Skip to main content

Claiming a Legacy Vault (Heir Guide)

If someone designated you to receive documents from their Legacy Vault, this page explains what happens when you make a claim. We have tried to keep it factual and short — you are likely reading it at a hard time.

Claiming is free. You are never charged to claim or receive documents, and you do not need the app or an account to start — the claim runs over email links and web pages. You will need a Qpher account (free) at the very end to receive the documents.

Starting a claim​

  1. Use the claim link from a Qpher Legacy email (for example, your designation notice), or ask for a fresh link at the address in that email.
  2. The claim page asks for your identity and, if you have one, the claim code the vault owner gave you — typically in person or in a letter.
  3. You sign a short sworn statement (see below) and submit the claim.

Opening a claim is deliberately loud: the vault owner and every other designated contact are notified immediately and repeatedly. If the owner is alive, they can cancel the claim with one tap at any point before release.

What the sworn attestation means​

At claim-open you must swear, under penalty of perjury, that the vault owner has died, and type your legal name and the date.

  • This is your statement, not Qpher's finding — Qpher does not verify death and relies on your representation in good faith.
  • Making this statement about a living person is perjury and fraud, with the legal consequences those words imply. The statement, its version, and the timestamp are permanently recorded.
  • The attestation contains no arbitration clause, no liability cap, and no waivers — those terms appear only in the Legacy Receiver Terms, which you are asked to accept later, at the moment you actually receive documents. You can read them in advance.

Timeline​

  1. Claim opened — all contacts are notified; the owner can veto.
  2. Confirmations — if the owner named confirmers, the required number of them must approve your claim. (You cannot confirm your own claim.)
  3. Waiting period — after confirmation, a delay set by the owner runs: 30 days by default, and anywhere from 14 to 180 days. If the owner configured no confirmers, the minimum is 120 days. The owner is notified throughout and can veto up to the last moment.
  4. Release — if the waiting period ends with no veto, the documents are released to the heirs' accounts. You accept the Legacy Receiver Terms and receive the documents.

You can check status at any time with the tracking link from your claim emails — the page shows which stage the claim is in and when the waiting period ends.

No claim code? The death-certificate lane​

If you do not have the claim code (or it does not match), your claim still proceeds — nobody is permanently locked out — but two things change:

  • the waiting period is extended by 60 days, and
  • a manual review is required before release: you upload a copy of the death certificate through the claim page, and a person at Qpher reviews it.

Qpher relies on a facially valid certificate in good faith; this is a document check, not a forensic investigation. If the certificate cannot be accepted, the claim is declined and the policy re-arms — you can claim again with better documentation or with the claim code.

Receiving the documents​

At release you accept the Legacy Receiver Terms and the documents appear in your Qpher account (the Qpher Legacy app shows them under "Shared with me"; they can also be exported as portable encrypted .qpher files). Documents remain available for at least 24 months after release, so there is no rush to download on day one.

If something goes wrong​

  • Claim vetoed: the owner (or support acting for the owner after identity verification) canceled it. If you believe this is an error, contact the owner; Qpher enforces the owner's policy and cannot override a veto.
  • Estate dispute: if a court order or an estate representative's formal claim reaches Qpher, the claim is frozen and the clock stops. If no formal legal proceeding follows within 90 days, the freeze releases automatically and the timeline resumes.
  • Anything else: support@qpher.ai. Mention your claim reference from the status page.