Legal Documents Your Student Needs

What documents does Student Legal Services recommend?

Once your student turns 18, you may be surprised to learn that you may no longer have automatic access to help with their medical or financial matters—even in an emergency. That’s why we strongly recommend that students consider completing a Healthcare Power of Attorney.   

The Healthcare Power of Attorney authorizes trusted individual(s) to make medical decisions if your student is unable to make them for themselves. This document can be critical in the event of an accident, illness, or other emergency, and ensures your student’s wishes are respected while also allowing trusted individuals to assist as needed.

SLS can also draft, or provide, these additional documents for your student.  

• Financial Power of Attorney: allows someone to manage financial matters on their behalf.
• Declaration for Mental Health Treatment: outlines preferences and authorizes treatment specifically for mental health care. We recommend this document only in specific situations.  Click here for more information about the Declaration and who should draft one. 
• HIPAA Release: permits the release of protected health information to designated individuals.  SLS provides a sample HIPPA release when we send your student's  completed documents. 

Please, do not pay a third-party service to prepare these documents.  Ohio State students already have access to these services through Student Legal Services (SLS) at no additional cost beyond the annual SLS participation fee. The SLS fee is significantly lower than what you would pay for similar services online or through a private attorney.  Our licensed attorneys routinely assist students with drafting, explaining, and executing these documents in a way that is legally sound and tailored to their needs.

How does it work? 

• Your student will schedule a phone appointment with a SLS attorney (note: incoming Freshmen can schedule in the summer before they start).  
• Students can schedule the appointment online or by calling SLS at (614) 247-5853.
• SLS will email your student with an appointment reminder. 
• For information about the documents, your student can watch this pre-appointment video. 
• A SLS attorney will conduct the phone appointment with your student at the time scheduled. 
• Parents may be on the phone as well with the student’s permission.  Your student can indicate when they schedule online if they want you to be added to the call, or they can ask the attorney to add a parent(s) when the attorney calls for the appointment. 
• During the phone appointment, your student will decide which documents they want and provide necessary information. 
• After the appointment, SLS staff will draft the documents and email them to your student to review. 
• Once your student approves the documents, SLS will schedule a time for your student to come to our office to sign the documents, or if preferred, will get instructions on signing the documents elsewhere.
• SLS will provide both physical and electronic copies of the documents if the student signs them in our office.
• Parents do not need to be present for the signing. 

What should students do with their documents? 

• Originals:  Keep the originals in a safe, accessible place.  Students should let their family, close friends, roommates. resident advisor and/or residence hall director know that they have these documents and where they can find them in case of the emergency.
• Copies/Electronic versions:  Students should give a copy to the people they listed as agents in the power of attorney and/or living will, and those you listed as personal representatives (and guardians if appropriate) if they drafted a will.  We recommend students send the documents to these people via email and suggest that they save them in a specific folder in their email for easy access.  Let these people know where student keeps the originals of the documents. 
• Phone: Make sure student's medical ID on your phone is up-to-date with appropriate emergency contact information. Here are further instructions for doing so: Android and Apple.
• University:   
  • MyBuckMD: The University does not have a system to accept and store these documents in one place, in advance.  Students can, however, upload their documents to the MyBuckMD portal for Student Health Services. Students can also add emergency contacts in the portal. Information about the MyBuckMD portal can be found here: https://shs.osu.edu/my-buckmd1.   
  • Access to Student Health Services health records: To obtain student's health record, or information about care from SHS, students must complete their health records release authorization form. For more information and to find the form, visit: https://shs.osu.edu/services/health-records.   

Additional important information

• Cost: Ohio State students enrolled on Columbus campus are automatically enrolled in the SLS program and charged the annual SLS fee participation fee.  Unless a student waives the fee, they are eligible for services.  There is no additional cost beyond the annual SLS participation fee for the document services. 
• Effectiveness of documents outside Ohio: Generally, a power of attorney that is valid when you sign it in one state is valid when you are in a different state.  When you move to a new state permanently, we recommend you review and update your overall estate plan. 
• Emergency situations: The healthcare power of attorney and medical release forms are generally only meant to be used and presented to a school or hospital in the event of an emergency.   
• Non-emergency access to records: 
  • Healthcare Power of Attorney:  The HPOA does contain language that if initialedby the student would allow for their agent to obtain protected health care information immediately and at any future time.  This means that agents can obtain this information, even if it is not an emergency.  But, even if the student allowed their agent to obtain this information in the healthcare power of attorney, a medical provider may still require the student to complete and sign their specific form.  The student will need to follow their instructions.  
  • HIPPA release:  We can provide you with a general HIPPA release.  Please note that each medical provider may require the student to complete their specific form.  The student should follow their instructions.  
  • FERPA release: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (otherwise known as FERPA), sets forth requirements regarding the privacy of student records. FERPA governs release of records maintained by an educational institution and access to those records.  For information about how to authorize the release of information, visit https://registrar.osu.edu/policies-information/privacy-and-release-of-student-record-information-ferpa/.  Scroll down the page to the Authorization to release information section and then select the link to complete the Student Information Release.