Important Documents to Organise for an Older Parent
The papers families most often need in a hurry, how to find and organise them calmly, and how to keep them safe and up to date.
Paperwork and documents
Insurance details, powers of attorney, medicines lists, receipts: paperwork is half of caring. Knowing where everything is saves hours in an emergency and helps with benefits and sharing costs among family members.
Start here
- Go through the important documents checklist with your relative.
- Fill in the emergency information sheet and keep it by the door.
- Log hours, journeys and costs as they happen.
Turn this into a plan
Add 7 ready-made tasks for this situation to a free care space, with sensible dates, reminders and room for the whole family.
Tools for this
Important documents checklist
Find and record where your relative's key papers are — ID, NHS and insurance details, lasting power of attorney, will, bank and medical details — before an emergency makes you search.
Senior emergency information sheet
Put contacts, doctors and important notes on one page to keep by the phone or on the fridge.
Carer hours & mileage log
Record the hours, journeys and out-of-pocket costs of caring each month, with totals you can export for tax, benefits or family cost-sharing.
Printables for this
Emergency contact sheet
Names, numbers and key details for the telephone table or fridge door.
Monthly care budget worksheet
Plan and track the month's care costs against income, with totals worked out for you.
Care team contact list
Every doctor, nurse, pharmacy and service with their numbers.
Household bills tracker
Who supplies what, account numbers, due dates and how each bill is paid.
Read next
Tracking Caring Hours, Mileage and Expenses
A simple system for recording the time, travel and money that caring takes, and the ways that record pays off.