When your child reaches their eighteenth birthday, they see it as crossing a threshold into adulthood. The law sees it that same way. When your son or daughter turns 18, they are suddenly legally in charge of their lives which means they can legally make their own financial and medical decisions. That makes their eighteenth birthday the ideal time to discuss their upcoming legal status change.
When they reach that milestone age, they need to have some important legal documents in place. Among other things, those include a will and an advanced health care directive. An advanced health care directive is a legal document that specifies what healthcare actions should be taken in the event they are no longer capable of making decisions for themselves. This is particularly important if your child is attending college or will be traveling while taking a gap year before attending college.
An Advanced Health Care Directive can contain details of your son or daughter’s choices for medical care, surgery, life support treatment, resuscitative efforts, and blood transfusions among other things. These things take on a new importance when they’re suddenly or chronically ill or injured. In Georgia, this document lets your child appoint someone, usually their parent, to make health care decisions when they are incapable of doing so. This person, called a health care agent takes on a serious responsibility.
Estate planning might not be uppermost in the mind of a new 18-year-old. An attorney can help you and your child understand the plethora of legal decisions that need to be made. They can also help you reach the best decisions for your child’s specific circumstances together. At Grissom Law, LLC, our experienced attorneys can help you and your child understand the necessity and importance of these documents. Call us today to schedule a consultation that gives you and your child the peace of mind you both deserve.
Disclaimer
This Blog/Web Site is made available for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide legal advice. By using this blog site you understand that there is no attorney client relationship between you and Grissom Law, LLC.