Digital Legacy
Your executor will need the keys. Leave a letter that sends itself.
A monthly check-in that guards a message. Press a button once a month. If thirty days pass without it, the letter you wrote reaches the people you chose: where the documents are, who to call, what you want done.
Silent for 30 daysyour executor gets the keys.
Nothing goes out while you keep checking in, and you can edit the letter whenever life changes.
Next check-in in 30 days
01 The silence
The folder nobody knows to open
A will covers who gets what. It rarely covers the practical map: which bank, which accounts, where the deed is, how to get into the password manager, which subscriptions to cancel, who to tell first.
Most people mean to write that down and hand it to someone. Some do, and then the notes go stale in a drawer or a shared folder that nobody remembers to open.
A letter behind a monthly check-in handles both halves. You keep it current because you can edit it at any time, and it arrives because delivery doesn’t depend on anyone remembering it exists.
You write it all down: the accounts, the safe-deposit box, who to call. “where-everything-is.txt”
You change banks. The file doesn’t change.
A new password manager. The file still points at the old one.
The laptop it lives on is replaced. The file moves to a folder nobody else can open.
Your executor knows there was a list. Nobody knows where it is.
02 The switch
How it works
Press check in before the dial runs out, or let it run and see what your person gets.
Simulation: 12 seconds stand in for 30d 0h. Nothing is sent.
Write the letter
Address it to your executor, a partner, a sibling. Say where things are and what you want done. Point to your password manager’s emergency access rather than pasting passwords in.
Check in once a month
A reminder email arrives before each deadline. Open the link and press the button; the thirty days start again and nothing is sent.
Thirty quiet days, and it goes out
If a full month passes without a check-in, the letter goes to the people you listed, by email or by text.
03 The message
What your executor gets
Exactly what you wrote, sent on the day the check-ins stop, inside an alert that says who set it up. The most useful version reads like directions.
- Your words, unedited, under “Their message”
- Who set it up, and the check-in that was missed
- What to do next, and a link that explains the alert
It reaches them by email or by text, with nothing to install and no account to make.
Daniel did not check in — “If you’re reading this”
Daniel did not check in
Daniel set up a countdown called “If you’re reading this” and did not check in by Tue, Nov 10, 9:00 AM PST. This message was sent automatically on their behalf.
Their message
If you’re reading this, I haven’t checked in for 30 days. My will is with Hartley & Lowe, 555-0199. My password manager has emergency access set up for you: request it, and it unlocks after the waiting period. The house deed and car title are in the grey file box in the hall closet. Please call my sister before anyone else.
What to do: try to reach Daniel directly. If you cannot, and you believe they may be in danger, contact your local emergency services.
04 The fine print
What it is, and what it isn’t
Not a will
It delivers your words; it doesn’t transfer anything or carry legal weight. Keep a proper will, and use this so the people carrying it out know where to start.
Not a password vault
Don’t put passwords or full account numbers in the letter. Point to where they live: a password manager’s emergency access, a safe, a lawyer.
Not set off by a trip
Check in before you leave, or stop the countdown and start it again when you’re back.
05 Questions
Before you set it
Is this a will?
No. It sends messages; it doesn’t carry legal weight or move assets. Use it alongside a will, so the people who matter know where everything is.
What if I’m traveling for a month?
Check in from anywhere you can open a link. If you’ll be out of reach for longer than the interval, stop the countdown before you go and start it again when you’re back.
Can I change the letter later?
Yes. Edit it whenever something changes: a new account, a new address, a new executor.
Can I see exactly what will be sent?
Yes. The builder can send a test of the exact message before anything is armed.