Summer is my favorite time of the year. I don’t like seeing all those school announcements that start in August.

But I realize it’s probably because I don’t have kids, and my dogs aren’t going back to school (after failing exercise 101, we don’t care. They’re beagles.).

I understand that parents of school age children can be very excited about the “back to school” season. Parents of college-age students may be less excited, even sad, when their now-adult children head out.

Anyway, sorry parents, I have a little homework for you first.

Minor children

If you have minor children, now is a good time to see if you have all the necessary legal documents in place for the dreaded “just in case something happens to you.” These documents are:

Nomination of guardian

You should have a will or, even better, a trust that appoints a guardian for your minor children in the event of your passing.

If there is a surviving parent, there will be no need for guardianship unless that parent previously lost custody.

However, if both parents are deceased or otherwise unable to care for the child, the appointment of a guardian becomes extremely important, especially during the time between the death of a parent and the appointment of a guardian by the court.

If you only have a will (ie, no trust) that names a guardian, you also need an appointment of guardian that names a guardian for your minor children in the event of your incapacity. This document should be separate from your will, as your will only applies upon your death.

Health and medical care directive for minors

As a parent, you have made health care decisions for your minor child at all times. You book appointments, have discussions with healthcare providers, decide on vaccines and approve (or disapprove) medical procedures.

But what if you couldn’t? If you are incapacitated, whether temporarily or permanently, someone else must be the healthcare representative for your children.

You can name that person – or even better people – in a health care directive for minor children. It helps to also list the names and contact information of their caregivers.

Living trust

Having minor children is one of the main reasons for creating a living trust.

Should you pass away, a trust can decide who manages your assets for your children, how the money is to be used and when the assets are to be distributed to your children.

Without a trust, if there is no surviving spouse (eg your spouse is also deceased or you are not married) your child inherits everything at age 18.

In most cases, and especially when a child has lost a parent at a young age, they are far too young to suddenly be able to handle larger sums of money than they have ever handled before.

A trust can appoint a trustee to manage your assets until your child reaches certain ages or milestones. For example, the trust may provide that the trustee can make distributions to the child for “health, education, maintenance and support” until a certain age.

The trust can further define these terms (does trade school count? Community college? Travel to visit relatives? Any gifts at graduation?).

A typical provision is that when the child reaches age 25 or graduates from college, one-third of the trust is distributed to them. At age 30, half of what remains is distributed, and finally, at age 35, everything is distributed, and the trust ends.

Of course, the ages and percentages may vary.

And in some circumstances (significant wealth, a child’s inability or inability to manage assets, asset protection, maintaining the trust assets as separate property, for a few examples), it may make sense to continue the trust indefinitely.

Perhaps you let the child become co-trustee at age 30 and sole trustee at age 35. The point is that you can adjust your trust to care for your children as you see fit, without the law requiring a distribution at any particular time.

Young adult children

If you have grown children, all of the above applies with regards to having a living trust in place. But now they’ve got some homework that you’ll probably need to help them with.

Lasting Power of Attorney: I’ve repeated this many times in this column. It is one of those things that is rarely considered until it is needed, and by then it may be too late.

All adults aged 18 and over should have a durable power of attorney in place.

You cannot make decisions, access information, manage bank accounts or otherwise manage your adult child’s affairs if they become incapacitated and do not have a power of attorney in place.

A young person’s incapacitation often happens because of an accident – ​​and you don’t get warning about accidents. Therefore, it is important to have that document in place as soon as a child turns eighteen. And let’s hope you never need it.

Health care directive: For the same reason that all adults need a power of attorney, they all need a health care directive as well.

If your child goes to college and is hospitalized for some reason, you will not have access to medical records, health care providers will not be able to give you information, and as happened to a client of mine once, you may not even be able to verify that your child has been admitted to the hospital, without a health care directive and HIPAA form that gives you the right to receive information and make decisions. It’s a standard form, and you can probably get it from your doctor’s office. You and your adult children should get it done as soon as possible.

Consider this another “back to school” reminder. Set a good example for your children by doing your homework. You’ll be glad you did.

Teresa J. Rhyne is an attorney practicing estate planning and estate administration in Riverside and Paso Robles, CA. She is also the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “The Dog Lived (and So Will I)” and “Poppy in The Wild.” You can reach her at [email protected]