Now that you've sent your child(ren) off to college, you and your child(ren) will need to take some simple steps to ensure that, in the event of an emergency, you will be able to make health care and financial decisions for your child(ren) and have access to your child(ren)’s medical information and financial account if your child(ren) are age 18 or older. The same is true if you are to have access to your child(ren)’s educational records.

Besides the normal preparations for your child to attend college, you should have your child execute a Power of Attorney, Health Care Proxy, and a HIPAA Release Form. When young adults go off to college and venture out into the real world for the first time on their own, they may continue to need the assistance you always provided to them growing up.