Description

Florida law considers children who are 18 years of age or older to be emancipated, therefore interprets privacy laws to prohibit access for parents to their child’s medical, financial or educational material without the child’s authorization. This can become a major issue in the event of illness or accident involving the child, or even if a parent wants to deposit funds in the child’s bank account.

Without these documents in place, a college will not discuss an over- 18-aged student with his or her parents or allow them access to the student’s records, and a hospital may not allow a parent to make medical decisions on behalf of his or her over-18-year-old child. Many banks will not even allow parents to make deposits.

These issues can be avoided, if, in advance, the child executes a power of attorney and a health care surrogate, documents which we can readily produce so that they are legally effective. We do these as a “College Student Package” on a special discounted basis.