Thanksgiving Break: The Perfect Time to Set Up Your College Student’s Power of Attorney

When college students come home for Thanksgiving, the house comes back to life: full of familiar voices, new stories, overflowing laundry baskets, and reminders that time moves fast. Between leftovers, movie nights, and catching up, this short visit also offers a quiet opportunity to take care of something that may have been overlooked during the back-to-school rush.

If your student headed off to school without a health care power of attorney, HIPAA release, financial power of attorney, or FERPA release, Thanksgiving break is an ideal moment to take care of those documents.

Why Thanksgiving Works So Well

August is chaos: move-in days, Target runs, forgotten chargers, and last-minute everything. Even the most organized families often push the “paperwork stuff” off until later.

Thanksgiving is different:

Your student is home and relaxed. There’s no frantic packing or last-minute errands. Just a familiar bed, good food, and a slower pace.

You know their new routine now. After a few months away, you have a clearer sense of their life, what they’re juggling, where they spend their time, and the challenges or and what risks that come with their new independence.

Families naturally talk logistics during this break. Holiday plans, winter travel, spring classes, it all comes up. Adding a short conversation about emergency documents fits right into the mix.

Winter flu season is starting. If something unexpected happened or your student were hospitalized and you didn’t have a health-care POA or HIPAA release, getting vital information from the hospital could be difficult .

The Reality Most Parents Don’t Know

Once your child turns 18, you lose automatic access to things you’ve managed their whole life. Without the right documents:

• Hospitals don’t have to speak with you.
• Doctors cannot share medical updates.
• You can’t make or help with health-care decisions.
• Banks won’t let you manage accounts during emergencies.
• Schools can't discuss grades, conduct issues, or academic concerns.

A small set of legal forms prevents all of this and ensures you can help when it matters most.

The “Thanksgiving Break Plan” (Simple, Quick and Easy)

If you’d like to take care of this while your student is home, here’s an easy approach:
1. Keep the explanation simple. Something like: “These forms just make sure we can help you if there’s ever an emergency, nothing more”
2. Complete the documents together. With Mama Bear, it only take a few minutes.
3. Store copies where you can easily access them. The Mama Bear App provides the perfect place to store a copy so you can access everything immediately if needed.

Peace of Mind Before They Head Back...Don't let this crucial, 10-minute opportunity slip away. Before they leave for the airport or hit the road, ensure you have the legal right to help in an emergency.

Click here to get your Young Adult Power of Attorney package: mamabearlegalforms.com/youngadult