Child Medical Consent Form

What is a child medical consent form?

A child medical consent form is a written legal document that authorizes a designated third party to make medical decisions on behalf of a minor child when the parent or legal guardian is not available. This is an important legal document that allows you to protect a child’s health and life in emergency situations once a child’s parents or guardians are not available.

A medical consent form for a minor is required when:

• a child attends a school trip or outing;
• a child is enrolled in a summer camp or other program away from home;
• a child stays temporarily with grandparents or other family members.

The parties involved in a child medical consent form are:

• Parents: They are the primary caregivers of a child and have a right to provide that consent to a designated third party. Usually both parents should sign the form, even if they are divorced, separated, or have never been married. If either of a child’s parents is dead, missing, or deprived of legal custody, only one parent can sign the form.
• Legal guardian: This is a person who has legal custody over a minor child. A legal guardian is usually appointed by a court when both of the child’s parents are dead, missing, or deprived of legal custody.
• Authorized person or caregiver: This is a designated third party for whom parents or legal guardians provide this consent. It could be a relative, babysitter, nanny, teacher, coach, or any other adult responsible for a child’s well-being and care when the parent or legal guardian is away.

How to draft a minor child medical consent form?

Drafting a minor child medical consent form requires careful attention to detail. All information provided in the text of a form should be clear and precise. Below, we prepared a list of important clauses a well-drafted medical consent form should include.

Details of the Authorized Person

The details shall include full legal name, residential address, and contact details like email or phone number.

If parents or a legal guardian have any preferences regarding the healthcare provider or medical facility where a child should be admitted, this information must be included in the text of a document as well.

Finally, if a child has health insurance coverage, parents or legal guardian shall include the insurance company’s name and policy number in the document.

Parents and Legal Guardians

The text of a form template shall include the full name, address, and contact details of the parent or legal guardian who signs it.

At the end of the document, the parent or legal guardian must include their signature and the date on which the document is being signed.

Consent to the Treatments

The core of a child medical consent form is the list of medical treatments and procedures to which parents or legal guardians wish to consent. Such a list may include the following:

• emergency care;
• routine care;
• administration of medication (over-the-counter);
• special procedures (e.g., lab tests, scans).

Additional Information

To complete the medical consent form, the information below should also be added:

• Governing Law. Parties have to select a law of a state that applies to the consent. Normally this should be the state where a child normally lives or resides. For instance, a child medical consent form California means that the laws of California shall automatically apply to it.
• Duration. The text of a document shall define the date on which the consent becomes effective. This could be the date when parents or legal guardians sign it, or any other date in the future. A well-drafted consent form must include the duration for which the consent shall remain effective. It could remain effective indefinitely, until cancelled, or till a specific date.
• Notarization. Most of the users ask, “Does the law require a child medical consent form notarized?” And the answer is “no.” The form becomes effective and legally binding after its signing by a parent or legal guardian.

Important Considerations

While at first look a medical consent form appears to be a simple document, there are a number of important considerations we recommend being aware of.

First, minors themselves cannot sign this consent even if they prefer a certain third party to take care of them.

Second, adults, even if they are immediate family members, cannot issue a medical consent form on behalf of parents or legal guardians.

Third, healthcare providers, medical facilities, and schools do not have any right to give any consent to a child’s medical treatments or procedures without prior consent from parents or legal guardians.

How to customize a template at FasterDraft?

To get a fully customized legal document template, follow a few easy steps below:

1. Click the “Create Document” button.
2. Answer simple questions in the form.
3. Select a template’s form—child medical consent form PDF or Word.
4. Make a payment.
5. Download, print, and sign the document.