I’ve seen it recommended that we should consider having our daughter complete a durable power of attorney, medical power of attorney and HIPAA authorization for release upon heading off to college.
We live in New York and our daughter will be attending Grinnell College in Iowa. She turns 18 a few days after we drop her off at Grinnell.
This brings us a few question that I’m hopeful someone here will be able to provide some guidance.
Do we use New York or Iowa forms?
Do we put her New York home address or her Iowa temporary dorm address on the forms?
If the answer is that we should complete forms for each state, just in case, do we put the New York address on the New York forms and the Iowa address on the Iowa forms or do we use one address or the other one all forms?
Some of the forms require a notary and or witness(es). Problem is, she won’t be turning 18 until after we’ve dropped her off. I assume she’d just need to find a notary on campus (should be easy) once she turns 18 and get everything completed then? She wouldn’t need us at that point, right?
We used the forms the college (USoCal) offered for our kids, who were > 18 when they got to campus. We figured it would be best to use the forms preferred by the U, since that was the most likely place we’d need to be contacting. As I recall, it was pretty easy and straight forward and o don’t recall needing a notary, but it has been many years, so no longer sure.
This is a new one, are you trying to get the docs as a safety measure so you can keep tabs on her and incase of any accidents, you can actually have the forms signed ahead of time and have her just fill out the bottom part with the witnesses and notarys at schools, banks also do it for free. Always put the permanent adress, preferably whats on her license if thats the home adress. I guess my only question is to be more specific with the questions, yes sign them, state regulations may differ but id srick with the state shes staying in.
@HImom Good suggestion. I can certainly ask the school if they have a set of forms that they recommend. @raulhumber2 Yes, it’s a safety measure to have the docs in place in case of an emergency. She has a New York State driver’s license. It looks like there’s a notary in the student center, so that part won’t be a problem.
Just trying to figure out whether we do NY or Iowa forms and what address to use on each.
Do we use New York or Iowa forms? Both – just to be safe. The last thing you want in an emergency is ANY question about your right to information.
Do we put her New York home address or her Iowa temporary dorm address on the forms? Both, but I would just show Grinnell College rather than the dorm as her Iowa address since that may change from year to year, and you don;t want to have to do new forms if you can avoid it.
If the answer is that we should complete forms for each state, just in case, do we put the New York address on the New York forms and the Iowa address on the Iowa forms or do we use one address or the other one all forms? I would use both on all the forms – noting “permanent address” and “college address” [you may have to be creative in squeezing things in].
Some of the forms require a notary and or witness(es). Problem is, she won’t be turning 18 until after we’ve dropped her off. I assume she’d just need to find a notary on campus (should be easy) once she turns 18 and get everything completed then? I’m not sure a New York notary could not verify the signatures for an Iowa form, but I’m not an Iowa attorney. With any luck, one will chime in. It’s not always easy to find a notary, and I’m not certain you can count on the school having one available. Banks are a good bet, since she’ll undoubtedly be opening a local account.
This wasn’t one of your questions, but I also recommend having your daughter give approval for you to contact her home-state health care provider on her behalf. My daughters (both out of college now and both living out of state) occasionally would like me to schedule appointments for them with the clinic here but I am not allowed to do so without their written consent.
Yes, most banks and financial placed have notaries. You may need to make an apt and pay a nominal fee. Agree that it’s safest to get forms in both states, but we just did CA, using USC’s forms.
You can fill out too if you’d like, most states accept the POA from another state, ive taken them here at the hospital or the time, now the hippa is really nation wide so you can carry just the iowa one if youd like, the reason for the adress are mainly try to reach someone incase of an emergency, yes you can list the college but realistically youd want them to reach your home.
Most insurers will be happy to send you a HIPAA form and then will give you the fewest hassles about whether their attorneys approve if you use THEIR form. Same with most Us–it makes their life easiest when you use the forms their attorneys have already approved. If you want to save headaches, that’s a good way to do so.
@carolinamom2boys, check your state’s department of health services (or the equivalent). It might have a standard (and appropriate for most uncomplicated situations) form online.
@carolinamom2boys : what state are you? [PM me if you want privacy.] I’ll try to find your state’s forms. They can vary. California, for example, includes a specific reference to the California Civil Code section that requires acceptance of the form. That doesn’t persuade all states or all institutions.
Just wondering why you need a durable power of attorney for your grown up children (just asking - never did this for my daughter - did do HIPAA and she does fill out a HIPAA form to include me every time she visits a new doctor and she always lists me when asked for an emergency contact).
Not that I speak for the OP, durable power of attorneys give you power incase of a medical emergency, its like a health care proxy but better, only comes in effect when the person is incapacitated, given the name durable, a non durable will give you power over finances or such and that ones stops working when the person becomez incapacitated, just personal preferences between families and people I guess.
so if an adult is incapacitated and there is no POA document - by default who would be consulted in a medical emergency? (sorry if this is off topic - just trying to figure this out as nobody in my family has a POA and maybe we all should - parents and adult child?)