Advisors who treat legal documents as an estate planning afterthought are leaving families dangerously exposed. A new Reuters interview with Shannon Stevens makes the case for rethinking when the conversation starts.
Overnight Adults, Unprepared Families
The birthday cake is barely cleared and, legally speaking, everything has changed. In the United States and Canada, turning 18 or 19 transforms a child into a full legal adult in a single day, and most families are nowhere near ready for it. That is the stark framing at the centre of a Reuters interview by Lauren Young1, featuring Shannon Stevens, estate attorney and managing director at Hightower Signature Wealth in Downers Grove, Illinois.
Stevens is direct about what the legal threshold means in practice: "A parent is going to lose automatic access to make health and financial decisions for that child unless they have important documents in place." No documents, no access. It is that simple, and that alarming.
The same legal wall exists in Canada. The moment a child turns 18 (or 19 in several provinces, including Ontario, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia), parents lose all automatic authority over medical and financial decisions. Without the right documents, families on both sides of the border face the same outcome: a courthouse, legal fees, and a crisis playing out without a plan.
The Five Documents. The Canadian Parallels.
Stevens identifies a core packet of five documents that constitute a basic estate plan for any young adult. Each has a direct Canadian counterpart, though terminology varies by province.
The first is a durable power of attorney for financial matters, which authorizes a named person to manage finances if the individual cannot. In Canada, this is the Continuing (or Enduring) Power of Attorney for Property, covering banking, investments, real estate, and bills. Without it, a family must apply to the courts for authority to act on their behalf, a process that costs thousands of dollars and takes months.
The second is a healthcare power of attorney, authorizing medical decision-making. In Canada, this document goes by several names depending on the province: a Personal Directive (Alberta), a Representation Agreement (British Columbia), or a Power of Attorney for Personal Care (Ontario). In Ontario, the Health Care Consent Act outlines a strict hierarchy of who can make decisions if someone hasn't appointed a substitute decision-maker.
The third is HIPAA authorization, which Stevens clarifies does not confer decision-making power, only the release of medical information to a named individual. Canada does not have HIPAA, but provincial privacy legislation creates similar barriers. Naming someone explicitly in a healthcare directive typically addresses information access as well.
The fourth is a living will covering end-of-life preferences. The Canadian equivalent is an Advance Care Directive or Advance Directive, again province-specific in its naming conventions. A personal directive only comes into effect upon mental incapacity, and the person designated as healthcare attorney is generally limited to decisions dealing with physical body, physical environment, health care, accommodation, nutrition, and medical information.
The fifth is a last will and testament, directing the disposition of assets. This applies directly in Canada with no translation required, though the execution requirements and probate rules are provincial.
It Is Not About Death. It Is About Control.
Stevens reframes the estate planning conversation in a way that advisors should take note of. "It isn't always about death, per se," she says. "It could be a car accident, where your child is unable to make decisions. Those are really tough scenarios, because decisions need to be made. If the documents aren't in place, it's going to create more emotional stress on family members and loved ones."
The fallout, she notes, is the same regardless of age: "The consequences are no different, in terms of whether the person is 18 or the person is 48. At the end of the day, their financial responsibilities are their financial responsibilities."
On the misconception that estate planning is reserved for the wealthy, Stevens cuts through it cleanly: "If you have any assets whatsoever, you need an estate plan." Checking accounts, crypto, a car, a side business. "If you die without knowing how those assets are going to pass, state law will determine where they go." In Canada, provincial intestacy legislation fills that same vacuum.
Making It Stick: Integration, Not Isolation
The most actionable insight in the piece may be Stevens' call to stop treating estate planning as a separate exercise. "Make it part of an annual review. We tend to think of an estate plan separately and a financial plan separately. They are intertwined. They should be intertwined."
She also ties document review to life transitions: marriage, divorce, the birth of a child. "The metric is a major life transition." For Canadian advisors operating under securities regulations that already mandate Know-Your-Client updates at life events, this integration is a natural fit.
Five Key Takeaways for Advisors
- Age of majority is a planning trigger, not just a milestone. When a client's child turns 18 (or 19 in applicable provinces), that is an immediate action item. Build it into onboarding and annual review processes.
- The five-document packet applies on both sides of the border. U.S. and Canadian advisors are working with the same structural gap. The terminology differs by province, but the need for financial POA, healthcare directive, advance directive, and a will is universal.
- HIPAA has no direct Canadian equivalent, but the information-access problem is real. Advisors should confirm that healthcare directives in their clients' provinces include explicit medical-information authorization provisions.
- Estate planning and financial planning are one conversation. Treating them as parallel but separate tracks creates gaps. Stevens' call for integration maps directly to holistic planning practice and strengthens client relationships at every transition point.
- Crisis, not death, is the most common catalyst. The scenarios that tend to activate these documents, accidents, sudden incapacity, medical emergencies, happen long before retirement. Young adult clients and the parents of young adult clients are both in scope.
Footnote:
Young, Lauren. "5 Key Legal Documents Every Young American Adult Needs." Reuters, 15 July 2026, www.reuters.com/default/5-key-legal-documents-every-young-american-adult-needs-2026-07-16/. Accessed 24 July 2026.
