What is One Final Message?
One Final Message helps you organize your most important information — finances, legal documents, personal wishes, digital accounts, family stories, and more — so your loved ones have everything they need when the time comes. You create structured vitals across life categories, assign specific recipients to each one, and set up a simple check-in schedule. The platform sends you a confirmation request at your chosen interval — daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. As long as you respond, everything stays private and encrypted; nothing is shared. If you stop responding through your full grace period, the system delivers each vital only to the recipient you chose for it, along with any attached files and a personal note. Think of it as a digital safety deposit box that opens itself only when needed, on your terms.
How does it work?
Start with Vitals Discovery, a guided walkthrough that helps you explore categories — finance, legal, healthcare, digital accounts, personal letters — and choose which vitals to set up first. Fill in the details for each vital: bank account numbers, insurance policy details, password recovery hints, attorney contact info, or whatever the recipient will actually need to act. Assign one or more recipients to each vital — different people can receive different vitals based on what's relevant to them. Activate your check-in schedule by choosing your interval and confirmation methods. From then on you'll get a periodic confirmation request — just click the link in the email or SMS to confirm you're still active. The whole interaction takes seconds. If you don't respond after the reminder series during your grace period, your vitals are delivered to their assigned recipients automatically.
Is my information secure?
Yes — security is the foundation of the platform. All vitals and uploaded files are encrypted at rest using AES-256 encryption. Each user has a unique encryption key, so your information remains isolated from other accounts. Recipients can never browse your information freely; they access only the specific vitals you assigned them, and only after verifying their identity through a one-time code sent to the contact method you registered for them. All communications between your browser, our servers, and recipient devices are encrypted in transit using TLS. We do not sell or share your data with third parties, and we do not analyze your vitals' contents for advertising or any other purpose. Authentication and access events are logged for security review. The result is information that's available to the people you choose, exactly when they need it, and not before.
How does the check-in schedule work?
Your check-in schedule is a single, account-level safety mechanism — one schedule covers every vital you've set up. Choose an interval that fits your life: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. At each scheduled point, you receive a confirmation request via email, SMS, or both — your choice. Click the link, and you're done; the interaction takes seconds. If you miss a check-in, the system sends reminders during a grace period before delivery is triggered. The grace period length, the number of reminder attempts, and the spacing between attempts are all configurable; defaults are tuned to your cadence (a daily check-in defaults to a one-day grace window with closely spaced reminders, a yearly check-in defaults to a multi-week grace window with widely spaced reminders). Delivery only begins after every reminder goes unanswered. You can pause your schedule for planned absences and resume when you're back, no questions asked.
How many vitals can I create?
Vital counts and storage capacity scale with your plan. The Lockbox plan covers the essentials — a curated set of vital types focused on the most common legacy needs (key passwords, beneficiary instructions, primary contacts) and lets you attach a single file (images or PDFs) to each vital, with 500 MB total file storage. It's ideal if you want to start small and focused. The Safe plan unlocks more vital types and adds multimedia file support — video messages and audio recordings — alongside the images and PDFs Lockbox already covers, with 1 GB total storage. The Vault plan is the comprehensive option: every vital type the platform offers, plus support for Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and archive files (ZIP, RAR), with 10 GB total storage for serious archivists, professional records, and detailed legacy planning. You can upgrade between plans at any time and your existing vitals carry over without changes.
What types of files can I upload?
Files attach directly to your vitals, and the supported file types depend on your plan. The Lockbox plan supports common image formats (JPG, PNG, HEIC, WebP, GIF) and PDFs, with one file per vital — perfect for ID documents, key reference photos, or scanned legal pages. The Safe plan adds multimedia: video formats including MP4, MOV, and WebM, plus audio formats including MP3, M4A, WAV, and AAC — ideal if you want to leave a video letter or voice memo alongside your written instructions. The Vault plan adds Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, plus OpenDocument formats and RTF) and archive files (ZIP, RAR, 7z, TAR variants) for power users archiving large bodies of work, professional records, or comprehensive legacy bundles. Total file storage is 500 MB on Lockbox, 1 GB on Safe, and 10 GB on Vault. Files are encrypted at rest and only accessible to the recipients you assign to the vital they're attached to.
How do recipients access my vitals?
When delivery is triggered, each recipient receives a notification at the email or phone number you registered for them — they don't need an account or app to access your vitals. The notification includes your personal note to that specific recipient (written when you added them) so they recognize it as a legitimate message rather than a phishing attempt. The notification also contains a secure link unique to that recipient. Clicking the link prompts them to verify their identity using a one-time code sent to the same registered contact method (same channel as the notification, for security), so receiving the notification at one address but trying to verify with another won't work — this protects against forwarded or intercepted notifications. Once verified, recipients see only the vitals you specifically assigned to them — never anyone else's vitals, never your full account — and can read each vital and download any attached files.
Can I change my plan?
Yes — you can change your plan at any time from your account settings page. When you upgrade (Lockbox → Safe, or Safe → Vault), you get immediate access to the new vital types and storage allowance. Existing vitals remain exactly as they were while the new types unlock alongside them. When you downgrade, the change takes effect at your next billing renewal; before it applies, the system shows which vitals or files would exceed the new plan's limits so you can archive or remove them — nothing is deleted automatically. Refunds and prorations are handled through Stripe according to your billing cycle. After cancellation (or a failed payment renewal), your plan stays active until the paid period ends; then your check-in schedule deactivates and your data is retained for 90 days so you can reactivate and pick up where you left off. Explicit account deletion is separate and immediate — see the data-privacy answer for detail.
What happens if I stop responding?
If you stop responding to confirmation requests, the system doesn't immediately assume the worst — it sends a series of reminders across your full grace period before triggering delivery. The grace period length, attempt count, and reminder spacing are all configurable; defaults are tuned to your check-in cadence (a daily check-in defaults to a one-day grace window with closely spaced reminders, a yearly check-in defaults to a multi-week grace window with widely spaced reminders). Each reminder uses every confirmation method you registered: email, SMS, or both. Only after every reminder goes unanswered does delivery begin. Every vital with required fields complete and at least one assigned recipient is sent to its recipient(s). Each recipient receives the notification with the personal note you wrote for them (the same trust-signal note shown when you added them) and accesses their assigned vitals after verifying identity through a one-time code.
Can I edit my vitals after creating them?
Yes — vitals stay fully editable up until the moment delivery is triggered. As your situation changes (new account opened, recipient moves, will updated, password changed), update the corresponding vital in seconds. You can edit any field, swap or add recipients, and attach or remove files. All changes save immediately and are reflected in any future delivery. You can also create new vitals at any time from the catalog of available types in your plan, or delete vitals that are no longer relevant — an account closed, a recipient no longer in your life. Vital types and categories themselves are part of the platform's curated taxonomy and can't be customized; the catalog is designed to cover the most common legacy needs without overwhelming you with infinite options. The platform evolves with your life rather than locking you into decisions made years earlier.
Can I send vitals to international recipients?
Yes — One Final Message works globally for email-based recipients. Anyone, anywhere in the world, can receive notifications and access vitals as long as they have a valid email address that can receive the one-time verification code. The vital content itself isn't restricted by geography, and the recipient experience is the same regardless of where they are. SMS notifications, on the other hand, are currently only supported for recipients with US or Canadian phone numbers. If your recipient is outside North America, configure email as their notification method when adding them — everything else works the same way. Recipients with phones outside the US/Canada will only receive email notifications even if you set both methods.
What happens to my data?
Your data is encrypted and private throughout its entire lifecycle on our platform. Vitals and files are encrypted at rest, encrypted in transit, and only ever decrypted in your authenticated session or for an authenticated recipient viewing their assigned content. We do not sell data, do not share data with advertisers, and do not analyze your vitals' contents for any purpose other than running the service you signed up for. Two end-of-life retention paths apply: explicit account deletion (from your account settings) is immediate — every vital, file, and schedule is removed and there's no recovery, so you'd need to sign up again from scratch if you change your mind. Subscription cancellation or a failed payment renewal is gentler — your check-in schedule deactivates at the end of the paid period and your data is retained for 90 days so you can reactivate, after which the account is removed. After vitals are delivered, recipients can download files and save them locally; that copy then lives on their device under their control.
How does billing work?
One Final Message offers straightforward annual billing — no monthly option. Plans are billed yearly at the rate shown on the pricing page. Annual billing keeps subscription costs predictable and avoids the friction of monthly renewals — you set it once and forget about it. Payment processing is handled by Stripe, the industry-standard payment processor used by millions of businesses; we never see or store your full card number. You can manage every aspect of your subscription — payment method, plan tier, renewal preferences, invoices, refunds — from your account settings page. Cancellation is one click; no calls or chats required. If you cancel mid-cycle, your plan remains active until the end of the period you've already paid for, then doesn't renew. After cancellation your data is retained for 90 days so you can reactivate without losing anything.
Can I use multiple confirmation methods?
Yes — and we strongly recommend setting up both. You can register both an email address and a phone number for SMS as confirmation methods, and the system uses both for every check-in and every reminder. Layering two channels dramatically reduces the chance that a missed check-in is caused by a delivery failure rather than your actual unavailability — email might land in spam, a phone might be off the network, but both happening at once is rare. Each method can be added, removed, or verified independently from your account settings. SMS confirmation is available only to US and Canadian phone numbers, with no extra charges in those regions; email confirmation works globally. At least one verified method must remain active at all times — that's how the platform manages your check-ins on your behalf. Multiple methods also give you flexibility for travel, work changes, or device swaps without disrupting your schedule.
How do I get support?
All plans include email-based support — you can reach the team through the contact form on the support page, and we typically respond within one business day. Common questions (account access, billing, vital configuration, recipient management) usually get same-day responses during business hours. Vault plan subscribers get priority routing — their tickets jump the queue and we aim to respond more quickly during business hours. Beyond email, we maintain a comprehensive help center with step-by-step guides for setup, recipient configuration, file uploads, schedule management, and troubleshooting. Sample personal notes and sample letters are available for inspiration when you're writing your own messages. The FAQ on this page covers the most common questions. If you have a security concern or believe you've found a vulnerability, email us directly at the address listed on our security page and we'll prioritize the response.
How to stop or opt out of receiving content?
Any bounce or unsubscribe signal we receive from our messaging partners (email providers, SMS carriers) is automatically and immediately processed — no manual cleanup required, and no further messages are sent to that endpoint. You can also proactively manage notifications from your account page: visit the settings, view all email addresses and phone numbers you've enrolled, and remove any you no longer want to receive messages on. This applies to both your own check-in confirmations and any notifications going to recipients you've added. One important rule: at least one verified contact method must remain active on your account at all times so we can run your check-in schedule on your behalf — without that, the platform can't safely operate. If you're trying to fully stop the service, cancel your subscription instead of removing all contact methods to keep your account in a clean state.