The Elder Care Playbook

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Four questions every adult child should be able to answer.

If you can answer all four in under sixty seconds, you are unusually well prepared. If you can't, you are most families.

Where is your parent's will, and when was it last updated?

A will more than ten years old is almost always out of date. If you can't tell me where to find it, neither can your sister at 2am from a hospital phone.

Who is the named agent on their healthcare power of attorney?

This is the person legally authorized to make medical decisions when your parent can't. If no agent is named, the hospital defaults to next-of-kin — which often produces decisions nobody wanted.

What are all the medications they take, and which ones can't combine?

Most older adults take five or more prescriptions. Drug interactions cause 1.3 million ER visits per year. "I think she takes blood pressure stuff" is the wrong answer.

Where is every account, in writing, in one place?

Not "they bank at Wells Fargo." Every checking, savings, retirement, insurance, safety deposit box, recurring subscription — written down so an estate can close in 30 days, not 18 months.

If you got zero out of four, you are normal. The rest of this page is for you.

The Elder Care Playbook binder on a wooden desk in soft natural light

The Story Behind It

I'm not a writer. I'm an adult child who got caught off guard.

Three years ago, scammers stole twelve thousand dollars from my mother in a single afternoon. Six months later, my father collapsed in a grocery store and an ER doctor asked me a question I couldn't answer.

I was fifty-two years old. I had two kids of my own. I ran a company. And standing in that hallway, I felt like a child.

That night I went home, sat down at my kitchen table, and wrote down every single thing I didn't know about either of my parents. The list was four pages long.

Over the next ninety days, I built a binder. The one I wish someone had handed me three years earlier.

This is that binder, made into a digital guide for the people I see making the same mistakes I did. It will not make any of what is coming easy. Nothing makes losing a parent easy. But it will make the next eighteen months less chaotic, less expensive, and less lonely.

— The Elder Care Playbook

What's Inside

Thirty pages. Nine chapters. Built for one Sunday afternoon at a time.

Worksheets you can print. Scripts you can use word-for-word. The exact checklists I built the hard way, all in one place.

I

The four questions every adult child should answer

A self-test that surfaces the gaps before a crisis does.

II

The essential documents

Power of attorney, healthcare proxy, living will, HIPAA release — what each does, in plain English.

III

The information inventory

Fillable worksheets for medications, accounts, insurance, and document locations.

IV

The conversations

Five word-for-word scripts for the conversations most families never start until it's too late.

V

Scam protection for older adults

The five most common scams of 2026, the Pause Protocol, bank hardening, and phone screening setup.

VI

When the call comes

What to do in the first hour, first six hours, and first twenty-four hours of a medical crisis.

VII

Choosing a care setting

In-home care, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, and hospice — costs, coverage, and how to choose.

VIII

End of life planning

Funeral planning worksheet, the honest take on pre-paid plans, and an eighteen-item estate closing checklist.

IX

Resources and glossary

National hotlines, how to find an elder law attorney, and the language to use when you call.

What You Walk Away With

The exact toolkit, not theory.

Every page is built around something you can finish in a single sitting and use the next day.

i

The Master Information Sheet

A single page that closes 80% of the chaos when a parent is hospitalized. Bring it. Photograph it. Done.

ii

Five conversation scripts

Word-for-word openers for the talks with your parent, your siblings, and your parent's doctor. Use them verbatim until they're yours.

iii

The Pause Protocol

A three-rule scam defense you can tape to a phone today. Would have saved my mother twelve thousand dollars.

iv

The first-24-hours playbook

A hour-by-hour checklist for the moment the call comes. So you don't miss anything that matters when adrenaline blocks everything out.

v

Care setting decision frameworks

In-home, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, hospice — what each costs, what Medicare actually pays, and how to choose.

vi

Funeral & estate closing checklists

The eighteen things that have to happen in the first ninety days. Pre-printed. Pre-thought-through.

What Other Families Are Saying

The Playbook is doing what most adult children wish they had done five years ago.

My dad's stroke happened three weeks after I finished filling out the Master Information Sheet. I walked into the hospital with everything in a folder. The discharge planner asked me if I was a nurse.

Karen M. Age 54 · Madison, WI · Adult daughter of a retired teacher

I bought it because of the scam chapter. My mother got the same Medicare fraud call two days after I installed the Pause Protocol on her phone. She hung up. The call back to me ended in laughter, not tears.

David R. Age 49 · Austin, TX · Adult son of a widowed mother

My brother and I had two of the conversations from Part IV last Thanksgiving. We learned more about what our mother actually wants in forty minutes than in the previous twelve years.

Jessica L. Age 47 · Bend, OR · Eldest of three siblings

My father passed two months after we used the funeral planning worksheet together. The decisions were already made. The week after his death was the first week I have ever cried without also being on the phone.

Michael T. Age 58 · Charleston, SC · Son of a Vietnam veteran

Everything You Get Today

One download. Eighty percent of the chaos handled.

Pay once. Keep forever. Update when your family changes.

Digital edition · Instant download · 30 pages · Print-ready

The full 30-page guide (PDF) $59

All five conversation scripts $19

The Master Information Sheet & six worksheets $15

Scam Protection chapter + the Pause Protocol $12

First-24-hours crisis playbook $14

If bought separately $119

Regular price $99 $27

Launch Pricing · 72% Off

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Instant download. 30-day refund guarantee.
One-time payment, no subscription, no upsell.

30

Day Refund

If it doesn't help, you don't pay.

Read it. Fill in one worksheet. Have one of the conversations. If after thirty days you don't believe this Playbook is the best $27 you've ever spent on your family, email us and we'll refund every dollar — and you keep the guide. No forms, no friction, no questions.

Honest Answers

Questions other families have asked first.

My parent is in their early sixties and perfectly healthy. Is this too early?

No, and that's the point. Every family that has ever told me "I wish we'd started sooner" started at exactly the moment they wished they hadn't started. If your parent is over sixty and still themselves, today is the easy version of this conversation. There is no easier version coming.

Is this legal advice? Will it work in my state?

It is educational, not legal advice. The four core documents discussed (power of attorney, healthcare POA, living will, HIPAA release) are governed by state law and the specific provisions vary. The Playbook explains how each document works and where to source state-compliant templates. For binding versions, work with an elder law attorney in your parent's state. A two-hour consultation costs less than the average uncontested probate filing.

What format does it come in? Can I print it?

It's a single PDF, 30 pages, sized for US Letter and designed to print beautifully. Most buyers keep a printed copy in a labeled binder at home and a digital copy on their phone. Both work. Either is fine.

Can I share this with my siblings?

Yes. The Playbook is licensed for personal and family use — share it with anyone in your immediate family. If you're a financial advisor, elder law attorney, or healthcare professional and want to share with clients, write to us about a practice license.

Why is it discounted to $27 right now?

Because more families using it is better than fewer families paying full price. The launch pricing is the price for the first cohort of buyers. The regular price after launch is $99. The content does not change.

Is this only for people whose parents are still alive?

No. Several chapters — the estate closing checklist, the funeral planning worksheet, the scam protection section if you have surviving family — remain useful even after a loss. But the highest value of this guide is in preparation, and preparation is something you can only do while there is still time.

One More Thing

Most people only learn these things after something has already gone wrong.

You don't have to. Sit down this weekend, while your parent is still themselves, and start the conversation.

Get The Playbook · $27 →

$99 $27 · 30-day refund · Instant download

Don't wait for the phone call.