What are you planning to give the teenager in your family when he or she becomes an adult? A car, money for an apartment, a trip to Europe? Those are all fine gifts, depending on what you can afford to spend. But here’s one you may not have thought of, and the benefits could be far greater. Bring your new adult (child or grandchild) to our office, introduce us and have us prepare a basic estate planning package of documents: a simple trust or will, a durable power of attorney, a medical power of attorney, a HIPAA Release and a living will.

Actually, it’s a gift for the entire family, because once the child reaches legal age, parents will no longer be able to automatically make medical and legal decisions for him or her without the appropriate legal documents authorizing them to do so. If an adult child becomes ill or injured and cannot handle his own financial affairs, no one, not even Mom or Dad, will be able to step in and conduct business (sign checks, sell assets, etc.) unless he has a trust or a durable power of attorney and has named them as his successor or agent. If he hasn’t, they will have to go through the courts.... and that will take time, cost money, and restrict them in ways you cannot imagine.

If an adult child cannot make his own medical decisions, it will be much easier for Mom, Dad or another adult to make decisions if he has a medical power of attorney that names them as his agent. And what if he is placed on life support before they can get to the hospital? Unless he has made his wishes known through a legal document, they may not be able to have life support discontinued without court approval.
Finally, if your new adult should die without a will, the court will distribute his assets according o the laws of the state in which he lived . . . regardless of what the family or he would have wanted.

Make sure your new adult understands these documents will need to be changed as life changes-as s/he accumulates more assets, and as s/he and those s/he cares about move, marry, have children, divorce, die and so on.

Helping your children or grandchildren get started with this adult responsibility at the moment when he or she becomes an adult is just one more responsibility we as parents and grandparents have. It fits right in there with how to balance a checkbook, how to manage credit, and how to buy insurance.

Chances are, it will be a long time before any of these documents will be needed, but you’ll be sending your new adult out of the newest with a full layer of protection... just in case.

Published November 1, 2009 in the Aging in Place Planning and Elderlaw Blog. This article is general information, not legal advice; see our disclaimer.

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