“Moving the tassel from the right side of the cap to the left signifies a rite of passage, marking the transition from one phase of life to another,” the Honor Society Magazine explains. “The gesture also represents the graduates’ readiness to take on new challenges and pursue their future goals.
From a legal standpoint, as state law dictates, it’s about more than that. Once a student turns 18, as a FindLaw article explains, a no-longer-minor has the power to undergo – or forego – medical treatments, play the lottery, sign contracts, and sue others.
At Geyer Law, we remind parents that an important aspect of this new status is that they are now no longer going to be able to readily access their children’s medical, financial, or educational information. Even if, due to an accident or illness, their now “adult” child were to become incapable of making decisions on his or her own, as parents they will be barred from accessing medical information and making decisions – unless they’ve been given prior legal authority from the child.
At our Indiana estate planning law firm, we remind parents that there’s a set of documents that need to be prepared and signed by their child before they “depart the nest“:
- Advance Directive for Health Care Decisions. This document appoints an agent who can make medical decisions on the child’s behalf if the child is unable to do so personally, and gives directions for the care he or she wants to receive in different situations.
- HIPAA Authorization (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). This privacy law prevents health care providers from disclosing your child’s current medical condition or medical records to unauthorized persons.
- FERPA Authorization. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act requires that students over age 18 give written consent before any educational records can be released to another person (transcripts, disciplinary actions, scholarship and tuition information. – and health records.
- Durable Power of Attorney.This document allows the child to appoint someone to handle financial transactions on his or her behalf if the child becomes unable to act on his or her own
Of course, the changes in family dynamics when a child heads off to college go beyond just legal ones, as the JED Foundation website points out. “Whatever your family makeup or living arrangement looked like in high school, going to college often leads to changes in your family relationships. “Part of growing up is moving toward greater independence.”
Having dealt with many families over the years, at Geyer Law, we know graduation is about far more than the tassel!
– by Nicole Eckert, Attorney with Rebecca W. Geyer & Associates
