The Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit is a California form that lets an adult caring for a minor enroll the child in school, and, if the adult is a relative, consent to the child’s medical and dental care. It comes from California Family Code Section 6550, costs nothing, needs no lawyer, no court filing, and no notary.1California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6550 You sign it, hand copies to the school and the doctor, and it works.
Who Can Use It
Any adult 18 or older with a minor living in their home can complete the basic version of the affidavit, which covers items 1 through 4 on the form. That gives you authority to enroll the child in school and consent to the medical care the school requires for enrollment or activities, such as immunizations and sports physicals.1California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6550 You don’t have to be related to the child for this level.
If you want authority to consent to the child’s regular medical, dental, and mental health care, you also need to complete items 5 through 8, and you need to be a relative. Under the statute, that means an adult related to the child by blood, adoption, or marriage within the fifth degree of kinship: grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, step-siblings, cousins, great-grandparents, and the spouses of any of them, even if that marriage ended through divorce or death.1California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6550 Fifth degree reaches as far as second cousins and great-great-grandparents.
What the Affidavit Lets You Do
School Enrollment and School-Required Care
Every caregiver who completes items 1 through 4 can enroll the child in school and consent to the medical care the school or state requires as a condition of enrollment or participation.1California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6550 That covers vaccinations, routine physicals for enrollment, and medical screenings a district requires before a child can join a team. It does not reach a pediatrician visit for an ear infection or a dental cleaning.
Medical and Dental Care for Relatives
A qualifying relative who completes all eight items can consent to routine medical and dental care, urgent care, and mental health treatment, with the same authority a court-appointed guardian would have.1California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6550 Non-relatives don’t get this broader authority from the affidavit. A neighbor or family friend who needs to consent to care beyond what school requires will need either a power of attorney signed by a parent or a court order.
What It Does Not Cover
The affidavit is not custody. The form says so on its face: it does not affect a parent’s rights, and it does not make you a legal custodian.2California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6552 A parent can override your decisions, unless doing so would jeopardize the child’s health or safety.1California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6550
Several practical limits follow from that:
- Insurance companies generally won’t add someone else’s child to your policy without a court order such as a guardianship.3California Courts | Self Help Guide. Options Other Than a Guardianship
- The affidavit does not authorize a passport application or international travel. Those require both parents’ consent or a court order.
- You can’t represent the child in court or make legal decisions for them.
- You have no authority over the child’s finances, benefits, or property.
If you need any of that, you’re looking at a formal guardianship. The affidavit is built for the two things that come up most: school and medical care.
Filling Out the Form
The official form is on the California Courts website at no cost. It has eight numbered items. How many you complete depends on whether you need medical authority as a relative or just school enrollment.2California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6552
Items 1 through 4 ask for the child’s name, the child’s date of birth, your name, and your home address. Signing after those four is enough for school enrollment and school-required care.1California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6550
Items 5 through 8 unlock medical authority for relatives. Item 5 is a checkbox confirming you qualify as a relative. Item 6 is the parental notification statement. Item 7 is your date of birth. Item 8 is your California driver’s license or state ID number.4California Courts. Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit
Item 6 deserves a closer look. You don’t need the parents’ written permission, but you do need to have either told them you plan to authorize medical care (and heard no objection) or made a genuine effort to reach them. Check the first box, the second box, or both if different circumstances apply to each parent.
Signing and Giving It to the School or Doctor
You sign under penalty of perjury. Claiming to be a relative when you aren’t, or claiming the child lives with you when they don’t, can lead to criminal charges. No notary, no judge, no court filing is required.5California Courts | Self Help Guide. Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit Some caregivers get it notarized anyway to reduce friction at the counter, but it isn’t legally necessary.
Make copies and deliver them to the child’s school and any healthcare providers. Keep the original. Schools and medical providers are required to accept a properly completed affidavit, though staff aren’t always familiar with the form. If someone pushes back, point to Family Code 6550: the statute protects providers who rely on the affidavit from civil and criminal liability, which is why there’s no reason for them to refuse.1California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6550
How Long It Lasts and When It Ends
The affidavit is good for one year from the date you sign it. After that, you complete and sign a new one.3California Courts | Self Help Guide. Options Other Than a Guardianship There’s no grace period. If it lapses, a school or doctor can refuse to accept it.
It also ends immediately if the child stops living with you. When that happens, you have to notify every school, healthcare provider, and health plan that received a copy.2California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6552 A parent can cancel the affidavit at any time, for any reason, without your agreement and without a court order.3California Courts | Self Help Guide. Options Other Than a Guardianship If the arrangement is unstable or the parents might reassert control unpredictably, a formal guardianship gives you more protection.
When a Power of Attorney or Guardianship Is a Better Fit
The affidavit sits at the simple end of a spectrum. No court, no lawyer, no parental signature required. It covers school enrollment, and for relatives it covers medical care. The trade-off is limited scope and the fact that a parent can cancel it with a phone call.
A power of attorney for child care needs a parent’s signature. The parent can grant whatever authority they list, which can be broader than the affidavit, but providers sometimes refuse to recognize it because there’s no statute requiring them to accept it the way one requires acceptance of the affidavit.3California Courts | Self Help Guide. Options Other Than a Guardianship It also has technical requirements that make it harder to complete without legal help.
Guardianship is the most protective option and the most involved. A court order gives you legal custody, which means you can add the child to insurance, make all educational and medical decisions, and keep your authority in place unless a parent goes back to court to change it. The cost is real: filings, possible attorney fees, a home investigation, and weeks or months instead of minutes.
For a grandparent caring for a child while a parent is deployed, or an aunt taking in a nephew during a family crisis, the affidavit is usually the right place to start. If the arrangement stretches on and starts to look permanent, a guardianship protects you and the child better than renewing the form each year.