Please Recycle That

After Carter turned eighteen and before she left for college she got herself a lawyer. No, she wasn’t in any trouble, but we wanted her to get a medical power of attorney and some other important paperwork that adults need. If your child is over eighteen they are legally an adult, and even if they are on your health insurance no doctor can talk to parents about your adult child’s medical situation without the child’s permission.

This is all well and good if the kid has the flu and is conscious so they can give permission, but if they are not, you need this paperwork to get any info about your child’s condition. Oh, HIPPA, the amount of billable hours you have given to lawyers.

So Carter went off to Raleigh and met with her lawyer and got all the grown up things done she needed to do. We paid.

This week a letter came to Carter from her lawyer. Russ sent her a photo of the envelope and asked her what she wanted us to do with it. She said,”open it.” It was a form letter from her lawyer informing Carter of a change in the law concerning retirement plan designations.

One of the things Carter must have done with her lawyer was her will. Just let that settle in for a minute.

Anyway, Carter’s response to the photo of the letter was, “Please recycle it.” Not, “throw it away” or “That is not important to me right now.” No, recycle. I can tell she is an adult now, with a will, because she is concerned about something bigger than her, the planet.