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Guides, checklists, scripts and templates.
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Grouped by where you are. Guides before the tools inside them, coming soon last.
Plan ahead
16 resultsHow to start an end-of-life conversation
A calm, practical way to begin talking about wishes without demanding every answer at once.
Includes a checklist: Conversation starter checklist
Start the conversation
Checklist
Conversation starter checklist
Prepare for a useful first conversation without trying to solve everything in one sitting.
From the guide “How to start an end-of-life conversation”
Script
Asking a parent about their wishes
Words for a first conversation about care wishes, and what to say if it doesn’t go the way you hoped.
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
Paying for long-term care
What Medicare, Medicaid and insurance do and do not cover.
Includes a checklist: Coverage to confirm
Legal & financial planning
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
Caregiving
14 results- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
Keeping medications straight
One list everyone uses, and the reminders that actually help.
Includes a template: Medication list
Medications & symptom tracking
- Coming soon
What to tell the care team, and how
Notes that make a ten-minute appointment count.
Includes a template: Symptom log
Medications & symptom tracking
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
After a death
16 results
The first 48 hours
What needs attention now, what can wait, and who to call.
Includes a checklist: First 48 hours checklist
What to do first
Checklist
First 48 hours checklist
The few things that matter in the first two days, in order, and nothing that can wait.
From the guide “The first 48 hours”
Template
Letter notifying a bank
Tell a bank that its customer has died and ask what they need to close or transfer the account.
From the guide “Who to notify, and in what order”
Coming soonIf the death happens at home
Who to call first, with or without hospice.
Includes a checklist: Who to call first
What to do first
Coming soonWhat 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
Coming soonBurial, 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
Coming soonWhat happens after cremation
Getting the ashes back, and the choices you have from there.
Includes a product list: Choosing an urn
Burial, cremation & alternatives
Coming soonWhat a funeral actually costs
Line by line, what is required, and what is extra.
Includes a template: Price comparison sheet
Costs, pricing & consumer rights
Coming soonYour 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
Coming soonWhat 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
Coming soonPlanning a service that fits your family
Religious, secular, small or large, now or later.
Includes a template: Service order
Funeral & memorial planning
Coming soonFuneral, memorial or celebration of life?
What each one is, and why many families now wait weeks.
Funeral & memorial planning
Coming soonHow to write an obituary
A simple shape, examples, and where to publish it.
Includes a template: Obituary starter
Obituaries, eulogies & announcements
Coming soonWriting and giving a eulogy
Start with one story. A structure that gets you to the end.
Includes a template: Eulogy outline
Obituaries, eulogies & announcements
Coming soonDeath 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
Coming soonWho to notify, and in what order
Benefits and banks first. A tracker a sibling can share.
Includes a template: Notification tracker
Death certificates & notifications
Estate & legacy
15 results- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
Closing accounts and claiming benefits
Confirm who has authority first, then work down the list.
Includes a checklist: Closing accounts
Accounts, debts & benefits
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
Kinds of grief support, and how to find one that fits
Counselors, groups and other help, and how they differ.
Grief support
- Coming soon
Grieving while you’re still doing the paperwork
Why it can feel stuck, and small ways to make room for it.
Grief support
- Coming soon
Ways to remember someone
From a bench to a recipe book. Ideas at every budget.
Includes a product list: Memorial keepsakes
Memorials, stories & legacy
- Coming soon
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
- Coming soon
Turning their stories into something lasting
Collect stories from relatives before they fade.
Includes a script: Interviewing relatives
Memorials, stories & legacy
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Home-care providers, home-health agencies and respite-care providers, reviewed and near you.
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Hospice providers, palliative-care providers and end-of-life doulas, reviewed and near you.
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Funeral homes, cremation providers and cemeteries, reviewed and near you.
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Celebrants & officiants, memorial venues and memorial florists, reviewed and near you.
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Estate-planning attorneys, elder-law attorneys and probate attorneys, reviewed and near you.
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Appraisers, estate-sale companies and estate liquidators, reviewed and near you.
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Grief counselors & therapists and grief-support groups, reviewed and near you.
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Digital legacy services and legacy & storytelling services, reviewed and near you.
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