The Family Vault
One secure place for the documents your family will actually need.
Insurance policies, deeds, identity papers, financial accounts, funeral wishes, letters to loved ones. The Family Vault keeps them encrypted, organised, and ready to share with your executors at the moment they need them - not buried in a drawer no-one knows about.
What goes in the vault
Seven categories. Everything your family will actually need.
Organised so nothing important slips through the cracks. You upload it; only you (and the people you share it with) can see it.
Insurance policies
Life, home, contents, critical illness. So executors don't miss a payout that could be life-changing for the family.
Property deeds & titles
Deeds, title plans, leases, mortgage papers. The documents you'll need for probate and any sale.
Identity documents
Passports, birth certificates, marriage certificates. Always needed, often hardest to find.
Financial accounts
Bank, building society, pension and investment providers. (We never ask for passwords - just which providers, so executors can write to them.)
Funeral wishes
Burial or cremation, music, readings, who to invite. Non-binding, but always read.
Letters of wishes
Personal notes for executors or family that don't belong inside the will itself.
Other documents
Anything else that matters - vehicle paperwork, valuables register, professional contacts.
When the time comes
Your executors don't have to ransack the house.
From their secure portal they see:
- ✓ The signed will (download)
- ✓ A checklist of what to do, in what order
- ✓ The documents you chose to share
- ✓ Your asset register and account list
- ✓ Your funeral wishes
No guesswork. No missed policies. No frantic phone calls to providers asking "did Dad have a pension with you?"
How the executor portal works
What goes in the Family Vault
The vault is organised into seven categories so nothing important slips through the cracks:
- Insurance policies - life, home, contents, critical illness
- Property deeds & titles - deeds, title plans, leases, mortgage papers
- Identity documents - passports, birth certificates, marriage certificates
- Financial accounts - bank lists, pension providers, investment platforms
- Funeral wishes - the formal record (non-binding but always read)
- Letters of wishes - personal notes for executors and family
- Other documents - anything else that matters
Everything is encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM. You upload it; only you (and the people you share it with) can see it.
How it helps your executors
When the time comes, your executors don't have to ransack the house looking for paperwork. From their secure portal they can see:
- The signed will
- A checklist of what to do in what order
- The documents you chose to share with them
- A list of your assets and accounts
- Your funeral wishes
No guesswork. No missed policies. No frantic phone calls to providers asking "did dad have a pension with you?"
A different kind of offering
There are plenty of trusted UK will services - the high-street brands have served families well for years. Trusted Hands is built around a slightly different idea: that a will on its own is rarely enough. Your executors need to know it exists, where to find it, and what other documents go with it. The Family Vault and Executor Notification Service are how we close that gap.
The Family Vault is included with the Annual Subscription with Family Vault (just <strong>£29.99/year</strong>), which also gives you unlimited will and LPA updates.
Private & protected
What you put in stays sealed until the moment it shouldn't.
The Family Vault is built around a simple rule: nobody else sees the contents while you're alive - and the people you appointed see exactly what you chose to share, at exactly the moment they need it.
While you're alive
Only you can see anything in the vault. Files are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM. The executors you've appointed cannot open the portal, even with the link they received - it stays locked.
You decide which files are shareable with executors in advance, or keep them entirely private. You can change your mind any time.
When the time comes
After death is confirmed and verified, the portal unlocks for the executors you appointed. They see only the files you flagged as shareable - never anything else.
Your wishes are enforced because the right people can finally find what they need. Your secrets stay your own where you wanted them to.
Common questions
About the Family Vault
Who can see what's in my vault while I'm alive?
Only you. Each document can optionally be marked as "shareable with executors" - those will appear in your executor portal once it unlocks (after a death is confirmed). Nothing is shared otherwise.
How is the vault secured?
Files are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM and hosted on UK servers. We are UK GDPR compliant. You can export or delete everything at any time. See our secure document vault page for the full security breakdown.
Should I store passwords in the vault?
No. The vault is designed for documents (PDFs, photos, scans), not credentials. List providers and account references instead - your executors contact each provider with the death certificate.
What does the Family Vault cost?
The Family Vault is included with the Annual Subscription with Family Vault - £29.99/year. The subscription also gives you unlimited will and LPA updates. See subscription details.
What happens if I cancel?
You keep access to your will and download history. The Family Vault contents become read-only after cancellation - you can still download anything you uploaded, but you can't add new files or update sharing settings until you resubscribe.
Give your family clarity, not chaos.
Start with your will - the Family Vault unlocks with the annual subscription, so you can build the will today and add the vault the moment you want to.