Release For Medical Treatment For A Minor

Grandparents should get a power of attorney, also called a POA, granting them the legal authority to address the child's medical and other needs, particularly in an emergency when the child's parents can't be reached. This can be as simple as having the parent sign a notarized form and submitting it to the court.

People looking after your child like childminders or grandparents do not have parental responsibility, but you can authorise them to take medical decisions for your child, if you wish.

Do Grandparents Need a Power of Attorney to Take Grandchildren to the Doctor?While you may not have legal guardianship or permanent custody of your grandchild, a medical power of attorney or other legal consent form, as appropriate in your state, gives you legal authority to make health-related decisions for them.

The grandparents' medical consent form allows a parent or legal guardian to hand over all responsibility regarding their child's health care decisions to one of the child's grandparents.

Children under the age of 16 can consent to their own treatment if they're believed to have enough intelligence, competence and understanding to fully appreciate what's involved in their treatment. This is known as being Gillick competent. Otherwise, someone with parental responsibility can consent for them.

This may include step-parents, grandparents and childminders. You can rely on their consent if they are authorised by the parents.So while there is no specific agreement between parents and a third party in any given situation, the third party can give consent providing it is in the child's best interests.

Making the Form Legal When parents or other legal guardians decide to give a grandparent power of attorney for a grandchild, both parents or legal guardians generally must sign the consent form and have their signatures notarized. In some states, the grandparents' signatures also require notarization.

To Whom It May Concern: I, Name of Legal Guardian, am the lawful guardian of the female child named below. I give permission and consent to Name, Address and Phone Number of Temporary Caregiver to authorize medical treatment for Full Name of Child and date of birth.