Checklists

When your parent doesn’t want to talk about it

What to do when the first try goes badly, and how to come back to it.

Includes a script: Coming back to it later

Start the conversation

Getting your siblings on the same page

Agree on who does what before a crisis decides it for you.

Includes a template: Family meeting agenda

Start the conversation

Find the documents before anyone needs them

Which papers matter, where they usually hide, and how to note where they are.

Includes a checklist: Documents to gather before a crisis

Documents, accounts & passwords

Keeping track of accounts without sharing passwords

A safe way to list what exists without putting passwords in a shared file.

Includes a template: Account inventory

Documents, accounts & passwords

Advance directives and healthcare proxies, in plain words

What each form does, who signs it, and where copies should go.

Includes a checklist: Advance directive checklist

Wishes & advance directives

Talking through care wishes: what to ask

Questions that get past “I don’t want to be a burden.”

Includes a script: What matters most to you?

Wishes & advance directives

Wills, trusts and powers of attorney, explained

What each one does, and which families usually need which.

Includes a checklist: Legal documents your parent may need

Legal & financial planning

What an estate plan costs, and how to hire the lawyer

Flat fees, hourly rates, and the questions to ask on the first call.

Includes a checklist: Questions to ask an estate planning attorney

Legal & financial planning

Paying for long-term care

What Medicare, Medicaid and insurance do and do not cover.

Includes a checklist: Coverage to confirm

Legal & financial planning

Burial, cremation and other choices, before anyone has to decide

Learn the options now, calmly, instead of from a salesperson later.

Includes a template: Funeral wishes record

Funeral & disposition preferences

Should you prepay for a funeral?

When preneed plans help, when they don’t, and what to read before signing.

Includes a checklist: Before you sign a preneed contract

Funeral & disposition preferences

What happens to phones, photos and accounts

The settings to change now so the family can get in later.

Includes a checklist: Digital legacy settings

Digital legacy & life stories

Recording your parent’s stories while you can

Simple ways to capture their voice, with questions to start.

Includes a script: Questions for a life story interview

Digital legacy & life stories

Home care, home health, assisted living: which fits?

The kinds of care, side by side, and the signs that point to each.

Includes a checklist: Needs assessment

Understanding care options

What care costs, and who pays

Typical costs by type of care, and which ones insurance covers.

Includes a template: Monthly care budget

Understanding care options

Choosing a home care agency

Compare terms and staffing, and spot the upsell before it happens.

Includes a checklist: Questions to ask a home care agency

Understanding care options

Making the house safe

The changes that prevent most falls, room by room.

Includes a checklist: Room-by-room safety check

Caring for someone at home

When a parent should stop driving

How to raise it together, without taking their independence away.

Includes a script: The driving conversation

Caring for someone at home

Keeping medications straight

One list everyone uses, and the reminders that actually help.

Includes a template: Medication list

Medications & symptom tracking

What to tell the care team, and how

Notes that make a ten-minute appointment count.

Includes a template: Symptom log

Medications & symptom tracking

Dividing the work between siblings

Split care by what each person can really give, including from far away.

Includes a template: Who’s doing what

Family coordination & respite

Respite: getting a real break

Kinds of short-term help, and how to hand over for a day or a week.

Includes a checklist: Handoff notes for a stand-in

Family coordination & respite

Hospice or palliative care? What’s the difference

Who each one is for, what it covers, and when to ask about it.

Hospice & palliative care

How to choose a hospice

They are not all the same. What to compare, and what to ask.

Includes a checklist: Questions to ask a hospice

Hospice & palliative care

Talking with a parent about hospice

Raise it gently, and keep them in charge of the decision.

Includes a script: Raising hospice gently

Hospice & palliative care

What the last days can look like

Common changes, what they mean, and who to call.

Includes a checklist: Things to have ready

Preparing for the final days

Saying what you want to say

Words for the bedside, for you and for the rest of the family.

Includes a script: Words at the bedside

Preparing for the final days

If the death happens at home

Who to call first, with or without hospice.

Includes a checklist: Who to call first

What to do first

What can wait, and what can’t

A short list to put everything else down for a few days.

Includes a checklist: This week, and later

What to do first

Burial, cremation and alternatives

Every option side by side, with timelines and what drives cost.

Includes a checklist: Questions to ask any provider

Burial, cremation & alternatives

What happens after cremation

Getting the ashes back, and the choices you have from there.

Includes a product list: Choosing an urn

Burial, cremation & alternatives

What a funeral actually costs

Line by line, what is required, and what is extra.

Includes a template: Price comparison sheet

Costs, pricing & consumer rights

Your rights under the Funeral Rule

What a funeral home has to give you, and what you can refuse.

Includes a checklist: What they must give you

Costs, pricing & consumer rights

What to ask before you sign

Ten questions that protect you from paying for what you didn’t want.

Includes a checklist: Before you sign

Costs, pricing & consumer rights

Planning a service that fits your family

Religious, secular, small or large, now or later.

Includes a template: Service order

Funeral & memorial planning

Funeral, memorial or celebration of life?

What each one is, and why many families now wait weeks.

Funeral & memorial planning

How to write an obituary

A simple shape, examples, and where to publish it.

Includes a template: Obituary starter

Obituaries, eulogies & announcements

Writing and giving a eulogy

Start with one story. A structure that gets you to the end.

Includes a template: Eulogy outline

Obituaries, eulogies & announcements

Death certificates: how many and where from

Who needs a certified copy, and how to order more.

Includes a checklist: Who needs a certified copy

Death certificates & notifications

Who to notify, and in what order

Benefits and banks first. A tracker a sibling can share.

Includes a template: Notification tracker

Death certificates & notifications

Does this estate need probate?

How to tell, what skips it, and the questions to take to a lawyer.

Includes a checklist: Assets that may skip probate

Probate & estate administration

Being an executor, step by step

The job, in order, from the first month to closing the estate.

Includes a checklist: Executor’s first month

Probate & estate administration

Hiring a probate attorney

How they charge, what is fair, and what to ask first.

Includes a checklist: Questions to ask a probate attorney

Probate & estate administration

Closing accounts and claiming benefits

Confirm who has authority first, then work down the list.

Includes a checklist: Closing accounts

Accounts, debts & benefits

Final taxes and the estate’s taxes

The returns that may be due, and the papers to find.

Includes a checklist: Tax documents to find

Accounts, debts & benefits

Clearing a parent’s home

What to keep, sell, give and toss, and when to call in help.

Includes a template: Estate inventory

Property, belongings & estate sales

Estate sale, liquidator or donation?

How each one works and what each one really costs.

Includes a checklist: Questions for an estate sale company

Property, belongings & estate sales

When siblings disagree about belongings

Fair ways to divide things, before it turns into a fight.

Includes a script: Dividing belongings fairly

Property, belongings & estate sales

Thank-you notes, without the dread

Short notes that are enough, and a way to keep track.

Includes a template: Thank-you note starters

Thank-yous & ongoing responsibilities

The first year: dates and tasks to expect

Renewals, anniversaries and deadlines, on one calendar.

Includes a checklist: First-year calendar

Thank-yous & ongoing responsibilities

Kinds of grief support, and how to find one that fits

Counselors, groups and other help, and how they differ.

Grief support

Grieving while you’re still doing the paperwork

Why it can feel stuck, and small ways to make room for it.

Grief support

Ways to remember someone

From a bench to a recipe book. Ideas at every budget.

Includes a product list: Memorial keepsakes

Memorials, stories & legacy

Choosing a headstone or marker

Cemetery rules, materials, prices, and what to check first.

Includes a checklist: Before you order a marker

Memorials, stories & legacy

Turning their stories into something lasting

Collect stories from relatives before they fade.

Includes a script: Interviewing relatives

Memorials, stories & legacy