The College Power of Attorney/Planning for Emergencies

Parent Cafe
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<p>Three Forms your student should have before they leave for college. </p>

<p>A couple of years ago I got a call from my son Ben who is away at college in New York. “Dad, I’m in the emergency room at St. Lukes….” It’s a good thing he called me because his mother would have been screaming after those few words. He had a weird rash and that didn’t seem to be anything serious, but when he uttered the word “meningitis” I was tempted to scream myself. I called Marie and we made a quick, nerve racked trip to NYC. Ben was fine, really, and he was conscious and able to confirm to the hospital staff that it was ok to talk to us about his condition. </p>

<p>And then the bill came. It should have been covered by insurance, but when I tried to make calls to straighten it out, I ran into brick wall. I wasn’t the patient and I didn’t have the ability to get or give information. I was just the person they thought was going to pay for the short $5,000 visit. </p>

<p>This got me thinking. What if Ben was not able to tell the doctors to talk to us? What if, god forbid, some decision about his care had to be made? I have to imagine that as his parents, the docs would have consulted with us. But why leave that up to chance? I recommend that parents have their son or daughter sign a power of attorney for health care decisions before they head off for school. Parents should also consider the idea of a Durable Power of Attorney for their kids as well. This form would allow you to act on your son or daughter’s behalf if they were incapacitated. </p>

<p>I also suggest that students sign a FERPA release which would allow parents to get access to educational records. Believe it or not, just because you may be paying the bill, you don’t have the right to get copies of your student’s transcript.</p>

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<p>All good ideas. The health care proxy should list three people - mom, then dad, then someone who can be gotten a hold of if mom and dad aren’t picking up the phone. Have copies of the proxy with the student, with you, and perhaps with the college. </p>

<p>The DPOA is also important, and have copies at home as well as at school. </p>

<p>Also consider a living will. </p>

<p>Make sure that your kids know where YOUR estate plan is, and the name of your lawyer, in case YOU have an emergency.</p>

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<p>I think the durable power of attorney is a great idea, our job as a parent doesn’t end if you already paid out your child’s college education and so on. We should be always there for our child no matter what. </p>

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