Setting up ipad air for elderly relative

Don’t set it up using your Apple ID. Set it up as new, and create a new Apple ID for her right on the device. You can actually do that during the set up process or skip it and then set the ID up after it have been fully activated.

Then purchase some iTunes gift cards and use those to make purchases for her. I’m sure she won’t she be making a large amount of purchases but having some money in her Apple ID will give her the flexibility to buy what she wants. You may want to consider setting up her Apple ID without using a credit card and there is a very specific way to do this and if you choose to do so, do not set up her ID during the set up process. Set her ID up after the device is up and running.

This explains how to set up the ID without needing a credit card.

Create or use an Apple ID without a payment method - Apple Support

However, you know her better than we do, so if she is comfortable using a credit card with the device, you can go ahead and set that up for her as well. Obviously, you would need to know the card details in order to set it up for them.

After you set up the device up, buy her a couple of apps that you think she would like and go from there. You should also set it up to backup every day with iCloud. You will need to use her email address to set up FaceTime and the Messages app, but that would be something you should probably do in person when you give her the iPad.

I’m sure that some of the other community members will have other ideas, or have useful suggestions, but I think this will give you a starting point.

From the outset, you would be best advised to create and use a seperate AppleID for the iPad - otherwise, you will ultimately need to wipe the device and start again upon passing the iPad to the eventual recipient.

Unless you have direct access to the recipients primary email address from the outset, you might need to use a temporary (but accessible) email address for setup of both the new AppleID and the iPad. When you are ready to pass the iPad to the recipient, you’ll need the recipients cooperation to update the new AppleID account, with the correct primary and secondary (recovery) email addresses and Trusted telephone numbers (of which there should be several - both fixed line and mobile - as these may be needed for account recovery purposes).

These are the support pages that you will need to review when updating the AppleID account (i.e., the primary email address that is used to identify the account) and the AppleID password:

Change your Apple ID - Apple Support

Change your Apple ID password – Apple Support

What to do after you change your Apple ID or password - Apple Support

Do not underestimate the importance of correctly setting-up the AppleID account - as failure to do so correctly will impact the ability of the recipient (or their helper) in recovering access to either the iPad or AppleID should either become locked-out; similarly, the Activation Lock that will inhibit use of the iPad is linked to this AppleID that is used to activate the iPad.

I hope this information and guidance proves to be helpful in setting you upon the right path.