Most families discover what's missing at the worst possible moment. These documents help you find the gaps while there's still time to fill them.
A fillable checklist in five sections: Legal, Financial, Medical, People, and Conversations. Its job is to surface what your family has — and what's missing. Fill it in, set it somewhere safe, update it when things change.
A companion guide organized into the same five sections as the workbook. Its job is to explain what each piece means, why it matters, and which professional handles what when something is missing. Read it once. Keep it next to the workbook.
A two-page insert explaining how to use the workbook and companion guide together. Print it and keep it with both documents. Useful for families who are handing both documents to a parent.
A Texas-specific edition of the companion guide is available — explaining the workbook in the context of Texas law, including Lady Bird Deeds, the Medicaid income-cap rule, and community property planning.
It takes about an hour. Don't try to take action while reading — just absorb the landscape.
Work through one section at a time. Some families do all five in an afternoon; others spread it across several weekends. Either is fine.
Documents that don't exist. Accounts no one can access. Professionals who aren't on the team. Conversations that haven't happened. The gaps are the action items.
Make the calls. The gaps are the action items.
Not everyone. Two. The right two.
"Even partial progress on these fronts changes how a transition goes when the moment comes. What matters is that the work has started."
Six specific conversations — wishes, medical preferences, the home, decision-making authority. What to say, how to start, and how to keep the door open when a parent is reluctant.
Read the guide →Ten specific conflicts named and explained from both sides — with a framework for moving forward when you're stuck and neither side is wrong.
Read the guide →If a hospital discharge or sudden decline is forcing the decision — skip to the Crisis Path.