Plain-English guidance for every stage of getting ready.
Talking to parents about getting organised
Nobody enjoys this conversation. The families who have it early, badly and more than once are still far better off than the ones who never manage it at all.
Tax year-end document checklist (UK)
The UK tax year ends on 5 April and several allowances vanish with it. Here is the paperwork to have ready and the deadlines that actually bite.
The first two weeks: what an executor actually has to do
When someone dies, the practical list arrives long before anyone feels ready for it. There are forms, phone calls and decisions, and they land in the same fortnight you are trying to absorb the loss itself. If you are the executor, there is an extra weight on top: a sense that you are supposed to […]
Does your partner know where everything is? A 20-minute fix
One evening, one page, one conversation. The fastest useful thing most couples can do for each other.
Protecting young children: the paperwork new parents forget
You will be handed a red book and a hundred leaflets. None of them mention the one document that decides who raises your child if you are not there.
Employee wellbeing: beyond the gym membership
Cycle to work, a meditation app and a discounted gym. All fine, all aimed at people who are basically coping. Here is what the benefits shelf tends to miss.
Organising a holiday home abroad: what UK owners need on file
A place in France or Spain is lovely until someone has to deal with it. Two legal systems, two tax authorities and paperwork in a language nobody in the family reads.
Deep clean your life admin: the room-by-room guide
Every room in your house is generating paperwork. Walking through them one at a time turns an infinite task into a finite one.
How one couple sorted their French property paperwork
Two wills that contradicted each other, a tax number nobody could find and a plumber whose number existed only on a fridge magnet. A cautionary tale with a good ending.
Annual readiness review: 12 things to check once a year
Nothing on this list is urgent, which is exactly why it never gets done. An hour once a year keeps a household from quietly drifting out of date.
How to do a personal net worth review (UK)
Net worth sounds like something for wealthy people. It is really just a stocktake, and doing it once a year tells you more than any budgeting app.
Before the tax year ends: the financial admin to finish
Several UK allowances reset on 5 April and unused amounts simply vanish. Here is what is worth checking, in rough order of how much it tends to be worth.