How It Works
Deathwishes is Easy to Use
In just a few minutes, help loved ones know exactly what you want in case you die, without the complications and cost of a will.
How to Get Started
1. Make Plans
Deathwishes works by helping you think through important things that matter if you were to die.
2. Share them
Add people you trust to help honor your plans (Legacy Contacts). Give them access before, or after, you die.
No. Deathwishes is intentionally built to avoid the complications and costs of traditional legal services like wills, estates, and trusts.
The purpose of Deathwishes is to serve as a communication tool so that loved ones are not left guessing in the case of unexpected death.
By having access to the information in Deathwishes, a Legacy Contact can help ensure wishes are respected, without any need for legal enforcement.
Legacy Contacts are the people you trust to report your death and help honor your wishes in case you die.
All Deathwishes users should add at least one Legacy Contact so their data is not lost if they die.
To add a Legacy Contact in the app:
- Add a person as a Friend
- After they accept, invite them to be a Legacy Contact
You control who sees your data and when you want it to be visible (before or after you die).
Below are the default privacy permissions. You can toggle these in your settings to decide who sees your data, or only make things visible after your death.
| Permissions | Friends | Legacy Contacts |
|---|---|---|
| See Your Profile | Yes | Yes |
| See Your Plans | No | Yes |
| See Your Things | No | Yes |
| See Your Bucket List | No | Yes |
| Report Your Death | No | Yes |
The Question on Everyone’s Mind…
What Happens If I Die?
If you share your wishes while alive, others will be able to help honor them as soon as you are gone.
If you keep your wishes private until death, then a Legacy Contact must report your death. Once confirmed, they will have full access to your profile.
Only a person you have assigned as a Legacy Contact can report your death and memorialize your profile.
To do so, they visit the Family and Friends screen, tap the three dots by your profile, and tap Memorialize to access the next steps.
If you share your wishes while alive, then others will already have access to them if you die, making it easier to help honor them right away.
If you keep your wishes private until death, then they cannot be accessed until a Legacy Contact reports your death, and the Deathwishes team memorializes your profile.
A profile is memorialized only after the death of a person has been confirmed by the Deathwishes team via phone call with a Legacy Contact.
Once memorialized, a date of death will be added to the profile and it will be completely locked from any changes.
Optionally, a Legacy Contact may request to have an exported copy of the person’s Deathwishes data.
Explore More Features
Go Beyond the Basics
Deathwishes is designed to make it easy to cover the most essential parts of end-of-life planning, but you can also go deeper.
Create customized pet plans, give away belongings using Things, or track life’s biggest goals with the Bucket List.
Create end-of-life plans for yourself and for your pets.
Share instructions for the people you trust to honor your wishes or care for your pets if you happen to die.
Visit How It Works: Plans to learn more.
Things makes it easy to give away belongings to others. Decide who should get your houseplants, collectibles, or anything else with real or sentimental value.
Visit How It Works: Things to learn more.
One of the most fun ways to embrace your mortality is by thinking about what you want to accomplish before you die. Use the Bucket List to outline goals and track your progress.
Visit How It Works: Bucket List to learn more.
CONTACT US
HAVE A SPECIFIC QUESTION?
If you have a question or want to know something not included in the Help Center, please visit the contact page.