Phoenix Family Law and Estate Planning Law Blog

If you're the parent of a college student or other young adult, part of you likely still considers them your little girl or boy. However, under the law, once they're 18, there are certain rights you no longer automatically have because you're their parent.

For example, you can't make medical decisions for them. That means that if your child crashes on the ski slopes during winter break and ends up unconscious in the hospital, you aren't entitled to make decisions regarding their treatment or perhaps even have access to information about that treatment unless you have the proper documentation in place.

If you were never married and have no children, you may think there is no reason for you to consider creating an estate plan. However, the opposite may be true. In fact, those who are married with children may have built-in protections that you do not have because of your single status.

Instead of dismissing the idea of building an estate plan, you may benefit from learning about the options available that may fit your circumstances and the ways in which you can use your plan for your own benefit as well as for those you care about.

One school activity that separated and divorced parents need to find a way to navigate is parent-teacher conferences. Whether it's a regular conference to discuss your child's progress or there's an issue that a teacher needs to discuss with you, parents must determine whether they're able to put aside their differences and attend these meetings together, to meet with the teacher separately or leave it to one parent to handle.

Many parents want to attend these meetings together so that they're receiving the same information and can work together with the teacher to formulate a plan if there's an issue. To make these meetings productive, current and former educators advise co-parents whose relationship is strained to keep the focus where it belongs -- on the child. If your child is having problems at school, whether it's poor grades or behavioral issues, now isn't the time to point fingers at each other.

As you develop your estate plan, you've decided to leave some property or other assets directly to your grandchildren. Perhaps you have a vacation home that your adult grandson particularly loves and takes his own family to regularly. Maybe you have an art collection that your granddaughter has expressed interest in and would appreciate more than anyone else in the family.

Before you leave assets to your grandchildren or anyone significantly younger than you, it's important to know about the generation-skipping tax (GST) or generation-skipping transfer tax. This is a tax that people may incur if they inherit or are otherwise given property directly from their grandparents without it first going to their parents. It should be noted that if the grandchildren's parents are already deceased, they'd be exempt from the GST.