--- title: "Adult Children: College Planning" description: With great pride and trepidation, parents are sending their 'children' off to college in the coming months. Our kids will always be our children, but at that magical age of 18, the law does not look at our kids as our children, but rather as adults who are legally independent. --- [Dan's Desk](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/author/dan-gallatin) - [lawyer](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/lawyer) - [hugo](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/hugo) - [MN](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/mn) - [law](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/law) - [attorney](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/attorney) - [legal](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/legal) [Subscribe](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/adult-children-college-planning#) 06/22/2016 # Adult Children: College Planning - - - - - [mailto:?subject=Adult%20Children%3A%20College%20Planning&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gallatin-law.com%2Fblog%2Fadult-children-college-planning](mailto:?subject=Adult%20Children%3A%20College%20Planning&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gallatin-law.com%2Fblog%2Fadult-children-college-planning) ![college just ahead](http://96bda424cfcc34d9dd1a-0a7f10f87519dba22d2dbc6233a731e5.r41.cf2.rackcdn.com/gallatinlaw/college_just_ahead.jpg)With great pride and trepidation, parents are sending their "children" off to college in the coming months. Our kids will always be our children, but at that magical age of 18, the law does not look at our kids as our children, but rather as adults who are legally independent. With children departing for college I urge parents to get 2 pieces of documentation in place with their children. The **first** is a [Power of Attorney](http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/power+of+attorney) naming one or both of the parents as holding the power of attorney for the child. This document permits the named attorney to be able to handle finances on behalf of the child, regardless of whether the parent's name is on an account. The **second** document to get in place is a [Health Care Directive](http://www.patientsrightscouncil.org/site/advance-directives-definitions/). This document names either or both parents as the Health Care Agent for the child. In the event the child is unable to communicate the child's health care wishes on their own, the Health Care Agent is authorized to communicate on behalf of the child. Now is the time to get these documents in place. Kids are returning home after finals or are checking items off the dorm room checklist in anticipation of their first trip off to college. The summer will be over before you know it. I am here to help you get ready and am happy to meet day or night and even on a Saturday. The material contained herein is provided for informational purposes only and is not legal advice, nor is it a substitute for obtaining legal advice from an attorney. Each situation is unique, and you should not act or rely on any information contained herein without seeking the advice of an experienced attorney. All information contained in links are the property of the linked site. - [college](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/college), - [attorney](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/attorney), - [HCD](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/hcd), - [health care directive](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/health-care-directive), - [hugo](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/hugo), - [law](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/law), - [lawyer](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/lawyer), - [legal](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/legal), - [minnesota](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/minnesota), - [MN](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/mn), - [power of attorney](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/power-of-attorney), - [planning](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/planning), - [PoA](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/poa) ![Dan Gallatin](https://www.gallatin-law.com/hubfs/assets-mjfw/site%20images/Dans-Desk.jpg) ## [Dan Gallatin](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/author/dan-gallatin) Dan is a lifelong resident of Minnesota. Born in St. Paul, Dan spent many of his formative years growing up there before moving to White Bear Lake. After graduating from White Bear Lake, Dan spent four glorious years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning a degree in two majors. Dan worked as a Senior Investigator at the Minnesota Department of Commerce for several years after graduating from college. During his final years Dan attended William Mitchell College of Law while still working full-time. During this exhausting 3 ½ year period Dan honed his skills in becoming an efficient, to-the-point legal practitioner. While at Madison Dan met his wife, Tonya, and together they moved to Minnesota to plant their roots. Dan and Tonya have two amazing, unique children and reside in Hugo. ### CONNECT WITH ME - ## Related Posts [10/19/2016 College planning In early summer we posted some advice for parents sending their children off to school. We are reposting it as the fall semester is upon us and in… Read Post ](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/college-planning) [08/18/2017 No Longer A Child: When Your Child Becomes an Adult My personal example is representative of steps parents should take when their children turn eighteen. Despite the person still being your child, and… Read Post ](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/no-longer-a-child-when-your-child-becomes-an-adult) ### Subscribe Here! ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Dan Gallatin", "url" : "https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/author/dan-gallatin" }, "dateModified" : "2020-08-21T22:51:27.371Z", "datePublished" : "2016-06-22T05:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Adult Children: College Planning", "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/adult-children-college-planning", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.gallatin-law.com/hubfs/logos/Gallatin-Logo-654x84.png" }, "name" : "Gallatin Law, PLLC" } } ```