You completed your young adult POA. Now what?

You’re organized. You’re packed. You’ve gotten your college student stocked and supplied and ready to go away for school. You completed your young adult POA through Mama Bear Legal Forms AND you got it notarized.

Phew. You can breathe a sigh of relief knowing you’ve done all you can to be prepared for any emergency or situation that may arise where your child will need your help making important financial or medical decisions.

Now what?

Download the Mama Bear app and store your POA documents in it

While you’re anxious to dot every “i” and cross every “t,” trying to send a POA form to your child’s school before it’s needed can give you a false sense of confidence. The absolute best thing you can do with your young adult POA documents is to store them in the Mama Bear app.

See how to use the free Mama Bear app.

Let’s unpack some of the most common questions we receive from parents about young adult POA forms.

When do colleges need my child’s POA forms?

There are three times a college needs your student’s POA forms:

1. An emergency occurs
2. An important financial or medical decision needs to be made
3. The college requests it

Increasingly, well-meaning organized parents are calling their child’s university and or health center and asking where to send their child’s POA forms. Universities often don’t have any way to receive or file them.

A university may not have a procedure to receive, store and process powers of attorney or a FERPA authorization form in the absence of a specific emergency or request for a student’s private information. University health centers only need your POA forms when an issue arises that warrants it – such as a medical emergency.

What if my child’s school asks me to fill out their FERPA form? Isn’t my Mama Bear form enough?

Mama Bear Legal Forms includes a free FERPA form with every package. Many colleges and universities have their own FERPA consent forms. Or, they allow you to complete one through your student’s online portal. Schools often prefer the familiarity of their forms over someone else’s.

It is wise to ask your child’s school for information related to their privacy policies. If your child’s school asks you to fill out their FERPA form, it’s best to do so. Signing the school’s FERPA ensures you have access to important information about your child.

How many times do I need to share my child’s POA documents?

The best answer is, whenever it’s needed. Similar to the HIPAA consent forms you fill out at your doctor’s office, these forms must be provided every time the situation warrants it. If an emergency arises this year, you will need to share your POA documents. If another emergency arises at the same university health center next year, you will need to share them again. Health care providers will ask for a new copy each time to make sure that nothing has changed.

POA and HIPAA documents are designed to provide help when an actual emergency occurs. They are designed to deal with a certain set of circumstances (i.e., an emergency, a request, or a decision). For instance, if you call to request your child’s transcripts for the fall semester, you will need to present a FERPA form to receive them. If you want spring semester transcripts, you will have to present a FERPA again.

The bottom line

Use the Mama Bear app to provide a copy of your POA form whenever they are requested. The time to share your young adult POA is always when it’s needed because a situation or circumstance arises and you need to access your adult child’s personal, protected information.

Mama Bear Legal Forms is here to help. You’ve already done the most important step – you’ve completed your POA forms. Now, download the Mama Bear app and upload your forms to it.

The app is free and is available in the Apple Store and on Google Play. You can use it to quickly and easily scan, store and share your POA forms and other forms you’ve completed through Mama Bear Legal Forms.

Learn more about the app now.