Stages
The five stages
Families often go through these stages in a different order, and many are in more than one at once. Start with the most urgent.
Stage 1
Safety at home
A plain-language guide to helping a parent stay safely at home: fall prevention, room-by-room fixes, alarms, emergency plans, and when to bring in an occupational therapist.
Stage 2
Downsizing
How to plan a parent's transition to a smaller or simpler home: deciding where, sorting belongings, timing a sale, and tax basics from IRS Publication 523.
Stage 3
Care options
Plain-language explanations of in-home care, independent living, assisted living, memory care, and nursing homes, with questions to ask and how to use Medicare Care Compare.
Stage 4
The family home
How families think through keeping, renting, or selling a parent's home during a care transition or after a loss, with the questions to bring to licensed professionals.
Stage 5
After a loss
A calm, step-by-step guide to the tasks after a parent dies: death certificates, notifying Social Security, accounts to close, and when to call a probate attorney.
Something changed suddenly? See what to do in the next 72 hours.