---
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: 2026-08-01
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 their NestliCare inbox, and you can track exactly where they are with it.

## Send the form

Two equally good entry points:

**From the Documents inbox:**

1. Go to **Paperwork → Document Requests**.
2. Click **+ New** in the top right.
3. Pick **Send a fillable form** (the recommended option).
4. You land on the templates list. Click **Assign** on the template you want.

**From the Form templates page:**

1. Go to **Form templates**.
2. Click **Assign** on the card for the template you want.

Either way, 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 blank 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. **Sends an email to every active parent in that family.** Subject line: "[Your daycare] please complete '[Form title]'". Body links them to NestliCare.
3. **Shows the form in their inbox.** When they next open the app or the website, the form appears in their **Action needed** group with a **Fill out** button.

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 **Paperwork → Document Requests**. Each form assignment appears with a status badge:

- **Pending** — assigned, parent has not opened it yet
- **In progress** — parent has opened the fill page; their draft is auto-saving
- **Awaiting review** — parent has signed and submitted; waiting on you to approve
- **Approved** — you've approved it
- **Rejected** — you sent it back; parent can edit and resubmit

Click any row in **Awaiting review** to open the submission page where you can see every value the parent entered, the typed signature, the date and IP, and a link to the signed PDF. From there you Approve or Reject. 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** is captured at submit time as a typed full name, plus 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. If you only want one parent to see it, message us — per-parent assignment is on the roadmap.

**Sending the same form to many families at once.** Bulk assign is on the roadmap. For now, click Assign 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. That flow uploads a PDF and asks the parent to type their name to acknowledge they read it — no fields, no fill, just acknowledge.

## 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 in their inbox at /dashboard/documents — they don't need the email to find it.

**Status is stuck on Pending.** Pending means the parent hasn't opened the fill page yet. Send them a reminder via Messages.

**I assigned the wrong family.** Open the assignment from the inbox. There's no formal "unassign" button yet, but you can delete the assignment from the database side; reach out and we'll clean it up.

**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 ignore the duplicate after they fill the first one.