The College Legal Package
There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: one is roots, the other wings.Hodding Carter
When your child turns 18, the law makes them an adult — and you a stranger to their affairs. This fixes that, before move-in day.
At 18, the law stops talking to you.
The day your child turns eighteen, they become a legal adult — and the rules change overnight, usually right as they leave for school.
If your college student is hospitalized, federal privacy law (HIPAA) can keep doctors from telling you anything. The university will not discuss grades, tuition accounts, or a disciplinary matter with you, because federal education law (FERPA) protects the now-adult student. And if a financial or legal problem arises while they are away, no one — not even a parent — has authority to step in on their behalf.
None of this is a problem until it is. The College Legal Package puts the right documents in place ahead of time, so that in an emergency you can act, the hospital can talk to you, and the school can share what you need to know. The student grants the authority; the parents hold it. It is a small, inexpensive step that can matter enormously.
It is best handled before move-in day — alongside the dorm shopping, not after the first crisis.
A complete set, drafted and executed.
Every package is prepared by the firm for the individual student — the full set of documents, ready to sign:
Durable Mandate (Power of Attorney)
Authorizes a parent to handle financial and legal matters for the student. Executed as an authentic act and durable, so it survives incapacity. Defaults to immediately effective, with a conditional (springing) option available.
Healthcare Power of Attorney
Names a parent to make medical decisions for the student if illness or injury leaves them unable to decide for themselves.
Advance Directive (Living Will)
States the student’s own wishes regarding life-sustaining treatment, so the hardest decisions are theirs, not a guess.
HIPAA Authorization
Lets doctors and hospitals share the student’s medical information with the named parents — the document a hospital asks for first.
FERPA Authorization
Lets the university release education records — grades, account balances, and conduct matters — to the named parents.
Plain-Language Cover Memo
A guide that explains each document, who holds authority, and exactly how and when to use it.
Emergency Wallet Card
A card the student carries listing their agents and access — ready for the moment it is needed.
Four steps, well before August.
Quick Intake
A short form gathers the student’s and parents’ details, the chosen agents, and a few key elections.
Attorney Drafts
Stephen prepares the complete set, calibrated to the student’s school and choices — not a fill-in-the-blank template.
Supervised Execution
Documents are signed, witnessed, and notarized properly, the way real legal instruments must be.
Ready for Campus
The student leaves with originals, digital copies, and the wallet card — and parents have what an emergency requires.
These are real legal instruments, not fill-in-the-blank forms. Attorney review and supervised execution — signing, witnessing, and notarization — are part of the package, which is what makes the documents reliable when they are needed.
Wherever they’re headed.
Louisiana
For students enrolling at Louisiana institutions. The full set is built on Louisiana law — including a durable mandate executed as an authentic act and an advance directive under Louisiana’s declaration statute.
Mississippi
For Louisiana families whose student heads to Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, or another Mississippi school. The set is built on Mississippi law and prepared by an attorney barred in Mississippi.
Send them off ready for anything.
One flat fee · Done before move-in · Louisiana & Mississippi
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