagine your young adult is unconscious after an accident while attending college hundreds of miles from home.
Having the appropriate health care planning documents in place can help establish whom your young adult chose to make health care decisions on their behalf if they cannot make those decisions themselves.
And remember, this is their choice.
Your young adult decides whom they trust to serve in that role. It may be a parent, another family member, or another trusted adult.
Important
The terminology, requirements, scope, and execution requirements for health care directives vary by state. Families should consult an attorney or appropriate state resources to determine which documents are appropriate for their circumstances.
2. HIPAA Authorization
You've probably seen the word HIPAA on forms at doctor's offices for years.
HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, includes federal privacy protections governing certain health information.
Once your son or daughter is an adult, being their parent does not automatically make you their personal representative for purposes of HIPAA.
According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, a personal representative generally is someone who has legal authority under applicable law to make health care decisions on behalf of another individual.
A HIPAA authorization can allow your young adult to authorize specified health information to be disclosed to a parent or another trusted person.
Does HIPAA mean a hospital can never tell a parent anything?
No. This is an important misconception.
HIPAA does allow health care providers to share certain information with family members, friends, or others involved in a patient's care in particular circumstances.
For example, when an adult patient is present and capable of making health care decisions, a provider may share information relevant to a family member's involvement in the patient's care if the patient agrees, does not object, or the provider can reasonably infer that the patient does not object.
If a patient is incapacitated or unavailable, a provider may also share relevant information when, using professional judgment, the provider determines that doing so is in the patient's best interest.
However, these provisions are different from having formal authority to act as the adult patient's personal representative.
The important takeaway: Don't assume that being the parent of an 18-year-old automatically gives you access to all of their medical information or the authority to make medical decisions for them.
Your young adult can discuss with an attorney or health care provider what authorizations or legal documents are appropriate for their situation.
Learn more directly from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS): Family Members and Friends and HIPAA HHS: Personal Representatives under HIPAA
3. Financial Power of Attorney
A Financial Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows an adult to authorize another person, often called an agent, to act on their behalf on financial matters within the authority granted by the document.
Depending on the document and applicable state law, that authority could potentially include matters involving:
Banking
Bills
Taxes
Insurance
Contracts
Financial accounts
Property
Other financial transactions
This can be particularly useful when a young adult is away at college, studying abroad, traveling for an extended period, or unable to conveniently handle a time-sensitive financial matter.
Here's an important distinction:
A Financial Power of Attorney isn't about a parent taking control of their young adult's finances.
The young adult is the person deciding whether to create the Power of Attorney, whom to appoint, and what authority to grant.
A Power of Attorney can grant significant legal authority, so it should never be treated as "just another form."
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes a Power of Attorney as a legal document that allows another person to act on someone's behalf.
Questions worth discussing:
Who would I trust to act on my behalf?
What authority would I want that person to have?
When should that authority become effective?
Should there be limitations on what my agent can do?
Those are questions for your young adult and, when appropriate, a qualified attorney.
Learn more: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: What Is a Power of Attorney?
4. FERPA Authorization
If your young adult is heading to college, FERPA is one acronym every family should know.
FERPA stands for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law protecting the privacy of student education records.
Under FERPA, rights generally transfer from the parent to the student when the student turns 18 OR attends a postsecondary institution at any age.
Yes, you read that correctly.
A student attending college can become an "eligible student" under FERPA even if they have not yet turned 18.
That means paying tuition or simply being the student's parent does not automatically provide unrestricted access to all education records.
However, FERPA contains exceptions under which schools may disclose information without the eligible student's consent. For example, the U.S. Department of Education explains that FERPA permits disclosure to parents when the student is a dependent for federal income-tax purposes, and there are other exceptions, including certain health or safety emergencies.
Colleges and universities can also have procedures through which students provide consent for specified information to be released.
Before Move-In Day
Don't wait until there's a problem.
Ask your young adult to check their college or university's website or student portal and search for:
FERPA Release Student Privacy Authorization to Release Education Records
Each institution may have its own procedure.
Learn more directly from the U.S. Department of Education: U.S. Department of Education: FERPA and Eligible Students
What About the College Health Center?
This deserves special attention because it can be confusing.
You might assume that every medical record is automatically governed by HIPAA.
That's not necessarily the case.
Certain student health records maintained by educational institutions may fall under FERPA rather than HIPAA. Families should therefore understand both the school's student-record policies and the health center's privacy procedures.
Before your young adult leaves for college, consider having them investigate how their school's health center handles medical records, privacy, emergency contacts, and authorizations.
5. A Simple Will
A will at 18?
At first, this may sound unnecessary.
Your young adult probably doesn't own a house or have an extensive investment portfolio.
But consider what they may already own:
Checking or savings accounts
Investment accounts
A vehicle
Electronics
Jewelry
Collectibles
Digital assets
Cryptocurrency
Valuable personal belongings
Money owed to them
Other individually owned property
A will can provide instructions concerning the disposition of assets subject to the will and can name the person the individual wants to administer their estate, subject to applicable state law.
Without a valid will, state intestacy laws generally determine how probate assets are distributed.
Did You Know?
Having a will does not necessarily mean your estate avoids probate.
A will generally provides instructions for the administration and distribution of assets that pass through the probate estate.
Other assets may pass outside the will, such as certain jointly owned property or accounts with valid beneficiary designations.
Because estate and probate laws vary by state, a qualified estate-planning attorney can explain what is appropriate for your young adult's particular situation.
Bonus: Beneficiary Designations
While not one of our five documents, this is another excellent conversation to have.
As young adults begin working, opening financial accounts, investing, or obtaining insurance, they may encounter beneficiary designations for the first time.
Beneficiary designations may be associated with things such as:
Life insurance
Retirement accounts
Certain investment accounts
Other financial products
Your young adult should understand whom they've named, what the designation means, and why beneficiary information should be reviewed when circumstances change.
Going to College Out of State?
This deserves its own conversation.
Your family's home may be in New Jersey, but your young adult could attend college in Pennsylvania, New York, Florida, California, Texas, or anywhere else in the country.
Why does that matter?
HIPAA and FERPA are federal laws, but Powers of Attorney, advance health care directives, wills, and similar documents are also governed by state law.
Requirements concerning how a document is created, signed, witnessed, notarized, interpreted, or recognized can vary from state to state.
If your young adult will be living or attending college outside their home state, consider asking a qualified attorney whether their documents are appropriate for both their home state and the state where they will be attending school.
Before they leave, it's also a good idea to investigate:
Their college's FERPA release procedures
The school's student health center and privacy policies
Emergency contact information
Nearby hospitals or medical facilities
Health insurance coverage while away from home
Where important legal and medical documents will be securely stored
Who should have access to copies in an emergency
One More Question:
If your young adult called you from another state tomorrow and said, "Mom/Dad, I need you to take care of this for me," would you know what you're legally authorized to do?
That's the purpose of planning ahead.
The Turning 18 Family Checklist
As your child's 18th birthday approaches, consider sitting down together and discussing:
☐ Health Care Power of Attorney / Health Care Proxy
☐ HIPAA Authorization
☐ Financial Power of Attorney
☐ FERPA authorization or the school's release procedure
☐ Simple Will
☐ Beneficiary designations
☐ Emergency contacts
☐ Health insurance information
☐ College health center policies
☐ Where important documents will be securely stored
☐ Who should receive copies or know how to access them
☐ Whether attending college in another state affects their planning
And perhaps most importantly:
☐ Ask your young adult what THEY want.
Turning 18 Is About More Than Documents
Turning 18 is a major milestone.
It's exciting for your young adult, but it can feel strange for parents.
For 18 years, you've been responsible for protecting them, advocating for them, scheduling appointments, completing forms, and helping make important decisions.
Then, seemingly overnight, the relationship changes.
Your teen is now an adult.
Preparing for that transition isn't about taking independence away from them. In fact, it's the opposite.
Your young adult decides whom they trust.
They decide who may receive certain information.
They decide whom they want to appoint to act on their behalf.
And they decide how much authority they are comfortable giving another person.
The 18th birthday creates a perfect opportunity for a different kind of parent-and-young-adult conversation.
Instead of: "Here's what I'm going to do for you."
Try: "If something happened and you needed help, what would you want me to be able to do?"
That's a conversation worth having.
Already 18? It's Not Too Late.
Maybe your son or daughter turned 18 last year.
Maybe they're already in college.
Maybe they're living independently.
Or perhaps you're reading this thinking: "We never talked about any of this."
Turning 18 is simply a natural time to begin the conversation.
Your young adult can still explore their options and determine which documents, authorizations, and planning tools are appropriate for their circumstances.
If they need legal advice or need legal documents prepared, they should speak with a qualified attorney licensed in the appropriate state.
Documents Ready? Complete Notary Services Can Help in New Jersey.
If your young adult already has properly prepared documents that require notarization and they are physically located in New Jersey, Complete Notary Services can help with the notarization.
As a mobile New Jersey Notary Public, we meet clients throughout Central New Jersey at homes, offices, college campuses, hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, assisted-living facilities, and other convenient locations.
Whether your young adult attends college here in New Jersey or is preparing to leave for school in another state, documents that require New Jersey notarization can be completed before they leave.
We'll meet you there!!
Getting Ready for College?
Don't leave important documents until move-in weekend.
If your young adult has documents prepared that require notarization, contact Complete Notary Services to schedule a mobile notarization appointment in Central New Jersey.
Planning ahead now can make an unexpected situation much easier to navigate later.
Trusted Resources & Further Reading
For additional information, visit these authoritative resources:
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: HIPAA information for individuals, families, and personal representatives.
U.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office: Information about FERPA, eligible students, and parental access to education records.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Consumer information about Powers of Attorney and managing financial matters for another person.
Because laws concerning Powers of Attorney, health care directives, wills, and other estate-planning documents vary by state, consult the appropriate state government resources or a qualified attorney for state-specific information.
Important Disclaimer
Complete Notary Services is not a law firm. I am not an attorney licensed to practice law and may not provide legal advice about immigration or any other legal matter, or accept fees for legal advice, select legal documents for you, draft legal documents, or advise you regarding the legal effect of a document.
This article is provided for general educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. Federal and state laws, institutional policies, and individual circumstances vary and may change.
If you have questions about which documents are appropriate, how they should be prepared, or whether documents will be valid or recognized in another state, consult a qualified attorney licensed in the appropriate jurisdiction.
Contact me for an appointment.
Danielle J. Varughese
Mobile Notary Public | Apostille Facilitator | Document Translation Coordinator
+1 609.525.4424
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