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For families

Getting organised — together.

Most families have no shared picture of where everything is — the will, the accounts, the name of the solicitor, the code for the phone. It tends to live in one person's head.

Valoren gives a family one place to gather it: owned by the person whose life it describes, and ready for the people who would ever need it. It's what a family handover kit is for.

What this spares your family

The cost of an unprepared estate is paid in hours, money and worry — by the people you love.

0–0 hours
Reconstructing a life

When nothing was written down, a full estate can run to the high tens or low hundreds of hours — multiplied across everyone who steps in to help.

up to £0
An entitlement easily missed

Bereavement Support Payment can reach £9,800 at the higher rate if there are dependent children — a lump sum plus monthly payments. Check GOV.UK for current conditions.

One place
Nothing to search for

When the will, the accounts and the access notes are already gathered, the people left behind start from a clear picture rather than a locked phone and a list of guesses.

None of this removes the grief. It removes the scavenger hunt laid on top of it.
I

It is usually all in one person's head

Ask most families where the will is kept, which bank holds the savings, who the solicitor was, or how to get into the phone, and you will get a long pause. The knowledge exists — it just lives in one head, undocumented, assumed to be obvious until the moment someone needs it and cannot ask.

That is how families end up reconstructing a whole life under pressure — searching drawers, guessing passwords, ringing round to find out what was already known and never written down.

It is avoidable. The fix is not a filing cabinet; it is one shared record, kept current, that the people who matter can rely on.

II

Three things, held in one place

A family record is not a pile of documents. It is three connected things — and Valoren is built to hold all three together, owned by the person it describes.

The records

Where everything is

The will, the accounts, the policies, the deeds, the passwords — gathered in one place instead of scattered across drawers, inboxes, and one person's memory.

The route

Who is told, and when

The order things happen in when the time comes — who to contact first, what they need, and what can wait. A plan, not a scramble at two in the morning.

The person

Who steps in

A named trusted person who steps in if needed, handed a clear picture rather than a locked phone and a list of guesses. Chosen calmly, in advance.

III

The First Sitting — built for this exact conversation

The First Sitting is a guided start you can do together at the kitchen table, in about ten minutes.

It asks the questions families find hardest to begin — where things are, who should be told, who would step in — in an order that makes them easy to answer rather than awkward to raise.

It is led by the person whose record it is. No one is signed up to anything, and nothing leaves their hands. You finish with a real beginning — the first true entries in a record the whole family can rely on, and a calm sense of where the gaps still are.

IV

What to ask — without taking over

Five questions for an unhurried conversation. Ask them as someone who wants to help, not audit. You are listening for what exists and what they want — not making changes.

Five questionsFree PDFNo account needed
Print it and take it to the conversation.
Download the checklist (PDF)
Where are the important papers kept?
The will, any LPA, the deeds, insurance, pension paperwork. Not to take them — just so someone knows where to look.
Who would you want to act for you, if you couldn't?
Their choice, named in their words. This is the seed of a Lasting Power of Attorney — a decision only they can make, while they can.
Who are the people and firms we'd need to contact?
GP, solicitor, accountant, the banks. A short list now saves a long search later.
Is there anything you'd want done a particular way?
Funeral wishes, who to tell first, a pet's care. Small things that matter enormously, and are easily lost.
What would you NOT want me to change?
The most important question, and the one most often skipped. Supporting someone means knowing the lines they want held.

When you've had this conversation, start a free First Sitting together and the answers become a living record your parent keeps — held in one place, updated as things change, ready for the people who would ever need it.

Prefer it composed for you? Caring for a Parent is a £79 document pack — LPA, finances, and care preferences, personally prepared within one business day.

FAQ

Common questions.

It is one shared place that gathers where things are, who should be told, and who would step in — the will, accounts, policies, contacts and access notes. The record is owned and led by the person whose life it describes.

Family members can see what they would need, but nothing is signed away.
Yes. A record is always led by one person — the person whose life it describes — but a family is rarely one record.

Siblings often start with a parent's record together, helping gather what is known, while the parent stays in charge of it. Each of you can also keep your own record when you are ready. The people who help can be the same people who are told.
Many families begin with a First Sitting — a guided start you can do together at the kitchen table in about ten minutes. It asks where things are kept, who should be told, and who would step in, in an order that makes hard questions easier to raise.

You finish with the first real entries.
No. Most people start with what is already known and add the rest over time. The First Sitting gives you a calm sense of where the gaps are, so the record can grow gradually.

Keeping it current matters more than completing it in one go.
Not exactly — it's more than that now. For straightforward estates, Valoren prepares a legally binding will as part of your family's record, drafted within eligibility rules signed off by a practising solicitor — and if things are more complex, we say so and route you to a specialist.

It does not hold money or give financial advice; those stay with your bank, adviser, or accountant.

The will is one part of a wider record — where things are, who should be told, and who would step in.
The person whose record it is decides what is gathered and what is shared. Nothing leaves their hands without their say.

A named trusted person can be given a clear picture for when they would need it, rather than a locked phone and a list of guesses — chosen calmly, in advance.
Where families go from here

Where to go from here

The conversation no family regrets having early.

Sit down together once. Gather what is already known. Keep it true. There is nothing to pay to begin. The work done calmly now is the work no one has to do in a hurry later.

Start a First Sitting — about ten minutes

Library

Free guides behind these products

These free briefs are the foundation the paid products personalise. The guides are openly available — the paid products apply them to your specific household.

Free
Dependent Care Emergency Pack

For Families captures the dependant care contingency in a live record — so the right person knows what to do, and the right documents are accessible.

Read the guide
Free
Dependent Care Emergency Sheet

For Families prepares a personalised care sheet for each dependant — daily needs, medical contacts, and emergency protocols drawn from your records.

Read the guide
Free
Family Continuity Foundation

For Families builds the complete foundation this document describes — records held in one structured system, accessible to the people who need them.

Read the guide
Free
Family Continuity Foundation — Companion Guide

For Families builds the complete record system this guide describes — all five series, structured and held in one place, accessible to the right people.

Read the guide
Free
Family Permission & Boundaries Sheet

For Families captures the permission boundaries in a live record — so the boundaries are decided before anyone has to ask, especially in blended families.

Read the guide

All guides are available free from the Valoren library — no account required.

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