As unpleasant as the subject may be for many, when a child reaches adulthood, parents should discuss powers of attorney in the event of illness or death.
The essentials in summary:
- When a child reaches the age of majority, his or her full legal representation ends.
- In order to have a representative capable of acting in emergency situations, your child must provide the necessary powers of attorney in a timely manner.
- It makes sense to have a power of attorney: This allows you to free yourself from the doctor’s obligation of confidentiality and to receive correspondence.
- With a living will, your adult child can specify how they would like to be treated in the event of certain illnesses and whether they would like to donate organs and life-sustaining measures.
When should my child sign a power of attorney?
It is also advisable to prepare important powers of attorney early in adulthood. Because everyone needs a representative who can act in emergencies. This applies, for example, to
- Release of physician confidentiality or
- receive mail and other everyday things.
You can find more information on the topic of power of attorney and care directives and why they are so important here.
Provisions for data in the digital space should also be made. Your child should therefore take timely precautions and take care of himself digital heritage be careful. We have more information on the topic of digital precautions and how you can take precautions with a power of attorney in one place. separate post summed up.
Does my child need a living will and an organ donor card?
As parents, you can decide on treatment options for your children up to the age of 18. After that, young adults should also have a Living will Worry about.
For example, a living will contains instructions about:
- Treatments are deposited for certain cases of disease,
- at worst, shutting down life-sustaining measures
- and organ donation.
If there is no living will, doctors try to obtain proof, patient’s presumed wishes to experiment. If this cannot be determined, for example because the matter has not been discussed in the family, then the problem is Decision made by the doctor. However, if there is a living will and an organ donor card, this helps everyone involved.