Know where the family papers are, and who to call

A digital kit for writing down where your parent’s papers, accounts, bills and contacts are kept, with the exact words to use when you ask. Your parent stays in charge.

Choose your edition

Essentials · $47 The full kit: Start Here, the Guided Family Binder (45 items), the 30-Day Plan, 12 conversation scripts and the Family Hub spreadsheet, plus a finished example Hub for a made-up family.

Plus · $67 · Our pick Everything in Essentials, plus two add-ons:

• The Family Scam Shield. A STOP card for by the phone, a family code word plan, a Call-Back Numbers sheet, and what to say when a caller asks for money or a code.
• The First 72 Hours Playbook. Calm checklists for hard days: when your parent suddenly can’t be at home, can’t handle the bills for a while, or is newly on their own. A separate booklet, kept by the point person, covers the first days after a loss in the family.

Complete · $87 Everything in Plus, and:

• The Sibling Plan, with the Sibling Plan Board spreadsheet. For families where more than one person helps. Your parent’s wishes first, a 20-minute sibling call, 23 regular jobs to share, a cost log that does the monthly settle-up math, and the words for the hard talks.

Only helping on your own? Essentials or Plus is the right fit. The Sibling Plan is for families who share the work.

One-time payment · instant digital download · prices in US dollars

What you get: PDF guides you can print or read on screen (116 pages in Essentials, 198 in Complete) and a 15-tab spreadsheet: Start, Dashboard, 30-Day Plan, Checklist, People, Fridge Card, Where Everything Lives, Accounts & Autopays, Bills Calendar, Key Dates, Talk Log, Follow-Ups, Review Log, Finish Line, Family Copy.

30-day refund, no questions asked. Free updates through Dec. 31, 2027.

Read before you buy: Free sample (PDF, no email needed) — Start Here, Day 2 of the plan, Script 3 and the Fridge Card.

How it works

1. Pick paper or screen. Two questions tell you which pages to use now and which can wait.

2. Go at your pace. Do one short step each weekday for four weeks. Or do the Core Ten in two sittings with your parent: a 20-minute kitchen-table talk covers eight of them, and one 15-minute talk covers the bank accounts and monthly bills.

3. Share it with the people you name. The Fridge Card goes on the fridge, with your parent’s OK. The Family Hub is shared only with family members you add by email. A 5-minute drill then checks that someone else can find things.

What’s inside every edition

• What to say, line by line. 12 conversation scripts. Each has an opening line, three common pushbacks with two replies each, a way to stop, and a follow-up text. They cover “I’m fine,” “That’s private,” “Why do you need to know what bank I use?” and “Your brother handles that.”

• Three talks, written out. A 20-minute kitchen-table talk, a 10-minute holiday talk, and a video-call version.

• The Core Ten. The ten things families usually look for first. Finish these, and you can stop.

• The Guided Family Binder: 45 items. Each item says where to look in the house, what to write, a real moment when the family would need it, and how you know you’re done. 39 of the 45 link to a US government (.gov) page. Every link was checked on Oct. 13, 2026.

• The 30-Day Plan: 20 day cards. Most take 15 minutes or less. Every card has a worked example from one made-up family and a 5-minute version for busy days.

• The Family Hub spreadsheet. Type your start date, and every day of the plan gets a date and an “Add to calendar” link. A dashboard shows what’s done, your next 3 things and what’s coming up. Tabs for talks, follow-ups, key dates and bills keep it current. Works in Google Sheets or Excel.

• A finished example Hub. The same spreadsheet, filled in for our made-up Carter family, so you can see what “done” looks like.

• The Fridge Card. Names and phone numbers only, so anyone in the kitchen knows who to call.

Who it’s for

• Grown children who want to know where a parent’s papers, accounts and bills are kept, and who to call about each one.

• Families where Mom or Dad still runs their own life, and everyone wants to keep it that way.

• Brothers and sisters in different cities who want one shared record instead of a long group text.

• People who like paper, and people who’d rather type.

Who it’s NOT for

• Families who need someone to make decisions for a parent right now. This kit only records where things are. For decisions, talk with an attorney licensed in your parent’s state.

• Anyone looking for legal, tax or financial advice. The kit points you to US government (.gov) pages and to professionals.

• Anyone who wants videos, coaching or a live helper. It’s files only: PDF pages and spreadsheets.

• Anyone who wants a password keeper. The kit never asks for passwords. It asks only where things are kept.

• Anyone expecting a printed binder in the mail. Nothing ships.

• Families whose papers and accounts are mostly outside the US. The steps and the .gov links are for the US.

Where, never what

The kit never asks you to write down passwords, PINs, security answers, full Social Security numbers, full account or card numbers (last 4 digits only), or any number from a card in the wallet. No balances. Amounts on the bills list are optional.

Instead, you write things like this:

• Checking: Maple Hollow Savings Bank, account ending in 4821.

• Password notebook: small blue notebook, kitchen desk drawer.

• Signed originals: fireproof box, red folder, bedroom closet.

We never see your binder or your copy of the Family Hub.

Questions

Why pay when checklists are free? Free checklists list what to collect. This kit tells you where to look in the house, what to write, what to say when your parent pushes back, and how you know you’re done. Every day card has a worked example from one made-up family, and 39 of the 45 binder items link to a US government (.gov) page.

Which edition should I pick? Essentials has everything you need to get the papers in order. Plus adds the Scam Shield and the hard-day playbook. Complete adds the Sibling Plan, for families where more than one person helps. You can’t go wrong with Essentials.

Is this a physical product? No. It’s a digital download. You get the files right after checkout. You can print pages at home or at a print shop, or use everything on screen.

Do I need a Google account? No. To share the Family Hub online, you need a free Google account, and so does each person you share it with. Your parent doesn’t need one. If you’d rather skip Google, open the spreadsheet in Excel or use the paper binder.

How long does it take? Most steps take about 15 minutes. You can do the Core Ten in two sittings with your parent, or one short step each weekday for four weeks. If you miss a day, pick up where you left off.

What if my parent says no? Then the answer is no, for now. The papers belong to your parent, and so does the timing. The kit has a “not yet” path that starts with what you already know, and calm words for “I’m fine” and “That’s private.”

Do you see what my family writes? No. Your files and your copy of the Hub are yours, and we can’t open them.

What’s your refund policy? Email thefolksfile@gmail.com within 30 days of your purchase, and you get a full refund. No questions asked.

You’re based in Spain. Could my card add a fee? It could. Prices are in US dollars, but we’re a small business based in Spain. Some card issuers charge a foreign transaction fee on online purchases from a business outside the US. That fee comes from your card issuer, not from us. Your statement shows the charge as THE FOLKS FILE.

Is this legal advice? No. The Parent Paperwork System is an organizing tool. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and it doesn’t explain the law in any state. When a question needs a professional, the kit says so. We aren’t connected to any government agency.

Do I get updates? Yes, free through Dec. 31, 2027. When we update a file, we email the new download link to the address on your order. No newsletters.