Power Of Attorney for College Students

College students are mostly legal adults, which is going to mean parents might not have input when a medical crisis happens. A medical power of attorney (POA) can help them keep informed and make split decisions in emergencies.

A parent’s job is one that never clocks out; however, things get more complex when their kids head off to college. Many of those heading to college are eighteen-year-olds and legally adults, which, in turn, means parents no longer have the right to make decisions for them. That can be an issue in medical emergencies.

Prior To You Sending Them Off to College, Be Sure They Sign A POA Form

That is the primary reason why parents are more and more thinking about having their college bound students sign medical POA forms. With luck, neither of you are going to ever need it, but it can still offer inner peace.

What Is POA?

A general POA names a competent adult to make important decisions for another adult if medical practitioners believe they cannot continue to make those decisions on their own.

A medical POA produces that right particularly for health care decisions. It gives the designated person (agent) more authority than a living will does, since a living will only apply when the time comes to making end-of-life decisions.

Hospital legal divisions are mindful of their legal responsibilities. They might not allow you to make decisions for an incapacitated young adult, even when you prove you’re their parent. If your child isn’t married, doctors that don’t know your family might end up making important decisions for you.

It can always get worse. If a young adult is incapacitated in the long run without a POA, some attorneys say parents are going to have to go to court to petition for guardianship—the legal right for making the child’s medical decisions. That might take weeks.

Is A Durable POA A Better Choice?

Accidents can happen to anybody, anytime, but a durable POA is even more vital if your child has a chronic condition like anxiety or diabetes. That’s particularly true since college students do not always take care of their well-being.

It can also give the opportunity of putting any constraints on care required by your family’s spiritual or cultural practices.

However, there are things you can’t do through a POA that you can through an advance health care directive or living will, which a lot of states bundle together with medical POA forms.

When Your College Student Is Out of State

You may be thinking about in what state to have POA for an out-of-state college kid. Durable POA documents are only applicable in the state in which it was devised, therefore, if your concerns are about what might happen at school, you must, at the very least secure POA for the other state.

However, most attorneys suggest devising one for both states since it’s not uncommon for hospitals to discharge badly injured individuals into rehabilitative or long-term attention. Parents want to be near that facility, meaning they’ll require decision-making authority at home.

Setting Up College POA

In a lot of states, creating a medical POA for college students is as straightforward as filling out a form that requests names, contact details, signatures, and what powers the student is assigning. You don’t necessarily have to use this form, but it’s wise since it’s the standard, meaning hospital legal divisions are likely to accept it. Many states necessitate the signature of a witness or a notary public.

The approach might be a little different if your student is still a minor when you create a medical POA. In that case, the parents have decision-making authorization until their child is no longer a minor but may want to entrust it to a nearby relative or reliable friend.

For use of your POA, take it along with you to the hospital where it’s required; a medical practitioner or hospital legal division is going to usually examine it. It’s an even better idea to file it with your child’s medical provider, which is usually the university—in advance so that it’s easy to locate you in an emergency.

Explaining POA To Young Adults

Young adults that are anxious for their freedom may push away against a request to sign a college POA, thinking they don’t really require it or you’re attempting to control them.

However, since a medical POA only goes into effect after medical practitioners certify that the student is unable to make decisions on their own, it gives parents no control until there’s an emergency. Normally, students keep their independence and privacy. Additionally, you can add beginning and ending dates to reassure your child that this is a limited POA for college.

Source: 

1. 1. 1. “Before You Send Your Kids to College, Make Sure They Sign a Power of Attorney Form” Retrieved on December 11, 2025 from https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/before-you-send-your-kids-to-college-make-sure-they-sign-a-power-of-attorney-form

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