Your newly minted adult child may or may not need a Will, but they will definitely need a Power of Attorney.
Younger adults don’t generally have a sizeable estate but upon reaching 18, they all are considered adults and their parents are no longer able to act as their legal guardian without a formal document granting this authority. This means that you can’t talk with your 18-year-old’s doctor, teacher, the school, banker, insurance provider, and more. All that ends upon their 18th birthday. Your child can sign a power of attorney giving you back all, or some, of the authority you used to have.
Independence is important and having power of attorney for your 18-year-old has nothing to do with cramping their style. As with other adults, your adult child will need to have a power of attorney in place in order to allow others (such as his loving parents) to help him out with his business affairs and health care issues should he become unable to do so on his own.
If there is no power of attorney and your 18-year-old is unable to take care of his affairs on his own, you have to petition the local court to name you as his guardian. This is a more complicated and time-consuming process than having the power of attorney in place. Talking with your child about your power of attorney before he turns 18 will help him understand the importance of this type of document.