Medical power of attorney and need for auto insurance before DC begins college?

[Anonymous]

First time going through this process. Veteran parents - did you have a medial power of attorney done before you dc went to college? Any other legal matters that should be taken care of before my dc goes to college in the fall? Also, DC will not have a car at school-should I take DC off auto insurance during school months (need to save $ wherever we can).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First time going through this process. Veteran parents - did you have a medial power of attorney done before you dc went to college? Any other legal matters that should be taken care of before my dc goes to college in the fall? Also, DC will not have a car at school-should I take DC off auto insurance during school months (need to save $ wherever we can).

We never did anything about power of attorney before our DD went to college a few years ago. What would be the purpose of this...? Maybe if you explain your thinking on that one I will understand more, but it seems like overkill to me.

Just make sure their medical insurance is in order and your child has the card and understanding of what to do if he/she needs to use insurance. Make sure the health center at school takes your insurance or determine what the process is for this. You might be able to purchase a health plan through the school, but it might not be necessary and may be more expensive. Just review your policy and see what is best. The other important item is your child's bank account. Determine what is the best approach for convenience and less expensive in terms of related fees. We chose to use an online banking account for our DD as it was easier and more cost efficient (no ATM fees and easy for her to transfer money, etc. It's just what worked for us - every family will decide what is best.). Obviously, with the bank account will come the discussion of the budget and expectations of handling expenses (are you giving an allowance? How much each month? What are you expecting them to pay for? Etc). Our DD has a credit card through us, but she has to pay the bill. She uses it semi-regularly, but she knows she has to pay for it out of her allowance. If she goes over then the money comes from her savings. If you haven't already been teaching your child about budgeting now is the time they need to learn...

As for the car insurance we essentially removed her from the policy when she was at school. She was on the policy, but was termed inactive (or something like that - can't remember exactly). We confirmed that she was covered when she was home for vacations, etc. (I think she was covered is she drove for less than a month). We saved $1300 by doing that! She was put back on the plan for the summer months she was home. Talk with your insurance company about the best plan of action. It's definitely worth removing them from the plan for the time they are at school and not driving. Just make sure they will be covered when they are home for holidays and weekends.

[Anonymous]

How far away are they going?

If they are going 50 miles or so they may be home/driving more than you think and/or if you needed to be there every day you could.

Don't hide things from your insurance company.

[Anonymous]

My understanding from our family attorney is that the medical power of attorney should be done when your DC turns 18 years old. At that point parents no longer can speak for them. In a worse case situation, if your DC is unable to express what he/she wants in terms of medical treatment, theoretically your hands and hospital's could be tied without going to the courts. In practice, i would guess there's some flexibility but why take that chance. It's a fairly easy process to get one done.

[Anonymous]

"No car at college" say this to your auto insurance carrier. And they may ask, "how many miles away is the college from home?". I believe that is all we they asked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My understanding from our family attorney is that the medical power of attorney should be done when your DC turns 18 years old. At that point parents no longer can speak for them. In a worse case situation, if your DC is unable to express what he/she wants in terms of medical treatment, theoretically your hands and hospital's could be tied without going to the courts. In practice, i would guess there's some flexibility but why take that chance. It's a fairly easy process to get one done.

Thank you! This also answers the pps question as to why this medical poa is needed.

Thanks also for the answers re auto insurance. DC wil not be driving while in college, and will travel home by train/bus.

[Anonymous]

Interesting by about the medical POA. My brother was not a minor, and was in a really bad accident. My parents didn't have any trouble making medical decisions for him. Is that because he wasn't conscious?

[Anonymous]

I think that the situation was probably such that the health professionals could opt to use commonsense at the time. When things get really bad especially when family wishes are not in line, that's where it gets tough on everyone. The main benefit of POAs is for the toughest times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My understanding from our family attorney is that the medical power of attorney should be done when your DC turns 18 years old. At that point parents no longer can speak for them. In a worse case situation, if your DC is unable to express what he/she wants in terms of medical treatment, theoretically your hands and hospital's could be tied without going to the courts. In practice, i would guess there's some flexibility but why take that chance. It's a fairly easy process to get one done.

Car or no car, get a General Durable Power of Atty in place. Without one, you cannot make ins claims (of any kind) for your DC if s/he is in a hospital or otherwise unavailable, and you cannot act as your DC's "general business agent" without one once your DC is 18. Yes, this is necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding from our family attorney is that the medical power of attorney should be done when your DC turns 18 years old. At that point parents no longer can speak for them. In a worse case situation, if your DC is unable to express what he/she wants in terms of medical treatment, theoretically your hands and hospital's could be tied without going to the courts. In practice, i would guess there's some flexibility but why take that chance. It's a fairly easy process to get one done.

Car or no car, get a General Durable Power of Atty in place. Without one, you cannot make ins claims (of any kind) for your DC if s/he is in a hospital or otherwise unavailable, and you cannot act as your DC's "general business agent" without one once your DC is 18. Yes, this is necessary.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Yes, highly recommend durable POA. OP, take a look at this site's homepage at www.dcurbanmom.com, first blog post, for some info.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First time going through this process. Veteran parents - did you have a medial power of attorney done before you dc went to college? Any other legal matters that should be taken care of before my dc goes to college in the fall? Also, DC will not have a car at school-should I take DC off auto insurance during school months (need to save $ wherever we can).

ABSOLUTELY get a medical power of attorney!! We did this at school via a form we signed. We did not use an attorney. You can also download a form from one of those free law sites. I have it in my files, and DC has a copy at school.

FACT: A friend's child got into a terrible car accident freshman year, was in a coma. Dad was attorney so they had medical power of attorney. If they hadn't had that document, the parents would have had no say in their child's treatment.

GET IT!! I'm doing it for all of our children before freshman year. God-willing you will never need it. I learned about this on DCUM from another parent who didn't have one and their child was knocked out playing a sport at college and was in a coma. They had to go to court to get control over their child's medical treatment. Without the document, the doctors would have had complete control over their child's treatment.

[Anonymous]

A power of attorney seems like overkill to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A power of attorney seems like overkill to me.

PP, try saying that when you show up at a friend's kid's hospital after a car accident, and watch the charge nurse say that she can't release any information without further documentation. I was there.

G\OP, get the power of attorney, period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First time going through this process. Veteran parents - did you have a medial power of attorney done before you dc went to college? Any other legal matters that should be taken care of before my dc goes to college in the fall? Also, DC will not have a car at school-should I take DC off auto insurance during school months (need to save $ wherever we can).

ABSOLUTELY get a medical power of attorney!! We did this at school via a form we signed. We did not use an attorney. You can also download a form from one of those free law sites. I have it in my files, and DC has a copy at school.

FACT: A friend's child got into a terrible car accident freshman year, was in a coma. Dad was attorney so they had medical power of attorney. If they hadn't had that document, the parents would have had no say in their child's treatment.

GET IT!! I'm doing it for all of our children before freshman year. God-willing you will never need it. I learned about this on DCUM from another parent who didn't have one and their child was knocked out playing a sport at college and was in a coma. They had to go to court to get control over their child's medical treatment. Without the document, the doctors would have had complete control over their child's treatment.

There's no harm in getting a durable power of attorney, but let's not scare people and overstate things.

My sister was in a medically induced coma in a local hospital, and we were able to get info from doctors and nurses and make decisions (no more of X meds, let's try to wake her up, let's hold off on the tracheotomy, etc.). Her husband was MIA, and I was essentially acting as the decisionmaker.