As kids everywhere go back to school this fall, there is one group of kids who is most excited, and one group of parents who is most terrified. Those are the kids who are going to college for the first time, and their parents – especially if the student is traveling far from home. As we know, as scary as it can be, most kids do great in college – they make new friends, have new experiences (hopefully just good ones) and they learn about both their course of study and themselves. With a little bit of planning in advance, parents can make sure that they are able to sleep soundly with their children far from home.

One thing we tell all of our estate planning clients is that every adult should have a power of attorney in place, both for their financial affairs and for their medical care. The thing you can do that will make things easier if the worst does happen, is encourage your student to have a healthcare power of attorney and a durable financial power of attorney prepared. This way, if there is a medical emergency, the student has someone who can communicate with medical staff and ensure the correct course of treatment, and someone who will make sure their rent gets paid and their car doesn’t get repossessed while they are out of commission. These are items that we would encourage you to have if you came to see us, and we think your student needs them as well, especially because without that, it might take time for you to even find out about an injury or illness.

You have spent almost 20 years helping your student develop into the person he or she is now. While you can’t guarantee that nothing bad will happen, you can prepare to make the best of it. If you or your student have questions about what you can do to ensure that your affairs are in order if you become incapacitated, give us a call and come chat with us.

Ben Worsowicz is an Associate at Lardiere McNair, LLC. To read more about our firm, please visit www.lmcounsel.com.

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