Medical Power of Attorney

[Fishboy1947]

Traveling to Europe with my college age grandchildren. I think medical powers of attorney would be a good idea for all of us, just in case. I can download one from the American Bar Association, but doubt it would be legal in Europe, but still better than nothing.

 

Does anyone have related experiences, or ideas?

[LHT28]

It is  a good idea  for anyone

I will pack a copy of my POA   just incase

 

You never know  what rules apply in other Countries so having it with you  will show that you have  permission from the person you are with  to speak for them incase they cannot    it is a good idea in my book

Thanks  for  bringing this up

[CruiserBruce]

How old is "college age"? Most of these issues are settled by being classified an adult at 18, I believe, in the US, and pretty sure its the same in Europe. So someone would need to be unconscious, essentially, before a POA would kick in.

 

I guess you are asking strictly for what might happen on this trip? 

[GeezerCouple]

42 minutes ago, Fishboy1947 said:

Traveling to Europe with my college age grandchildren. I think medical powers of attorney would be a good idea for all of us, just in case. I can download one from the American Bar Association, but doubt it would be legal in Europe, but still better than nothing.

 

Does anyone have related experiences, or ideas?

 

I doubt there are any such documents that are "legal" worldwide.

But keep in mind, a medical POA/proxy is likely to be needed (at least initially) in an emergency situation.  In that case, most emergency medical providers will do whatever they thing is immediately necessary, with the one caveat being some places my require up front payment.

 

Anytime a medical POA/proxy is actually used where there is time to start reading something, chances are probably pretty good [note waffly wording!] that the providers just want *something* to cover themselves.

 

We would always travel with grands (if without parents) with both the custodial permission and a medical permission, both notarized, even if notarization isn't required.  We want something as "official" as possible "just in case".  It's not hard to arrange in advance, and one can keep it around (plus copies on devices and in the cloud).

 

GC

 

[Fishboy1947]

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

How old is "college age"? Most of these issues are settled by being classified an adult at 18, I believe, in the US, and pretty sure its the same in Europe. So someone would need to be unconscious, essentially, before a POA would kick in.

 

I guess you are asking strictly for what might happen on this trip? 

Ages 19 & 20. Want to be prepared in an emergency situation when they could not act on their own. Same for us, ages 71 & 76.

[mjkacmom]

I have 5 adult children (ranging from 20 - 26), we don’t have medical power of attorneys when we travel together, nor do we when traveling with other families members or friends. Is this a thing? When they were younger and we left them with the grandparents we did give written permission for them to make medical decisions.

[fruitmachine]

21 hours ago, Fishboy1947 said:

Traveling to Europe with my college age grandchildren. I think medical powers of attorney would be a good idea for all of us, just in case. I can download one from the American Bar Association, but doubt it would be legal in Europe, but still better than nothing.

 

Does anyone have related experiences, or ideas?

It's a really good question.

Given that you're not going to have a PoA written specifically for any of the countries you're visiting, I'd guess that the key thing is that it is fully watertight in your home jurisdiction.  We should all have them, so why not get one anyway?

I'm in Scotland, and reading a few local legal commentaries on our PoAs being used abroad, it really seems to depend on the acceptability of it to the organisation that you need to recognise it.

To quote from one website "Whether a Scottish Power of Attorney will be accepted abroad will depend on the country in question and their legal requirements for such documents. You will likely require to have the document translated into the national language and the jurisdiction may also require Legalisation or Apostillation of the document by ... [your home-country's state department/foreign office]." 

 

So it's not a quick thing!