Key Takeaways:
- A power of attorney is not legally required for college, but it can make it easier for parents to help an adult student during an emergency.
- A durable financial power of attorney can authorize a parent or another trusted person to handle specified financial and legal matters.
- A properly drafted medical power of attorney can name someone to make health care decisions and address access to medical information.
- FERPA rights transfer to the student at age 18 or upon attending college, so completing the school’s records-release process can provide additional access.
Your college-bound daughter has a dorm assignment, a class schedule, and a roommate she has never met. What she probably does not have is a power of attorney. Without advance planning, a parent may discover that a hospital in Bowling Green or Lexington cannot automatically treat the parent as the person authorized to receive information or make decisions.
Under Kentucky law, your daughter became a legal adult on her 18th birthday. From that day, you have no more authority over her accounts, legal affairs, or records than a stranger does. The bank is not being difficult. It is following the law. If she cannot speak for herself and has signed no advanced planning documents, your only route to decision-making authority is a guardianship petition in district court, which takes weeks and a hearing. The alternative takes about an hour: she signs a medical power of attorney and a durable general power of attorney authorizing you to make decisions for her if she cannot make them for herself. Our Central Kentucky estate planning attorneys prepare these three documents for Elizabethtown and Radcliff families every summer before move-in day.
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What Changes the Day Your Child Turns 18
Nothing about your relationship changes. Quite a lot about your legal standing does. Three separate bodies of law shift at once, and each one closes a different door.
- Medical information. Federal privacy rules generally limit a hospital or campus clinic’s ability to disclose your adult child’s protected health information to you without authorization, although exceptions may apply.
- School records. Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a student who turns 18 or enrolls at a postsecondary institution becomes an eligible student, and the rights that belonged to you transfer to them.
- Money and contracts. A bank, a landlord, an insurer, or a financial aid office is dealing with your student now, not with you. Your paying of the bill does not create authority to manage your child's account or give you access to information.
None of this is a problem as long as your student is healthy and reachable. It becomes a problem the moment they are not.
Which Documents Does a Kentucky College Student Need?
Families with college-bound children often consider three documents or authorizations, each serving a different purpose. The legal documents can often be completed together, while the school may have its own process for a FERPA release. None of these authorizations gives a parent automatic day-to-day control over the student’s life.
A Medical Power of Attorney
A properly drafted medical power of attorney can name someone to make health care decisions on the student’s behalf when the document and applicable law permit that person to act. Depending on how it is written, it can also address access to medical information and communication with providers, such as helping coordinate follow-up care after a concussion.
A Durable General Power of Attorney
A durable general power of attorney can authorize a parent or another trusted person to handle specified financial matters on the student’s behalf, according to the authority granted in the document. Filing a tax return during a semester abroad, dealing with an insurance claim after a car accident, or breaking a lease after a medical withdrawal all become manageable. Kentucky also recognizes a general power of attorney for financial and legal matters, and an attorney can advise which structure fits best.
A School Records Release
Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) releases are usually school-specific forms, not legal documents your attorney drafts. Have your student complete one during orientation. Without the student’s consent, a dean’s office generally cannot disclose protected education-record information to a parent unless a FERPA exception applies, such as the exception for a student who is claimed as a dependent for federal tax purposes.
Why Kentucky’s Default Rules Are Not a Substitute
Parents often assume the law will simply let them step in during an emergency. Kentucky does have a fallback, but it is narrower than most families expect.
Under KRS 311.631, when a physician has determined that an adult patient lacks decisional capacity and the patient has no advance directive — or the directive does not address the decision that must be made — the statute names a priority order of responsible parties who may make health care decisions:
- A judicially appointed guardian, if medical decisions fall within the scope of the guardianship
- An attorney-in-fact under a durable power of attorney that specifically includes health care authority
- The patient’s spouse
- An adult child, or a majority of the adult children, reasonably available for consultation
- The patient’s parents
- The nearest living relative, or failing that, a qualifying adult friend
Parents sit in fifth position. For a typical 19-year-old, the earlier categories are often empty, so a parent may well reach the top of the list. That is a fallback, not a plan.
Two limits matter. First, the statute applies only after a physician determines that the patient lacks decisional capacity, so it does not itself confer decision-making authority on a parent or automatic access to records when a student retains capacity. Second, KRS 311.631 addresses only health care decisions. It gives a parent no authority over a bank account, a lease, a tuition refund, or an insurance claim. There is no fallback statute addressing decisions over those assets, so a guardianship proceeding is often the only option.
Will the Documents Work Out of State?
Whether a Kentucky power of attorney will be recognized and accepted in another state depends on that state’s law and the type and wording of the document. Families should address an out-of-state college location when the document is drafted.
If your daughter goes to school out of state, the rules for whether a bank or hospital must honor her power of attorney are set by that state, and they vary. In Kentucky, a power of attorney signed before a notary carries a statutory advantage: under KRS 457.200, a business or institution that receives it must either accept it within seven business days or ask for a certification or attorney's opinion, and it can be held liable for an unreasonable refusal. That protection applies only if the document was signed and notarized correctly in the first place, which is one more reason to get it done before it is needed rather than during a hospital stay.
If your student is attending school in another state, mention it. An attorney can draft with that in mind.
When Should Your Student Sign These Documents?
These documents are easiest to complete while the student is still home and able to make informed decisions about whom to authorize. Kentucky has different execution rules for different documents, so an attorney can make sure each one is signed, witnessed, or acknowledged as required before the student leaves for school.
It also helps to treat this as part of a larger conversation rather than a one-off errand. Many families use the appointment with their child to review their own documents that make up a complete Kentucky estate plan. Understanding why a comprehensive power of attorney matters tends to make the case for the student’s version obvious, and the same reasoning applies to planning for the risk of sudden disability at any age.
