Your logins have a plan. Your letters don't.
If you use a password manager, you may already have set up its emergency access feature: a trusted person can request access to your logins, usually after a waiting period you can decline. That's a sensible plan for your credentials.
But think about what's in there. Logins, card numbers, recovery codes. Now think about what your family would actually want from you: a letter in your words, a video of you telling a story, the photos with names on the back. Those usually aren't in a password manager, and its emergency access wasn't built for them.
This isn't a criticism of password managers. They do their job well. It's a reminder that your logins and your letters are different things that need different plans.
What emergency access is built for
Password manager emergency access features differ by product, so check your own provider's documentation. In general, they're built for:
- Giving a trusted person your credentials, so they can deal with accounts
- A request-based process: someone has to know about it and ask
- Continuity when you're unavailable, not only after death
That's useful. Keep using it if you like it.
What it isn't built for
- Personal letters and videos meant for specific people
- Different items for different people: a letter for one child, a video for your partner
- Release that doesn't depend on someone knowing to ask
- A verification process before personal items are passed on
A plan for your letters
MemoryShield is an encrypted digital-legacy vault for letters, videos, photos and documents. It's not a password manager, and it doesn't hold or replace your logins.
- Letters: plain text plus an optional file, such as a scan of a handwritten page
- Videos: record in your browser or upload; trustees can download released videos
- Named trustees: you choose who receives each item. Naming doesn't unlock anything.
- Email life-check: you confirm you're OK on a schedule you set
Here is what happens if you stop answering your email check-ins. Nothing is released because of one missed email. First there's extended monitoring: more check-ins, more time. Then your backup contact is notified; they can't see your vault. Then there's a waiting period. Only after all of that do your verified trustees receive the items you designated for them. MemoryShield doesn't certify death and has no death-certificate, legal or medical review step. Full walkthrough: How an email life-check and verification work before vault release.
A quiet note on security: your vault is encrypted at rest (AES-256), with escrowed keys so release can work after verification; not zero-knowledge. Item-level encryption is opt-in: you can turn it on for an item, and it's off unless you do. MemoryShield isn't a password manager or a will, and it can't open anyone's other accounts. How security works.
Side by side
| Password manager emergency access | MemoryShield vault | |
|---|---|---|
| Holds | Logins and credentials | Letters, videos, photos, documents |
| What starts it | A trusted person requests access | You stop answering email check-ins |
| Before anything is shared | A waiting period you can decline | Extended monitoring, backup contact notice, waiting period |
| Who receives what | Typically one person, the vault | Named trustees, item by item |
| Replaces the other? | No | No |
Questions people ask
Can't I just put my letters in my password manager? You could store a note there. But emergency access would hand over your logins and the letter together, to whoever you set up, on request. Many people want their letters to reach different people, after a more careful process.
Do I still need my password manager? That's up to you. MemoryShield doesn't store or manage logins. Don't paste passwords into your letters.
Is this a will? No. See A will does not release your digital vault. Education only, not legal advice.
More on what to keep: What to keep in a legacy vault. The full checklist: Will, logins, and letters: a four-layer legacy checklist.
Start on the Free plan ($0)
Your logins already have a plan. Give your letters one: write one, choose who receives it, and turn on your email check-in.
Start on the Free plan ($0). No card required. The Free plan holds up to 5 items and 1 trustee. If you later want more room, Premium is $9.99/mo or $99/yr (up to 200 items and 5 trustees); paid plans have a 30-day trial and need a card or PayPal at checkout.
Security: https://memoryshield.life/security · Plans: https://memoryshield.life/public-pricing · Support: support@memoryshield.life