Organizing Tools

As seniors, we have the chance to organize our important papers to promote a clear guide for our family and those people closing our estate. Getting familiar with resources and the technology available for this task, might make this a more attainable goal. 

We welcome you to contribute ideas that may be helpful, and any websites that have educational instructions or resources to further the learning curve.

Click on one of the choices below to request your free template(s) - 

••• Personal Important Papers Database - Apple version using the Numbers App

••• Personal Important Papers Database - Windows version using the Excel App

••• Personal Important Papers Database - BOTH Apple and Windows formats 

The database template has sections and topics already set up for:

• Bills, Income Sources, Subscriptions • Websites, Accounts, Passwords • Devices and Digital Estate • Medical Emergency Checklist • Scanned Documents • Death Checklist • Obituary & Personal Information • Selling Your Home - Closing All Accounts • Pets

NOTE: Please review the links below, if needed, for instructions on using the spreadsheet applications for both Apple’s built-in Numbers and Microsoft’s Excel. The database can be used on computers, tablets and smartphones.

••• 5 Steps to Organize Your Loved One’s Financial Records (AARP)

••• How to Delete Your Old Online Accounts (and Why You Should)

••• What To Bring To Estate Planning Meeting (Checklist)

••• Estate Planning: A Comprehensive Guide

••• Settling an Estate: A Step-by-Step Guide

••• Guide-Workbook for Will Planning - Charitable Giving (Am. Red Cross) (Fillable by Typing)

••• Caregiving - AARP Financial Workbook for Family Caregivers (Fillable by Typing)

ANDROID

 ••• Factory Reset Android Phone: How to Wipe Your Android Phone Completely 

 ••• Factory Reset Kindle: How to Hard & Soft Reset Most Kindle Devices

••• Medical ID - How to set up your medical record on your mobile phone

••• Scan - Scan documents with Google Drive

••• Watch - Best Smartwatch For Fall Detection That Calls 911 (2026)

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APPLE

 ••• Factory Reset Mac:  What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac
••• Factory Reset iPhone/iPad:  What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone or iPad
•••  Factory Reset Apple Watch:  What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Apple Watch, or buy one from someone else

••• Medical ID - Set up your Medical ID in the Health app on your iPhone

••• Notes - iPhone Notes: Everything You Need to Know

••• Notes - Live: How To Use Apple Notes Effectively (MacMost video tutorial)

••• Notes - Use Notes on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

••• Numbers - Numbers User Guide for Mac

••• Numbers - Numbers on the Mac for Beginners 2024 How-To Video

••• Numbers - Numbers User Guide for iPad

••• Numbers - Numbers User Guide for iPhone

••• Numbers - Numbers Support

••• Passwords: Use the Passwords app to create, manage, and share passwords and passkeys across Apple devices

••• Scan - How to scan documents on your iPhone or iPad

••• Watch - Best Smartwatch For Fall Detection That Calls 911 (2026)

••• Watch - Apple Watch Information

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WINDOWS

••• 1-800- MICROSOFT (or 642-7676)

 ••• Factory Reset - Reset You PC (Windows 10 & 11)

••• Excel - Basic tasks in Excel

••• Excel - New to Excel? Here's Super Easy Tricks to Get You Started

••• LibreOffice - Microsoft File Formats in LibreOffice: DOCX, XLSX, PPTX

••• PDF - 3 Ways to Embed a PDF Document in Microsoft Excel

••• Scan - Scan documents with Google Drive

••• Apps - The 12 Best Organization Apps for Personal & Professional Use: Set Recurring Tasks, Create a To-Do List & More for Free

••• Credit Equifax - Security Freeze

••• Credit Experian - Freeze or Unfreeze Your Credit File for Free

••• Credit TransUnion - Credit Freeze

••• Email - How to Declutter Your Email Inbox and Take Control of Your Time

••• Email - How to Change Your Email Address (and the Best Way to Do It)

••• File Transfer - Send attachments with your Gmail message

••• File Transfer - WeTransfer - Send Large Files Fast

••• Google - Create a Gmail account - access to email, calendar, tasks, database, docs, etc.

••• Google - Share your Google calendar

••• Credit Cards - Report identity theft and get a recovery plan (FTC) 

••• Estate Planning - Estate Settlement Guide

••• Estate Planning - Five Wishes 

••• Estate Planning - Electronic Wills

••• Gifts - Who Gets Grandma’s Yellow Pie Plate? Transferring Non-Titled Property

••• Legal Articles - Explore Nolo's library of thousands of free and professionally written and edited legal articles

••• Medical - Health Care Advance Directives Reference & Downloadable Forms

••• Pets - The Paperwork of Pet Ownership and What Determines Ownership of a Pet

••• Pets - Navigating the World of Dog Papers: A Comprehensive Guide

••• Pets - Explore Cat Information

••• Pets - Ocala OTOW Local Resource

••• Recovery - Set up a recovery phone number or email address

••• Security - Have I Been Pwned: Check if your email has been compromised in a data breach

••• Subscriptions - Stop the sneaky subscriptions: how to actually cancel the stuff you don’t use

••• Wills vs Trusts - Do You Need a Will or a Trust? Here’s How to Decide (ncoa.org)

••• Wills vs Trusts - 7 Benefits of Using a Trust Instead of a Will

••• Documents - Replacing Lost or Damaged Documents

••• Estate Planning - Estate Planning: Getting Started

••• Estate Planning - Putting Your Legal and Financial Affairs in Order

••• Estate Planning - Estate Planning: Preparing a Letter of Last Instructions

••• Estate Planning - Estate Planning “Need to Knows” for Military Families

••• Home - Closing Your Seasonal Home

••• Home -  Homemade Household Cleaners

••• Home - Hazardous Household Substances: Alternatives That Are Relatively Free of Toxic Effects

••• Insurance - Six Steps in Making an Insurance Claim

••• Inventory - Keeping a Household Inventory and Protecting Valuable Records

•••  The First 12 Calls After a Spouse Dies

••• Checklist - What To Do When Someone Dies Checklist (includes Funeral arrangements)

••• Checklist - When Someone Dies: Timeline and Interactive Checklist of Tasks (Hospice)

••• Checklist - What to Do When a Loved One Dies  (AARP)

••• Credit - Credit and Debt After Death: What You Need to Know

••• Facebook 2-26 - How to manage a deceased loved one’s Facebook account

••• Shredding - When to Shred the Documents of a Deceased Person

••• TV 6-26 - Cancel Subscriptions After a Death