---
title: "Send a fillable form to a family"
description: "Assign one of your form templates to a family. The parent gets an email and the form lands in their inbox to fill and sign."
type: guide
updated: 2026-10-11
canonical_url: https://help.nestlicare.com/owners/documents/send-a-fillable-form-to-a-family
roles: ["center_admin", "super_admin"]
platforms: [web]
---
Once you have built a [fillable form template](/owners/documents/build-a-fillable-form-template), sending it to a family is two clicks. They get an email, the form appears in the Documents section of their NestliCare app, and you can track exactly where they are with it.

<VideoEmbed
  src="send-a-form"
  title="Send a form or permission slip (narrated, 60 seconds)"
  captions={false}
/>

<VideoEmbed
  src="documents-explained"
  title="Documents and forms, explained: send, sign, review and file (narrated, 2.5 minutes)"
  captions={false}
/>

## Send the form

1. Go to **Documents → Document Requests** and open the **Templates** tab.
2. Click **Send** on the card for the template you want. (The card's **⋮** menu also has **Send to family**.)

An Assign dialog opens.

## Pick the recipient and due date

In the Assign dialog:

- **Family** (required). Pick the family you're sending it to.
- **Child (optional)**. For a family with multiple children, pick the one this form is about. Leave it on **No specific child** if the form is family-wide (e.g., a tuition agreement that covers all kids).
- **Due date (optional)**. When you'd like the form completed by. Shows up in the parent's inbox as "Due Apr 27" so they know it's not a "whenever" item.

Click **Assign**.

## What happens next

The system does three things automatically:

1. **Creates an assignment row** that links the template to the family and child you picked.
2. **Emails the parents in that family** with a link to the form.
3. **Shows the form in their app.** When they next open the app or the website, the form is waiting in their documents to fill out.

You can assign the same template to the same family more than once if you need to (e.g., a yearly Photo Release renewal). Each assignment is independent and tracked separately.

## Track progress

Open **Documents → Document Requests**. Sent forms sit in three tabs: **Outstanding**, **Awaiting your review**, and **Completed**. Each card has a status badge:

- **Sent**: assigned, the parent hasn't started it yet
- **In progress**: the parent has opened it; their draft saves as they go
- **Submitted**: the parent signed and submitted it; it's waiting for you under **Awaiting your review**
- **Approved**: you approved it
- **Returned**: you sent it back with a note; the parent can fix it and resubmit
- **Removed**: you took it off the parent's to-do list

Open a card in **Awaiting your review** to see every value the parent entered, their signature, the date and IP, and the signed PDF. From there you approve it or send it back. See [Review and approve a form](/owners/documents/review-and-approve-a-form).

## What the parent sees

When the parent opens the form:

- **Your actual PDF** loads in their browser, exactly as you uploaded it.
- **Each field you placed** appears as an interactive input at the right spot on the page.
- **Pre-filled fields** show up already populated with what we know about them (their name, child's name, etc.) with a soft yellow tint and a "from your profile" badge. They can edit any of it.
- **Signature**: the parent draws their signature and types their name, and we keep an audit record (date, IP, browser).
- After they sign and submit, a **stamped copy of your PDF** is generated and saved.

If you set any prefilled fields to **Require parent to verify**, the parent has to focus those fields at least once before they can submit.

## Common scenarios

**Re-sending a form because something changed.** Just assign it again. Both assignments coexist; you decide later which one is the canonical record.

**Sending to a single parent on a two-parent family.** Both parents get the email by default. The first one to open and submit it fills it on behalf of the family. There's no way to send it to just one parent in a family.

**Sending the same form to many families at once.** Send it to one family at a time: click **Send** on the template once per family. With practice it's about 15 seconds per family.

**Sending an info doc parents only need to read, not fill.** Use [Send a document for acknowledgement](/owners/documents/send-a-document-for-acknowledgement) instead. The parent reads your PDF and types their name to acknowledge it. No fields to fill.

## Troubleshooting

**Parent says they didn't get the email.** Check their email is correct on their parent record. Have them check spam. If both are fine, the form is still waiting in the Documents section of their app. They don't need the email to find it.

**Status is stuck on Sent.** The parent hasn't opened the form yet. Send them a reminder via Messages.

**I assigned the wrong family.** Find the card under **Outstanding** and click the trash icon (**Remove from parents' to-do list**). It is marked **Removed**, and you can click **Restore** if you change your mind. Then send it to the right family.

**The same family got the form twice by accident.** Both assignments are valid. The parent will see two rows in their inbox; they can fill both, or you can remove the extra one with the trash icon on its card.