My mum...
Mum is the very reason I created the Later Life Planner.
When she got a chest infection earlier in the year I panicked and started worrying about her future health, and wondering if I knew everything I needed to know, to help Mum and myself, and to do the right thing for Mum.
About my Mum...
Mum is 88 years old, lives alone and is housebound. She has a carer in the mornings but manages for the rest of the day on her own. She drinks a litre of whisky in her coffee each week and calls it her ‘medicine’. She has a great sense of humour, loves watching Emmerdale, TV quiz shows, and reading. She follows sports that I like: football (Liverpool FC), the Tour De France, The Hundred cricket, and also watches tennis, rugby and athletics. When a game of football is about to start I’ll often get a text from Mum saying something like ‘I’ve got my boots on ready’!
We are in touch throughout the day – a morning text to make sure she is up ok, and a check on what I’m having for breakfast. A call after tea for a catch up, a list of what Mum has had for lunch and is having for tea, and an update on what she’ll be watching that evening. And then around 9pm it’s time to say goodnight, which usually takes about 5 texts as we keep saying ‘night’ to each other.
Friday night is online shopping night. It can sometimes be fun when Mum can’t understand what I’m asking her – ham, jam or spam for example! Always near the top of the list is whisky, and recently she has been sneaking in a bottle of Bailey’s too (other Irish Creams are available). I did check with Mum to see if she was drinking more because she was in pain or lonely, but after thinking about it she replied “No, I just enjoy it”.
Why I created the Planner
Mum’s health is pretty ok really considering she is 88. She has pain from her osteoperosis, and that keeps her housebound, and she’s not very mobile, but on the whole she does well health wise.
Earlier this year she got a chest infection, even though she kept telling us she didn’t have a cough. She was fine after taking the anti-biotics but it did worry me, and it got me thinking about her future health, and what her needs might be.
The information a will doesn't cover
A will takes care of all the legal things but it doesn’t tell your family who you are insured with, which bank accounts you have, your utility suppliers, your subscriptions, or where you keep important documents.
I knew a lot of Mum’s information, but not all of it, so as I’m a designer I sat down on my PC one day and started to create a document on which I could write Mums’ details. I kept typing and typing and ended up with quite a document!
I told Mum what I had done and arranged to go over so we could complete it together. When I arrived she sat there beaming and pointed to a pile of bills that she had retrieved from her file (a pile of paperwork in the corner of the kitchen). She had everything ready and we had a lovely morning filling it in.
We had already briefly discussed songs she wanted at her funeral, and where she wanted the service, but we hadn’t written it down anywhere, so it felt good to document it and knowing that I could arrange things exactly as Mum wants them. No guesswork, and no debates with the family.
What happened next?
As I had spent quite a long time creating the document I decided to email it to some of my friends and family, and boyfriends family so they could use for themselves or their parents too. They kept coming back to me and saying how good it was, and that their parents really loved it, and that I should sell it. I of course dismissed and ignored the selling it part for a while, but the more people that said it to me the more I began to think that I could create a book that could really help many families. And so after many more hours designing and refining, the Later Life Planner was born!
If my experience sounds familiar, I hope the Later Life Planner can help you and your family feel more organised, more prepared, and give you the same peace of mind it has given Mum and me.
Are you ready to get organised?
A will takes care of your legal wishes. The Later Life Planner takes care of all the other important details, and is the perfect companion to your will.
© 2026 The Later Life Planner karen@laterlifeplanner.co.uk