Frequently Asked Questions
Plain-language answers about how Deadman Secrets protects your digital life and passes it on to the right people when the time comes.
Getting started
What is Deadman Secrets?
A private vault that stores your passwords, account details, crypto wallet keys, and personal messages, then automatically passes them to the people you choose if something happens to you. You decide who receives what, and everything stays locked and private until then.
What can I store in my vault?
Passwords and logins, bank and brokerage account details, cryptocurrency wallet keys and seed phrases, important documents and files, and personal letters for the people you love. Anything you would want the right person to find — and no one else to see.
Is there a free plan, and how much does it cost?
Yes. You can start free, with no credit card, and protect your most important accounts. Paid plans (Standard at $5/month and Professional at $10/month, billed monthly or annually) add file storage, more beneficiaries, a custom check-in schedule, and far higher limits — 200 secrets on Standard, unlimited on Professional. Annual billing saves about 17%.
How it works
How does the check-in (dead man's switch) work?
You check in on a schedule that fits you — it takes a few seconds. Paid plans let you set any interval from a single day up to a year (weekly, monthly, whatever feels right); the free plan uses a monthly, 30-day check-in. As long as you keep checking in, nothing happens. If you stop, your switch eventually fires and your information is delivered to the people you named.
Who decides who gets what, and when do they get it?
You do. You assign each item to specific people — your spouse gets the banking logins, your child gets the investment accounts, your grandchildren get the letters. Each person only ever sees what you chose for them, and only after your switch fires (or immediately, if you set a rule to release something right away).
How do my beneficiaries get access?
When your switch fires, the people you named receive a secure, private link by email. They do not need to create an account or understand any technology — they simply open what you left for them.
Privacy & security
Can Deadman Secrets read my secrets?
No. Everything is locked on your own device before it ever reaches us, so what we store is unreadable — even to our own engineers. To unlock anything, the key is split three ways between you, the service, and your beneficiary, so no single party (including us) can open your vault alone.
What happens if I forget my master password?
Your master password never leaves your device and we never see it, so we cannot reset it — that is deliberate, and it is what stops anyone from impersonating you to get in. As a safety net, you can generate recovery codes in your settings: if you saved them, you can use one to set a new master password and get back in. Without your master password and without a saved recovery code, your vault cannot be unlocked — so keep both somewhere safe.
What happens to my vault if the company shuts down?
You are never locked in to trusting us with readable data. Everything in your vault is encrypted on your own device before it reaches us, and the key to unlock it is split between you, the service, and your beneficiary — so no single party, including us, can ever read your vault or unlock it alone.
Digital estate planning
What happens to my online accounts when I die?
Without a plan, most accounts get locked or lost. Families spend months in probate trying to reach a single bank or brokerage, subscriptions keep charging, and photos and email often disappear. Deadman Secrets makes sure the right people can find and reach those accounts when it matters.
What happens to my cryptocurrency when I die?
If no one has your wallet keys or seed phrase, your crypto is gone for good — an estimated $140 billion in Bitcoin is already permanently lost this way. Deadman Secrets stores your keys safely and passes them only to the person you choose, only when the time comes.
Isn't this what a will is for?
A will decides who legally inherits what; it does not hand anyone the passwords, keys, and account details they actually need to reach it — and "give my executor my password" instructions usually fail in practice. Deadman Secrets is the missing digital layer that makes your existing estate plan work. It complements a will; it does not replace one.
How is this different from my password manager's emergency access?
Emergency access in tools like 1Password or Bitwarden requires you to be alive to approve the request, hands one person everything at once, and keeps the keys on their servers. Deadman Secrets works automatically when you cannot act, lets you give each person only what you intended, and is built so no single party — not even us — can unlock your vault alone.
Still have questions?
The best way to understand Deadman Secrets is to try it. Start free, add the five accounts your family would struggle to find, and add the rest whenever you like.