Everything your family would need to know, in one place.
Where the stopcock is. Who to ring. Which pension came from which job. What happens to the photos. Most households have all of this — scattered across drawers, inboxes and one person’s head. The Family File is 40 calm, well-made pages that put it in one place.
- Fill it in on screen — over 1,000 fillable fields — or print it on A4
- Written for the UK, with guidance sourced to GOV.UK and the NHS
- Never asks for a password, a PIN or a full card number
Secure card payment by Stripe. No refunds once downloaded — see the sample first. Terms of sale.
On an ordinary bad day
A burst pipe at 9pm and nobody knows where the stopcock is. A power cut and the torch is — somewhere. The house pages are the ones you’ll use first, and they take ten minutes. The government’s own Prepare campaign says to write the important numbers and policy details down on paper. This is the paper.
On a hard one
Someone is in hospital, or has died, and the person left to cope doesn’t know which bank, which pension, or where the will is. Page one tells them who to ring first. The rest can wait.
And once a year
Jobs change, accounts close, medicines change. A two-minute review log keeps the file true — the thing every other organiser forgets.
Look inside
Shown filled in, in a made-up family’s handwriting. Yours arrives blank, with every line ready to type into.
What’s inside
15 sections across 40 pages, plus a list of official UK services and a yearly review log. Fill in what applies and skip what doesn’t.
Why this one
Built for Britain, not translated
The best-selling organiser on Amazon UK is American: it asks for a Social Security number and a Zip code. This one knows about National Insurance numbers, 105, Tell Us Once and the Priority Services Register.
It starts with the house
No other organiser we could find has a page for the stopcock, the fuse box and the gas shut-off — the three things most likely to be needed, by anyone, on any day.
Guidance beside every blank
Not bare boxes. Each page says why the question matters and what to do about it — that pensions usually sit outside your will, that a joint account carries on and a sole one is frozen.
Safe by design
No passwords, PINs or codes, anywhere. The digital pages record where your password manager’s recovery sheet is and who your legacy contacts are, which is what actually lets someone in.
Room to write
Large type and generous lines, because the people most likely to fill it in are not twenty-five. Every line is also a fillable field if you’d rather type.
Nothing in it goes out of date quietly
Fees and limits change, so the file names the official service and where to check rather than printing a figure. A live list of those services is kept on this site.
When not to buy this
If you only want the basics, Age UK’s LifeBook is free and perfectly good. If what you need is a will or a power of attorney, this isn’t one — spend the money on those first; the official starting points are gov.uk/make-will and gov.uk/power-of-attorney. And a file only helps if it gets filled in. If you know you won’t, save your £9.99.
Questions
Is The Family File a will?+
No, and it has no legal force. A will says who inherits; The Family File tells the people you trust where everything is and who to ring. It works alongside a will, and it tells your family where the will is kept.
Can I type into it, or do I have to print it?+
Both. Every line is a fillable field, so you can type into it in Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) or Apple Preview and save your answers. Or print it on A4 and write in it. If you fill it in on screen we suggest printing a copy too — paper still works in a power cut, and for someone who doesn’t know your laptop password.
Does it ask for my passwords?+
Never. It is designed so that no password, PIN, alarm code or full card number is ever written in it. It records where those things are kept and who knows them, which is the advice the National Cyber Security Centre gives.
Is it written for the UK?+
Yes, only for the UK. National Insurance and NHS numbers rather than Social Security numbers, 105 for power cuts, the Priority Services Register, Tell Us Once, lasting power of attorney and its Scottish and Northern Irish equivalents. Guidance is sourced to GOV.UK, the NHS, Ofcom, Ofgem and the FCA.
How do I get it, and what if I lose the link?+
You pay by card through Stripe and download the PDF straight away. We also email your personal download link to the address you paid with, so you can fetch it again whenever you need to.
Can I get a refund?+
No — it’s an instant download, so we don’t refund a change of mind, and we ask you to agree to that before you pay. That’s why four sample pages are free: look before you buy. If the file itself is faulty or not as described, your legal rights are unaffected and we’ll put it right.
Can I print more than one copy?+
Yes. One purchase covers your household: print as many copies and extra pages as you need, including an emergency card for each adult. Please don’t share the file outside your household.
Isn’t there a free version of this?+
Age UK publishes a free LifeBook, and it is a good place to start if you only want the basics. The Family File goes further on the things it leaves out: the house itself, pensions, digital accounts, a tear-out emergency card and a yearly review.
Secure card payment by Stripe. No refunds once downloaded — see the sample first. Terms of sale.
The Family File is general information to help you organise your household’s records. It is not legal, financial or medical advice. Written by Tom Calder for PreparedBritain, an independent publisher not affiliated with HM Government. The official services it refers to are listed, and kept current, at Useful UK services.