Estate Planning

What Legal Documents Do College Students Need?

Sending your child off to college is incredibly nerve-wracking and requires planning. Most families focus on housing, tuition, and logistics. Few consider what happens legally once their child turns 18.

At age 18, your child becomes a legal adult. You no longer have the authority to make decisions or access information on their behalf, even if they remain financially dependent on you. Without the right legal documents in place, parents can quickly find themselves shut out of critical situations. For example, once your child turns 18, you lose the ability to:

• Make medical decisions
• Speak with doctors or access medical records
• Handle financial matters
• Access academic or school information

This change is immediate and applies in all situations, including emergencies.

At SLG Family Law, we’ve spent years helping Illinois families throughout Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Palatine, Hoffman Estates, Barrington, Rolling Meadows, and the surrounding Chicago suburbs prepare the legal documents needed before a child leaves for college. If your child is turning 18, now is the time to put the proper authorizations in place. We work with young adults and their parents to set up the proper legal documents to ensure their parents can stay involved when it matters most. Let’s take a closer look at why this planning is so important.

Can I Make Medical Decisions for My Child While They’re in College?

No. Once your child turns 18, the law recognizes them as an independent adult with the right to make their own medical choices. Unless they sign legal documents granting you this right, it is exclusively theirs, and healthcare providers must follow their directions.

Without legal authority, doctors cannot take instructions from you. This restriction is absolute, even if your child is incapacitated or unconscious. In an emergency, hospital staff may require you to wait in a hallway while physicians make important choices about your child’s care. This lack of access becomes particularly dangerous in situations like these:

• Your child is in a car accident and requires emergency surgery.
• A severe illness sends them to the hospital, and they cannot communicate their wishes.
• They experience a mental health crisis that requires immediate intervention.
• Doctors need to prescribe medication with significant risks or side effects.

Having the proper legal authorizations in place allows you to step in immediately when your child cannot speak for themselves, making certain their needs are met without delay.

Can I See My Child’s Medical Records After They Turn 18?

No. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law that strictly protects medical records once a patient becomes an adult. This law prevents healthcare providers from sharing a patient’s health information with anyone, including parents, without explicit written consent.

Without a signed authorization from your child, healthcare providers can legally deny you access to basic medical updates. Hospitals often block parents from seeing:

• Test results after an emergency room visit.
• Information about new prescriptions or potential drug side effects.
• Follow-up care instructions after a major injury.
• Diagnosis details for physical or mental health conditions.

This lack of access can create hazardous communication gaps. A student might struggle with a serious condition but fail to communicate the details to you. You may only learn the full severity of a situation after it escalates, simply because privacy laws prevent doctors from keeping you informed.

Can I See My Child’s College Grades?

No. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that gives students control over their own academic records once they turn 18. Without your child’s written permission, their college or university cannot share their educational files with you.

This means schools will block you from viewing:

• Semester grades and overall GPA updates.
• Academic probation or dismissal notices.
• Attendance issues or sudden course withdrawals.
• Advisor concerns about student performance.

This restriction becomes stressful when you are paying for tuition but remain unaware of academic struggles. A student might fail a semester and lose scholarships before telling anyone at home. With the right legal authorization, you can stay informed and offer support before academic issues become permanent.

Can I Handle My Child’s Finances in College?

No. When your child becomes a legal adult, they gain sole control over their financial accounts. Without signed legal forms, banks and other financial institutions will not grant you access or authority, even if you are the person funding the account.

This lack of financial authority can cause serious problems during common college emergencies. For example, your child may experience one of the following issues:

• A frozen bank account because of suspected identity theft.
• Unexpected overdrafts or missed rent payments.
• Signs of credit card misuse or billing disputes.
• An emergency that requires immediate funds for travel.

You will likely notice these issues, but you cannot fix them. Only your child can resolve them, and if they do not know what they are doing, it can cause significant delays. A delay of even a few days could result in eviction notices or credit damage that follows your child for years.

Should You Help Your College-Age Child Create an Estate Plan?

Helping your child create an estate plan before they go away to college is a smart decision. When your child turns 18, it may change what you are legally allowed to do, but it does not change how much your child needs you. With the right planning in place, you remain the person they can rely on during a crisis.

Reach out to our attorneys at SLG Family Law to discuss your family’s needs. We offer a special College Protection Package for college students, so they have the proper paperwork ready before heading to school. We will sit down with you and your student to design a custom plan for the future.