Effective July 7, 2026 · Version 1.0
Unlock My Heart exists for a tender reason: to help you leave words, voices, and memories for the people you love, and to deliver them when the time comes. We know that trusting us with something this personal is a big deal, so we've written these Terms in plain language and tried to be honest about exactly what we do, what we don't do, and — just as important — where the limits and risks are. Because of how our service works, a few parts of this agreement matter more than the usual fine print, and we ask you to actually read them: how release is triggered (Section 4), the real risk that a message could be released while you are still alive (Section 4), the fact that we do not and cannot verify death (Section 4), the consent you are giving us to disclose your content (Section 5), what we can and cannot promise about delivery (Sections 11 and 12), and how disputes are handled, including arbitration you can opt out of (Section 16). Using Unlock My Heart means you agree to what follows. If any of it doesn't sit right with you, please don't use the Service, and please don't rely on us as your only way of saying something that matters.
"Unlock My Heart," "UMH," "we," "us," and "our" mean Unlock My Heart [legal entity name and form to be inserted], a U.S.-based digital legacy service operating at app.unlockmyheart.life and related pages. These Terms of Service (the "Terms") are a legal agreement between you and UMH covering your use of our website, apps, and everything we offer — collectively, the "Service." Our Privacy Notice is part of this agreement.
Throughout, we use a few UMH-specific words:
These Terms apply to you whether you use UMH as a Creator, a Key Master, a Professional, or by receiving, viewing, or requesting access to content or a memorial. If you interact with the Service in any of those ways, you accept these Terms even if you never created an account (see Section 9).
Please read this carefully, because it matters.
Unlock My Heart is a place to store and deliver heartfelt personal messages. It is NOT a law firm, is NOT your lawyer or fiduciary, and does NOT give legal, estate-planning, tax, financial, or other professional advice. Nothing in the Service creates an attorney-client relationship or a fiduciary relationship with UMH.
Anything you create in UMH — a letter, a video, a recording, a stated wish — is NOT a will, trust, codicil, power of attorney, health-care directive, beneficiary designation, or any other legally binding testamentary or estate document. It does not transfer property, does not appoint anyone to any legal role, does not direct funeral or burial arrangements with legal force, and does not replace a will or estate plan. If your message expresses a wish about money, property, guardianship of children, medical decisions, funeral arrangements, or anything else with legal consequences, that wish has NO independent legal force through UMH.
To make your wishes legally binding, work with a licensed attorney and use the proper legal instruments. If your UMH content and your actual estate or legal documents ever conflict, your legally executed documents control — not UMH, and not anything you stored with us.
You agree that you will not rely on UMH as your sole or primary means of communicating, transferring, or directing anything of legal, financial, or urgent practical importance, and that UMH is a supplement to — never a substitute for — proper planning and direct communication.
The Professional Portal lets attorneys and advisors connect with their own clients, but any advice those Professionals give is theirs, not ours. We don't supervise, direct, or endorse their advice and aren't responsible for it.
You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter this agreement to create a UMH account as a Creator, Key Master, or Professional. By making an account you confirm this is true.
Minors (people under 18) may be named as Key Recipients — a child or grandchild is often exactly who a Creator most wants to reach. But we take special care here:
UMH cannot and does not verify family relationships, custody, guardianship, or a Creator's authority over any named minor or adult. Designating a recipient is your representation that you have the right to do so.
This is the heart of how UMH delivers your messages. If you understand only one section, understand this one.
WHEN YOU SET UP RELEASE. You designate a Key Master and set a private release passcode. You share that passcode privately with your Key Master — we email it to them once, and we store only a scrambled (hashed) version we cannot read back. Guard this passcode like a key to your home, because that is essentially what it is.
WE DO NOT VERIFY DEATH. UMH has no way to independently confirm that a Creator has died, and we do not try to. We do not check death records, obituaries, or any registry. Release is authorized by two things together: (a) your Key Master signing in, and (b) your Key Master entering the correct passcode. That passcode-triggered action — not any proof of death — is the authorization to begin release. This is a deliberate design choice that keeps you in control of who holds the key and keeps us out of the impossible business of confirming a death. It also means the system can be triggered by a person, not by an event, and you accept that.
THE 72-HOUR CANCEL WINDOW. Release is not instant. When your Key Master starts a release, we attempt to email you a one-tap "I'm alive — cancel" link. If you use it within 72 hours, nothing is released. If 72 hours pass with no valid cancellation received by us, your messages deliver and your memorial page opens automatically.
THE CANCEL EMAIL IS BEST-EFFORT, NOT GUARANTEED. The safeguard only works if you actually receive and act on that email in time. We cannot guarantee that the email is delivered, that it arrives in your inbox rather than spam, that you are reachable, conscious, online, or able to respond, or that email and network systems are working. Delivery of the cancel link depends on third parties and on the accuracy of your contact information.
THE RISK OF A RELEASE WHILE YOU ARE ALIVE. Because we do not verify death, it is possible for a release to be started while you are still living — by mistake, by a Key Master who acts wrongly or is confused or malicious, or by someone who improperly obtains your passcode and your Key Master's access. If that happens and you do not cancel within 72 hours, your messages could be delivered and a memorial could open while you are alive. We understand how serious and painful that would be. The 72-hour window is your safeguard, and it is not a guarantee. To reduce this risk, you agree to: keep the email address and contact details on your account current and actively monitored; choose a Key Master you deeply trust; keep your passcode secret; and, where we offer them, use additional safeguards such as a backup contact, a longer waiting period, or release confirmations. You accept the residual risk that a release may occur when it should not have, and you agree that Sections 11, 12, and 13 apply to any such release.
OTHER RISKS YOU ACCEPT. If your Key Master loses the passcode, becomes unreachable, is unwilling, is disqualified by a dispute (Section 8), or has themselves died, your messages may never be released. We cannot guarantee delivery will happen at any exact moment, or at all. See Sections 11 and 12.
SCHEDULED MESSAGES. Messages you schedule for specific future dates (rather than for after-death release) deliver on their own timeline and are not part of the passcode release-all, and are subject to the same no-guarantee terms.
This section is the legal engine that is intended to make release lawful, so we've spelled it out plainly.
When you, as the Creator and account holder, designate a Key Master, set a release passcode, and share that passcode with them, you give UMH your clear, affirmative, and informed consent and direction to disclose your stored Content — including the contents of your electronic communications, letters, video, and audio — to your Key Master and to the Key Recipients you have named, upon a passcode-triggered release, and to open a memorial page for the people you designate.
This consent and direction is intended to operate as your affirmative authorization through UMH's own online tool, consistent with the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) as adopted in the applicable jurisdiction, and as your lawful consent to disclosure of the contents of communications for purposes of the federal Stored Communications Act (SCA) and similar laws. In plain terms: you are the account holder, and you are the one authorizing us to disclose your content to the specific people you chose, in the way you set up. You intend this authorization to control over any contrary instruction in a will, trust, or other document, to the extent the law permits an online-tool directive to do so.
You represent and warrant that: you have the legal right to store the Content and to give this direction; you have the right to designate the people you have named; and giving this direction and designating these people does not violate any law, court order, or the rights of any other person. You agree to indemnify UMH under Section 13 for any breach of these representations.
We make no promise about how any particular court, custodian, or authority will treat this consent. We have designed it to be lawful and enforceable, but the law in this area is evolving and varies by state, and you accept that your consent may be challenged by others.
You can change or revoke this direction while you are able to, by updating your Key Master, changing your passcode, or closing your account. Once a release has fully completed after the 72-hour window, it generally cannot be undone.
Grief and family are complicated, and sometimes more than one person believes they have a right to your Content, your memorial, or a decision about release. This section explains what we may do when that happens.
UMH is not a court and does not decide who is right. If we receive conflicting or competing claims, a credible allegation that a release was wrongful, unauthorized, or fraudulent, a claim by an estate, executor, heir, or family member, a report of abuse or coercion, a legal demand, or a court order, we may — but are not obligated to — do any of the following: pause or delay a release; suspend or freeze an account, a memorial, or access; decline to act until the dispute is resolved; require documentation; or comply with a valid court order or legal process, including turning over or withholding Content.
We may take these steps to protect the Service, to protect people, or to comply with the law, and we are not liable for doing so in good faith. Where a dispute cannot be resolved, we may leave it to the parties and the courts, and we may decline to release anything until we receive a court order or the written agreement of the relevant parties. Nothing in this section requires UMH to investigate, adjudicate, or resolve any dispute.
If you are named as a Key Master and you act to trigger a release, you are taking a serious action, and these Terms apply to you when you do.
By signing in and entering a Creator's passcode to begin a release, you represent and warrant that: you are authorized by the Creator to do so; to the best of your honest knowledge and belief the Creator has died (or the Creator has otherwise clearly directed you to release); you are not acting to deceive, harm, defraud, coerce, or impersonate anyone; and you are not violating any court order or the rights of any person.
Starting a release when you know or should know the Creator is alive, or otherwise acting in bad faith, is a serious misuse of the Service and a breach of these Terms. You agree that you are responsible for your own actions as a Key Master, that UMH does not verify the truth of your action, and that you will indemnify UMH under Section 13 for a release you trigger in breach of this section. Holding the passcode does not make you the owner of the Content or the account.
Your Content stays yours. Writing a letter or uploading a video in UMH doesn't transfer ownership to us.
To run the Service, we need your permission to handle your Content. You grant UMH a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable-only-to-our-service-providers license to store, host, back up, encode, process, transmit, and — at the right time — deliver and display your Content, solely to operate and provide the Service to you and your designated recipients. We do not use this license to advertise, sell, train unrelated products on, or publicly show your Content.
You represent and warrant that your Content is yours to store and share, does not infringe or violate anyone else's rights (copyright, privacy, publicity, or otherwise), and is not unlawful, harassing, abusive, or threatening. You are responsible for what you place in your messages, including anything you say about a third party. If your Content names, depicts, or discusses another living person, you are responsible for the consequences of delivering it, and Section 13 applies.
Because a core promise of UMH is long-term delivery, this license and our storage continue for as long as reasonably needed to honor that promise — including after your death, so your messages can reach the people you intended. Your deletion and closure rights are in Section 18 and the Privacy Notice.
Some people interact with UMH without ever creating an account — Key Recipients who receive messages, and people who appear on a memorial page. This section is for them.
If you receive Content or access a memorial through UMH, you agree to use it only for its intended personal purpose and not to re-share, republish, or misuse Content in ways that violate the law or another person's rights. Content delivered to you reflects the Creator's own words and choices, not UMH's; we do not endorse, verify, or take responsibility for what a Creator wrote.
If you are a living person who objects to appearing on a memorial or in delivered Content, or you believe Content about you is unlawful or violates your rights, you may contact us at the address in Section 21 to request review or removal. We will consider such requests reasonably and may remove or restrict Content, but because Content originates with Creators and recipients may already hold copies, we cannot guarantee complete removal everywhere.
We would rather be honest than oversell our security, because trust matters more than marketing here.
Your Content is stored on trusted third-party cloud infrastructure (Amazon Web Services / S3). We protect it with encryption in transit, access controls, and other safeguards, and we work to keep it safe.
What we will NOT claim: your Content is NOT end-to-end encrypted. That means UMH personnel could technically access your stored Content. We commit that we will not access your Content except as reasonably necessary to operate, maintain, troubleshoot, secure, or deliver the Service, to enforce these Terms, to keep the Service safe and lawful, to respond to a request or dispute under Section 6, or when we are legally required to (for example, valid legal process). We treat your Content as private and sensitive and limit who on our team can reach it.
No online service can promise perfect security. Despite our efforts, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot and do not guarantee that your Content will never be accessed, altered, lost, or disclosed without authorization. If we become aware of a security breach affecting your Content, we will notify affected people and authorities as required by applicable law. By using UMH, you understand and accept this honest picture of how your Content is stored and protected.
We care deeply about getting your messages where they're meant to go. But we have to be clear about what we can and cannot promise.
The Service is provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE," without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement, to the fullest extent the law allows.
In particular, we do NOT guarantee that your messages will be delivered at any exact time, in any exact form, to the correct person, or at all; and we do NOT guarantee that a release will occur only when it should. Delivery and non-release both depend on things partly or wholly outside our control, including but not limited to: whether your Key Master is reachable, willing, honest, and able to act; whether the passcode is available, correct, and used properly; whether the cancel email reaches you in time; the accuracy of the contact information you and others provide; disputes among survivors (Section 6); the reliability of email and third-party services (such as AWS, SendGrid, and Stripe); and whether the Service continues to operate over the long time horizons legacy delivery can involve.
We also do not guarantee the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that Content will never be lost or corrupted. If we ever discontinue the Service, we will make reasonable efforts to give notice and options where we can, but we cannot promise indefinite operation, and no business can promise to last for a lifetime.
Please read this section closely, because it limits what you can recover from us, including in the situations most likely to cause pain.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, UMH and its owners, officers, employees, and service providers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, loss or corruption of messages, loss of the ability to deliver, reputational harm, emotional distress, mental anguish, grief, or lost opportunity, arising out of or relating to the Service. This expressly includes, to the fullest extent permitted by law, harm arising from: a message that was delivered, delivered late, delivered to the wrong person, or never delivered; a release that occurred when it should not have (including a release triggered while a Creator was alive); a release that did not occur when a survivor wished it would; the acts or omissions of a Key Master, recipient, Professional, or other user; and disputes among family members or survivors.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, UMH's total cumulative liability to you for all claims relating to the Service is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid UMH in the twelve (12) months before the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) one hundred U.S. dollars ($100).
These limitations apply even if a remedy fails of its essential purpose and even if UMH was advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow certain limitations or the exclusion of certain damages, so parts of this section may not apply to you; where a limitation is not allowed, our liability is limited to the smallest amount the law permits. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, such as for fraud or willful misconduct where the law forbids waiver.
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless UMH and its owners, officers, employees, and service providers from any claims, demands, damages, losses, liabilities, and reasonable costs (including attorneys' fees) that arise out of or relate to: your Content; anything you said about or did to another person through the Service; your violation of these Terms or of your representations and warranties (including those in Sections 5, 7, and 8); your violation of any law or of anyone else's rights; your designation of, or the action or inaction of, a Key Master, recipient, or adult you named; or, if you are a Key Master, a release you trigger in breach of Section 7. We will let you know about any such claim and may participate in the defense with counsel of our choice, and you will not settle any claim in a way that imposes obligations on us without our consent.
UMH is not responsible for any failure or delay in performing, delivering, releasing, or safeguarding Content that is caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including natural disasters, fire, war, terrorism, civil unrest, epidemic or pandemic, labor disputes, government action or legal process, failures or outages of the internet, telecommunications, email providers, cloud infrastructure, or payment processors, cyberattacks, or the discontinuation of a third-party service we rely on. Given that legacy delivery can span decades, you accept that such events, and the eventual possibility that a service or business does not continue indefinitely, are inherent risks of long-term digital delivery.
Some features are paid (for example, certain Creator features or a Professional directory listing). Prices and what's included are shown at the point of purchase.
Payments are processed by Stripe, our third-party payment processor. UMH does not store your full card number — Stripe handles your card details under its own terms and security standards. By paying, you agree to Stripe's applicable terms as well as ours.
Unless a specific offer says otherwise, fees are charged as described at purchase, subscriptions renew until cancelled, and one-time placement fees (such as a directory listing) are generally non-refundable once the listing goes live. We may change our prices going forward, but we won't change the price of something you've already paid for. Paying UMH does not guarantee any particular outcome, including delivery — the disclaimers in Sections 11 and 12 apply regardless of what you paid.
We'd rather solve problems directly, so please contact us first at the address in Section 21 and give us at least 30 days to try to make things right.
If we can't resolve a dispute informally, you and UMH agree that all disputes relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration, rather than in court, except that either party may bring qualifying claims in small-claims court. Arbitration will be administered by a recognized arbitration provider under its consumer rules, before a single arbitrator, and judgment on the award may be entered in any court with jurisdiction. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this section.
Class-action waiver: you and UMH agree to bring claims only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or member in any class, collective, consolidated, or representative action. If this class-action waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim (and only that claim) will proceed in court, and the rest of this section still applies.
Your right to opt out: you may opt out of this arbitration agreement and class-action waiver by sending us written notice within 30 days of first accepting these Terms, at the address in Section 21. Opting out won't affect any other part of these Terms.
This section does not stop either party from seeking an injunction to protect intellectual property or confidential information.
TIME LIMIT. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any claim relating to the Service must be filed within one (1) year after the claim arose, or it is permanently barred. Where the law does not permit shortening the period this far, the shortest period the law allows applies instead.
GOVERNING LAW AND VENUE. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of [STATE], without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, and by applicable U.S. federal law (including the Federal Arbitration Act for Section 16). For any dispute not subject to arbitration, you and UMH agree to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in [COUNTY], [STATE].
You can close your Creator account at any time. Because closing an account ends our ability to deliver your messages, closure will stop future release and, subject to the Privacy Notice, lead to deletion of your Content — so please be sure before you close, and understand this is not reversible once deletion is complete.
We may suspend, restrict, or end your access if you break these Terms, misuse the Service, create risk or legal exposure for UMH or others, or if we are required to by law or by the situations described in Section 6. We will try to give reasonable notice where we can, but we may act immediately where needed to protect people, the Service, or to comply with the law.
What happens on a Creator's death is intentionally different from closure: the whole point of UMH is that your account persists so your messages can be released and your memorial can open through the process in Sections 4, 5, and 6. Retention and deletion details are in the Privacy Notice.
The sections that by their nature should survive — including Sections 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, and 17 — continue after termination.
When release completes, a memorial page can open for the people you designated, and Key Recipients you named receive their messages and/or a link to the memorial.
We also offer a public "Find a loved one" search so that a grieving person can request memorial access. This search is privacy-protective by design: it does not confirm whether any particular person exists in our system, and access is never automatic. Every access request is reviewed and human-verified by UMH staff before we grant anything, and we may decline or revoke access at our reasonable discretion to protect privacy or in response to a dispute (Section 6). Designated Key Recipients flow from the Creator's own release; search-based requests always pass through our human review. Human review reduces but does not eliminate the risk of a mistaken grant, and Sections 11 and 12 apply.
PROFESSIONAL PORTAL. Attorneys and financial advisors can apply to use our Professional Portal. Professionals must be 18+, must apply, and are vetted and approved by UMH before their account becomes active. Approval is at our discretion, and we can suspend or remove a Professional who misuses the portal. Professionals connect with clients only with the client's consent and see only the specific, consent-scoped, non-letter information the client has authorized (for example, general planning progress or contact categories the client chose to share). Letters, recordings, video, and a Creator's "essence" are never shared with a Professional — full stop. A client can change or withdraw what they share at any time, and the default is to share nothing until the client affirmatively opts in. A Professional may pay to be listed in our optional directory; a directory listing is a paid placement and is NOT an endorsement, recommendation, or vetting of that Professional's advice or competence by UMH. If you engage a Professional you found through UMH, that relationship is solely between you and them.
ACCEPTABLE USE. Please use UMH for its intended, humane purpose. You agree not to: upload unlawful, infringing, hateful, harassing, threatening, or abusive Content; impersonate someone else or misuse another person's information; trigger, or attempt to trigger, a release you are not authorized to trigger, or that you know or should know is not warranted; attempt to gain access to memorials, accounts, or Content you weren't given; interfere with, overload, reverse-engineer, or scrape the Service; or use UMH to deceive, coerce, threaten, or harm anyone. We may remove Content or restrict access to keep the Service safe and lawful.
CHANGES. We may update these Terms as the Service grows or the law changes. If we make material changes, we'll take reasonable steps to let you know (such as by email or a notice in the Service) before they take effect. If you keep using UMH after changes take effect, that means you accept the updated Terms. If you don't agree, you can stop using the Service and close your account. Changes to the arbitration section (Section 16) will not apply retroactively to a dispute of which we already have notice.
GENERAL. If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect, and the unenforceable part will be limited or removed to the least extent necessary. Our not enforcing a right isn't a waiver of it. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms without our consent; we may transfer ours in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, with notice where required, and a buyer or successor will be bound to honor these Terms, including our delivery and privacy commitments, to the extent it continues the Service. These Terms and the Privacy Notice are the entire agreement between you and UMH about the Service and supersede prior understandings. Nothing in these Terms creates any third-party beneficiary rights except as expressly stated.
HOW TO REACH US. Questions, notices, removal requests, arbitration opt-outs, and other requests can be sent to support@unlockmyheart.life (or the mailing address we designate at that address). Thank you for trusting us with something so meaningful — we do not take it lightly.