Your College-Age Child Needs A Durable Power Of Attorney - Believe It Or Not!

By now, we've all heard the news - again. At a college, this time, rather than a mall or a movie theater or a high school. But mass-shootings at colleges, unfortunately, are not new.

In February, 2008, five students died and 16 were wounded in a shooting at Northern Illinois University. In August, 1966, 18 people were killed and 30 wounded at the University of Texas. In April, 2007, at Virginia Tech, 33 dead (including the shooter) and 15 injured. July, 1976, seven dead and two wounded at Cal State University. November, 1991, at the University of Iowa, five dead, one wounded.

On Tuesday frantic parents who were unable to reach their children besieged the school with phone calls. And they were all told pretty much the same thing: "Sorry, we can't tell you anything." "Sorry, we can't confirm..."

In these situations, parents are often unable to get information from the schools. Not because the schools don't want to give it - but because they're not allowed to give it.

If your child is 18, he or she is protected by the same privacy laws that protect you. If - God Forbid - your child is injured, and you need information on his/her condition, you won't be able to get it without a Durable Power of Attorney on file. And if you have to make decisions about medical care for your child...you won't be able to do it without a Durable Power of Attorney on file.

You'd have to go to court to get guardianship documents, which could take weeks or even months...which your child may not have.

We're parents, too. And we know this is a difficult thing to discuss. But it's a big, scary world out there. And we all - including our college-age children - have to live in it.

But we can help ease your worries...and answer your questions.

At The Law Offices of Alice Reiter Feld & Associates, we've been answering questions like these for 33 years, and we've helped many South Florida families protect their children with DPA's.

We're Elder Law attorneys, and we help families with comprehensive estate planning, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, long-term care planning, and asset-protection plans. But we can help with your over-18 children, too.

We're just a phone call away.

 

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Save the Date!

"To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan," Abraham Lincoln, 2nd inaugural address

 

You are cordially invited

to a rare opportunity to an update on how we can assist our senior veterans and their surviving spouses with the honor and dignity they deserve.

 

 

Long time VA attorney and nationally known expert on Veteran's benefits, 

Ronald Abrams, Esq. *

has accepted our invitation to come from Washington

to speak to our community about Veteran's Pension Benefits including current Aid and Attendance issues.

 

Date:       March 21st

Where:   South County Civic Center, Delray Beach

When:     10:00 am

 

Seating is limited

 

More information to follow. 

To reserve your place please call Tracy at [954]-861-2681

 

For information about Ron Abrams and NVLSP click here.

 

Two Crucial Documents That College Students Need

Is your “baby” going away to college? Or, has he/she recently gone away to college? If so, you’ve no doubt spent a lot of time poring over lists lately, to determine what’s a “want” and what’s a “need.” And you’ve probably – singlehandedly - made the post-it companies rich.

You’ve been planning – and if you’re like I was, dreading – this day for a couple of years. And you’ve most likely been saving for it for a lot longer than that.

So, chances are, you’re prepared. But, in this crazy world in which we live, there are some things for which you just can’t prepare…such as accidents or other tragedies.

That’s why you need to have your children sign two critical documents.

If your child is already 18, you already know that, legally, he/she is an adult. And because of federal privacy laws, the college he/she is attending generally can’t divulge medical information to you.

That’s why any child going away to school should sign a Health Care Proxy and HIPAA authorization. This way, if tragedy or illness strikes, you’ll be able to get the information you need. It doesn’t matter if you gave birth to that child. You won’t be able to get any information on his health status unless there’s a signed HIPAA authorization.

What happens if there’s an accident, and your child ends up in a coma? Who’s going to be the child’s voice? If there’s no Health Care Proxy, you may have to go to court to get a guardianship designation so you can make decisions for your child. Tragedy, though, has its own timetable. And going to court could cost you preciously if it takes too much time.

Remember Terry Schiavo?

If you’ve got questions about this, we can answer them.

At The Law Offices of Alice Reiter Feld & Associates, we get asked questions like this all the time. In fact, we’ve been answering questions like these from South Florida families for the past 33 years. And we’ve been helping them secure their own futures as well as their children’s…with comprehensive estate planning, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, long-term care planning, asset-protection plans, and assistance with Medicaid and the VA.

We can answer your questions. And we’re only a phone call away.