You train for every scenario. You check your gear before every shift. You've signed a will, updated your life insurance, and told your partner where the important papers are.
But what about the things a will can't cover? The video message for your daughter's wedding day. The letter explaining why you chose this work. The passwords to the family photo archive, the Netflix account, the phone PIN your spouse never memorized. The words you've always meant to say but haven't - because saying them out loud feels too much like a goodbye.
For soldiers, police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and every person who walks into danger as a profession, there's a gap between legal preparation and personal preparation. A digital time capsule with a Dead Man's Switch closes that gap.
Beyond the Legal Documents
A will handles your assets. Life insurance handles the finances. But neither of those can:
- Tell your spouse how much you love them, in your own voice
- Give your children advice on their graduation day, wedding day, or first heartbreak
- Store the PIN to your phone or the password to your family photo archive
- Record a video of your face for someone who won't get to see it again
- Explain the stories behind the photos - the ones only you know
- Pass on the operational knowledge your family needs to run the household
A will is a legal document. A digital time capsule is you - your voice, your words, your face, your specific instructions for the people who matter most.
What to Leave Behind
When setting up a capsule before a deployment, a new assignment, or as a general precaution, consider including:
Personal Messages
- A video message for your spouse/partner: Not a formal letter - just you, talking to a camera, saying what you'd say if you could. Your face. Your voice. The way you smile when you talk about them. That's irreplaceable.
- Letters for your children: Written or recorded for specific moments - their 18th birthday, their graduation, their wedding. Things you want them to hear from you, even if you can't be there.
- A message for your parents: Sometimes the hardest letter to write, but the one they'll need most.
- The unsaid things: An apology you owe, gratitude you haven't expressed, a story you've never told. This is your chance to say it all.
Practical Information
- Phone PIN, laptop password, tablet passcode
- Email and social media passwords
- Family photo archive access (cloud storage, backup drives)
- Banking and financial account credentials
- Insurance policy numbers and claim instructions
- Location of important documents (physical safe combination, deposit box location)
- Subscriptions that need to be cancelled
- Cryptocurrency or digital assets (see our crypto inheritance guide)
Future Milestones
- A letter to each child to be opened on a specific birthday
- A message for your wedding anniversary
- Words of encouragement for difficult times ahead
- Stories about your own life that you want them to carry forward
Last Wishes
- Funeral preferences or specific requests
- Things that aren't in the will but matter to you
- Messages for specific people (colleagues, friends, mentors)
Real Scenarios
Scenario 1: The Soldier Before Deployment
Staff Sergeant Torres is deploying to a region where communication will be sporadic. Before leaving, he creates two capsules. The first contains practical information for his wife: every account password, insurance details, and a step-by-step guide for the family finances. He enables Privacy Shield for this one. The second is personal: a video message for his wife, individual letters for his two sons (ages 4 and 7), and a voice recording of himself reading their favorite bedtime story. He sets both to Dead Man's Switch with a 12-month interval - longer than his deployment with a safety buffer. When he comes home, he responds to the check-in. The capsules stay sealed. He updates the practical information and leaves them active, just in case.
Scenario 2: The Police Officer
Detective Rivera works high-risk assignments. She doesn't think about it in dramatic terms - it's just part of the job. But she's also a single parent. She creates a capsule with everything her sister would need to care for her daughter: school contacts, medical records access, the therapist's number, account credentials, and detailed instructions about routines, allergies, and bedtime rituals that no one else knows. She also records a video for her daughter. She sets the check-in to every 3 months. It takes 5 seconds to click the link each quarter, and it gives her peace of mind every day in between.
Scenario 3: The Firefighter
Captain Andresen has been a firefighter for 22 years. He's never been seriously injured, but he's seen enough to know that statistics are not guarantees. He creates a capsule with letters for each of his three adult children - honest, personal letters about his life, his regrets, what he's most proud of, and the things he wishes he'd said sooner. He adds the family photo archive password and his thoughts on what to do with the cabin. He checks in every 6 months. It's part of his routine now, like checking the smoke detectors at home. One day, if it's needed, his children will receive the most important message of their lives.
How to Ensure Delivery
The challenge with leaving these messages is ensuring they are only delivered if something happens to you. You don't want your family reading your "just in case" letters while you're perfectly safe.
This is exactly what a Dead Man's Switch is designed for:
- SealedFor sends you a check-in email at the interval you choose (every 1, 3, 6, or 12 months).
- You click the link - takes less than 5 seconds.
- If you miss the check-in, the system sends multiple reminders (you configure the number of attempts and days between them).
- Only after all attempts go unanswered does the capsule deliver.
One missed email does not trigger delivery. The system is designed with multiple safeguards specifically to prevent accidental delivery. You can also reset the timer at any time by clicking any check-in link.
How to Set It Up: Step by Step
Setting up a capsule takes less than 10 minutes. Here's how:
- Decide on your content: What do you want to leave? Personal messages, practical information, or both? Consider creating separate capsules for different purposes or different recipients.
- Record your messages: Use your phone to record a video or voice message. It doesn't need to be polished. Real is better than perfect.
- Go to Create a Capsule and select "Dead Man's Switch" delivery.
- Upload your files: Videos, photos, audio recordings, documents - all major formats are supported.
- Write your text message: Add any written instructions, letters, or practical information in the text field.
- Set the recipient: Enter the email address of the person who should receive the capsule.
- Configure the check-in: Choose your interval (1, 3, 6, or 12 months), number of attempts (1-5), and days per attempt (3-30).
- Enable Privacy Shield (optional): For capsules containing passwords or financial information, add Privacy Shield ($5.99) for maximum security.
- Pay and seal: One-time payment starting at $23.99 (incl. tax). No subscriptions. Save your edit token in a safe place.
That's it. From now on, you just click a link in an email every few months. Everything else is automatic.
What Families Should Know
If you're the spouse or family member of a first responder, here are things to discuss:
- Know that a capsule exists. You don't need to know what's inside - just that it's there and that it will arrive by email if it's ever needed.
- Know who the recipient is. Is the capsule addressed to you? To your children? To a sibling? It helps to know the plan.
- If Privacy Shield is enabled, know where the Viewing Key is. It might be in a safe, with an attorney, or in a sealed envelope. Without it, the capsule can't be opened.
- Understand the check-in process. If your partner is deployed or in an area without internet, they may need someone to click the check-in link on their behalf. Discuss this in advance.
- Know the edit token location. If circumstances change (new email address, updated information), the edit token allows the capsule to be modified.
Protecting Sensitive Information
If your capsule contains passwords, PINs, financial account credentials, or other sensitive data, enable Privacy Shield. Here's what it does:
- Your files are encrypted with a Viewing Key that is shown to you once and never stored on SealedFor's servers.
- Even if SealedFor's entire infrastructure were breached, your data would be unreadable.
- The recipient needs the Viewing Key to open the capsule - store it separately from the capsule itself.
For personal messages (videos, letters, photos), standard AES-256 encryption is sufficient. For anything involving passwords or financial access, Privacy Shield provides the strongest available protection.
