Recipients: When & what do they see?

If you’ve received access to a Bequeath item, it’s because someone intentionally left something for you. They uploaded an item to their Bequeath Vault and added you as a recipient of this item. 

At the time of upload, the vault owner made two decisions:

1. Whether to allow you to access this item immediately or only once they passed away

2. Whether they wanted you to know if this item was from them or not (the anonymous option is only available for items released upon death).

Access therefore, happens in one of two ways:

• Immediate Access (while the vault owner is alive)

• Release Upon Death (after the vault is formally unlocked)

Immediate Access
(While the Vault Owner is alive)

A vault owner can choose to share specific items with you straight away. This is typically used for a will shared with a spouse, insurance documentation, property or vehicle information,legal instructions and important financial details.

When this happens you receive a secure email notification and are granted access to that specific item only. The rest of the vault remains private and the vault itself is not unlocked.

Immediate access does not indicate that the vault owner has passed away. It means they want you to have this information now and you will only see the item(s) intentionally assigned to you.

Access Upon Death
(Full Release Process)

If the vault owner passes away, access is granted only after a formal release process is completed. This includes a nominated Legacy Keeper(s) confirming the vault owner has passed away.

Once verified, the vault is unlocked according to the owner’s instructions. You will then receive secure access to the items assigned to you. You will not see their entire vault or items allocated to other recipients. You will not have any administrative controls or visibility into content not explicitly shared with you. Bequeath follows the vault owner’s configuration precisely.

Anonymous Messages
(Released Only Upon Death)

Some vault owners choose to create deeply personal messages, such as letters asking for forgiveness or emotional reflections and send them anonymously. They obviously need to upload these items whilst they are still alive but do not want the recipient to view these items until they have passed away.

Anonymous items are never released while the vault owner is alive. They are only delivered after the vault has been formally unlocked following death. If you are a recipient of an anonymous item, you will receive an email that ‘someone’ has uploaded an item for you at the time they upload they item to Bequeath. The identity of the sender becomes known only when the vault has been formally unlocked due to death.

Anonymous release is designed to allow someone to express something vulnerable, difficult, or deeply personal while protecting them during their lifetime.

What you see when you Log In

When you access your assigned content, your dashboard will display the items which may include letters, videos, 360 Messages (delivered over meaningful dates within a year of the vault owner passing), Moment Messages (released for specific milestones), important documents and photos or personal stories. You will only ever see what was intentionally assigned to you.

STORY OR ADMIN ITEMS

Items from the vault owner’s Story or Admin Vault will be released to you either whilst they are still alive, or after they’ve passed away, based on what they stipulated.

TREASURE VAULT ITEMS

Items from the vault owner’s Treasure Vault will be released to you on different dates, depending on the message type.

360 Messages

These are delivered on meaningful days (birthdays, anniversaries, milestones) for up to 360 days after vault release. If you are assigned one these messages may unlock gradually on a specified date. For example on your first birthday or anniversary after they’ve passed away. You will receive notifications as each message becomes available.

Moment Messages

These are released only when a specific life event occurs such as:

• A wedding

• The birth of a child

• A significant milestone

Some Moment Messages may be delivered years after the initial vault release and they require you to go into the vault and ‘push release’ the message.