It’s that time of year again when literally millions of students will be graduating from high schools all across the country. And even though most of their parents perhaps will still think of these fresh graduates as ‘children’, in reality the vast majority of them will be 18 years old or older. This means that legally, they are no longer minors. And what does this mean? It means that high school graduates need estate planning too.

Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash

But why, you might ask. Well, because they are no longer legally considered minors, due to strict privacy and security laws, the parents will not be able to just easily communicate with the financial institutions and medical providers associated with their now adult child. The appropriate legal documents need to be in place for these kinds of communications, just like the parents themselves need to have these documents for the same reasons.

If the newly minted high school graduate doesn’t have many assets, then perhaps a will is not yet necessary. But if they do have any significant assets because of an inheritance or gift or successful entrepreneurial venture or whatever, then yes, they should get a will, just like mom and dad should.

At the very least they should get these three documents created before heading off to college, embarking on that epic gap year trip, or even just heading straight to the labor force.

1) Power of Attorney – A power of attorney authorizes someone to act as your agent in making financial decisions for you. So a parent, or whoever else designated as the agent, could help out with directly paying bills, opening and closing various financial accounts, applying for government benefits, etc.

2) Medical Power of Attorney – A medical power of attorney authorizes someone to act as you agent in making medical decisions for you in the event you were to become ill and could not communicate with your doctor. This includes being able to see the person’s medical records in order to make better medical decisions them.

3) HIPAA Authorization – A HIPAA authorization gives entities like doctors’ offices and health insurance companies permission to share your health care information with someone that you choose. Allowing mom and dad to be able to legally communicate with their adult child’s doctors and health insurance companies can be extremely helpful, even when there isn’t an actual medical emergency going on.

High school graduates need estate planning too.