GivePeace Help & FAQ

Last updated 2026-08-29 — this page is also what our support team reads when they answer your email.

GivePeace lets you record video messages for the people you love, and holds them sealed until the day you chose or the day you are gone. It is also where families gather afterwards, on a memorial, and where a message someone left for you finally reaches you. Almost everything people write to us about is answered somewhere on this page, so it is long on purpose. Use your browser's find — Command+F on a Mac, Ctrl+F elsewhere — and type the word you would actually use: password, trustee, refund, tokens, certificate, capsule, delete, passed away.

Getting started & your account

Signing in, recovering access, and keeping your details current.

I forgot my password

Tap "Forgot Password?" on the sign-in screen and we email a reset link to the address on your account.

Open the app and choose Sign in with Email.
Tap "Forgot Password?" under the Sign In button.
Enter your email address. The app says "Password reset email sent! Please check your inbox." You see that message whether or not an account uses that address, so check the spelling if nothing arrives.
Open the link and set a new password.

If you ask several times in a row the app says "Too many password reset requests. Please try again later." Wait a while, then try once. There is no support step here — the email address on your account is the key to it. If you signed up with Apple or Google there is no GivePeace password to reset; see I signed up with Apple or Google and there is no password to reset — how do I sign in?

I signed up with Apple or Google and there is no password to reset — how do I sign in?

Sign in the same way you signed up: tap "Continue with Apple" or "Continue with Google".

There are four ways in: Apple (on iPhone and iPad), Google, email and password, and phone number. The sign-in screen shows "You usually continue with …" based on your last sign-in on that phone. If a password never works for an address, go back and use the Apple or Google button instead. Recovery for those accounts happens with Apple or Google, not with us. One thing to know if you used Apple's private email relay: if the relay stops forwarding, our emails — including check-ins — may not reach you.

See: Privacy Policy (givepeace.co/privacy)

Which way did I sign up? It says an account already exists with my email

One email address means one GivePeace account, and "an account already exists" is not a rejection — sign in once with your original method.

If you are signed in: Profile tab → settings icon (the sliders, top right) → Settings → Account → Sign-in methods lists every method linked to your account. The list is view-only; methods cannot be removed in the app.
If you are signed out: the sign-in screen shows the method you last used on that phone.
If the methods collide, the app opens a screen headed "One account, your way" that reads "You already sign in with [method]. Sign in with it to link [the new method] to the same account."
If the linking does not finish, you are still signed in the original way and nothing is lost.

I lost access to the email address on my account — can you verify who I am and let me back in?

We would rather say this plainly than leave you hoping.

We have no way to verify who you are and let you back in — the email address on your account is the key to it.

If you still have your password, sign in now and add a phone number. Verify it with the code we text you during check-in setup. A text is then the one channel that still reaches you. The address you sign in with cannot be changed in the app. Editing the contact address under Personal Settings does not move your password reset with it. If both the password and that inbox are gone, the account cannot be recovered. There is no identity-check step and no restoration process, and we will not imply one. Apple and Google accounts recover through Apple or Google. Being wrongly reported as passed away is a different situation — see My account says I passed away and I'm still here.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

How do I change the email address or phone number on my account?

Profile tab → settings icon → Settings → Account → Personal Settings → Edit, then Save Changes.

Profile tab → settings icon → Settings → Account → Personal Settings.
Tap Edit.
Change Email Address or Phone Number.
Tap Save Changes.

This updates the details we contact you at. It does not change the address you sign in with — there is no flow in the app for that. Keeping these current matters more here than on most apps. Stale details mean you may miss the check-ins that stop a release nobody wanted. A phone number is optional and works for U.S. and Canada numbers. The number you verify with a texted code during check-in setup is the one we count as confirmed, so check any number you type here carefully. First name, last name and birthday are read-only on this screen.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

My birthday is wrong on my account — how do I fix it?

Birthday is read-only in the app today, so email support@givepeace.co with the subject "Privacy Request" and the correct date.

We will look at it. One correction we cannot make on your word alone moves an account from under 18 to over 18. That is the check that guards who can set messages to be released. You can see it at Settings → Account → Personal Settings, greyed out beside your first and last name. It stays read-only because every age rule reads it. From 13 you can join, record and save messages, and seal a time capsule. From 18 you can set messages to be released and name trustees. Serving as someone else's trustee needs 18 either way. A member aged 13 to 17 can set messages to be released with a parent's verified consent; see the Under 18, parents & guardians questions. Corrections go through support and are recorded. We do not collect government ID to check anyone's age. Please include the email address on your account so we can find you.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

The app won't let me in until I update — I need to check in

Being stopped at a wall when you are trying to check in is unsettling, so here is exactly what is happening.

Nothing about your account is affected — update the app, reopen it, and your check-in will be waiting.

Tap "Update now" on the screen that reads "Please update GivePeace — A newer version is ready. Please update to continue."
If that opens the App Store home rather than our listing, go to the App Store → your account picture → Updates, and update GivePeace there.
Reopen the app. Your account, your messages and your check-in are exactly as you left them.

The wall covers everything, including check-in and claim links, with no exceptions. A version we retire has a problem serious enough that we do not want it handling those. It appears only when we have set a higher minimum version; if anything is unclear, such as no network, the app lets you in.

I'm not getting notifications — which ones can I turn off?

Start with your iPhone: that permission is what actually turns push on or off.

iPhone Settings → GivePeace → Notifications, and allow them.
Sign out and sign in again on that phone, so it registers for notifications. Notices go to the phone you signed in on most recently.
Profile tab → settings icon → Settings → Notifications turns on Push Notifications and Sound for this account, and Manage Preferences records which categories you want.

The categories are Important (Death Report Alerts, Countdown Updates, Trusted Contact Requests, Message Delivery), Activity (Content Review) and Reminders (Annual Check-In, Recording Reminder). All are on by default. Safety notices — check-ins and death reports — are sent whatever you choose here, because a mistaken report is exactly what you need to hear about. Turning off Annual Check-In quiets the reminder only. The inactivity safeguard stays on while messages are waiting to be delivered. See Why can't I turn off the inactivity check-in? On that screen "trusted contact" means the same as "trustee".

Is there an Android version, an iPad version, or a Spanish version? Does it work outside the U.S.?

GivePeace is an iPhone and iPad app in the App Store, in English, and notices reach people anywhere by email.

iPad is supported; sign in there the same way you do on your phone. We are not announcing an Android version or a date. Trustee invitations, message notices and claim links arrive by email and in the app, and the links open at givepeace.co in any browser. To open a message, a person signs up in the app with the email address it was sent to. So a loved one who has no iPhone or iPad cannot watch it yet. The Service is offered for use in the United States. Texting is built for U.S. and Canada numbers. The app and our emails are English only, and there is no language setting. Buttons carry VoiceOver labels, text follows your phone's text-size setting, and Settings → Appearance sets light or dark.

We text someone only if they gave us that number themselves and confirmed it with a code.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

Where is the help section, and how do I replay the tutorial?

Settings → Help & Support → Replay Tutorial restarts the walkthrough, and the full Help & FAQ lives at givepeace.co/help.

Profile tab → settings icon → Settings → Help & Support → Replay Tutorial, then confirm "Yes" when asked "Would you like to replay the app tutorial?" Nothing you have recorded is affected.
Settings → Legal opens all ten of our documents to read inside the app: Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Digital Legacy Designation Agreement, Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy, Trustee & Recipient Terms, Community Guidelines, SMS & Communications Terms, Copyright & DMCA Policy, Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy, and Legal Process & Estate Requests Policy.
Anything this page does not answer goes to support@givepeace.co. We are a small team and we read every email.

Recording & your messages

What happens to what you record, and how much control you keep.

Will my family find out what I recorded before I pass away?

It is a fair thing to worry about, and the answer is no — nobody is told anything about a message until it is released.

We never tell someone they were named, or that anything exists. Adding someone with no GivePeace account offers you an invite to send. It opens your own email or messages app, and you can skip that step. A time capsule is the one exception, and you set it yourself. It arrives on the date you chose, whether or not you are still here.

Trustees know they are your trustee and see status only; a trustee never sees your recipients or what you recorded. Other members cannot see your email address, your phone number, or your birth date. They see your public profile — your name, photo, bio, and who you follow. None of that says anything about your messages.

In your own Last Words tab, a sealed message reads "This message is encrypted and will only be available after your death is confirmed." A draft is labelled "Draft — private to you" and reads "This is saved privately. Nothing has been sent, and no one has been told about it."

To help someone join early, go to Settings → Your Legacy → Will readiness. It shows which trustees and recipients already have an account. "Send gentle reminders" prepares a note you send yourself from Messages or Mail. It says only that you have listed them as a trusted contact.

See: Privacy Policy (givepeace.co/privacy)

Can I delete a message I've already set to be delivered?

You are always allowed to change your mind — a waiting message cannot be deleted, but you can stop it by setting it aside.

Go to Profile tab → settings icon → Settings → Your Legacy → Inactivity safeguard.
Turn the switch off. Because messages are waiting, the app keeps it on and offers "See my messages".
Tap "See my messages" to open "Messages waiting to be delivered".
Tap "Set aside for now" next to the message you want to stop.
To bring it back later, tap "Deliver this again" on the same screen.

In the app's own words: "Setting a message aside keeps it safe and private. It stays exactly where it is and is never shared — until you choose to have it delivered again." Each person you recorded for has their own copy, so setting one aside changes only that person's copy. Setting aside is not deletion — nothing is destroyed, so you can change your mind as many times as you need to. A time capsule works differently. You cancel it from the capsule itself, and cancelling cannot be undone — the recording stays private to you.

See: Digital Legacy Designation Agreement (givepeace.co/designation)

Can I still change who gets my messages while someone is reporting me as passed away?

Yes — at every moment while you are alive, including while a report about you is pending.

Finding out that someone has reported you is frightening, and we are sorry you are reading this. Your messages, your recipients and your trustees all stay yours to change while a report is running. One thing does stay put: the inactivity safeguard cannot be switched off while messages are waiting. That way nothing can be shared without someone checking on you first. You can add or remove a trustee from the Trustees tab, record a new message from the Camera tab, and change your recipients. Every change takes effect immediately. To set a waiting message aside while a check-in is running, let us know you are here first. The app asks you for that before anything else. There is no state in which a living member is locked out of editing or revoking, and that includes any waiting period and the 48-hour notice. While a countdown is running, the app shows a banner, "A check-in is needed", with an "I'm here" button. Confirm it is you with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode, and the process stops. Your directions are effective now, while you are alive, which is exactly why they are always yours to change.

See: Digital Legacy Designation Agreement (givepeace.co/designation)

Why can I only add five people to a message, and does each one use a token?

One message can go to up to five people, and it costs one token no matter how many of them there are.

When you have five, adding one more shows "Limit Reached — You can only add up to 5 recipients total". The five covers everyone on the message together — people you add by email, by phone, and from GivePeace. The same person cannot be added twice; the app says "Duplicate". The confirmation dialog before you send shows "Tokens Required: 1", and one token is spent per message, not per person. Each person you record for keeps their own copy. To reach more people, record another message.

My video got stuck uploading — do I have to record it again?

No — your video is still on your phone, and "Try Again" picks the upload up from where it stopped.

When an upload stops, a panel appears titled "Video upload paused", with the reason underneath.
Tap "Try Again". It resumes from the last part that finished, and keeps your recipients, your description and your message type.
If you would rather stop for now, tap "Leave for now". No draft is kept in the app, so if you want to keep the recording, save it to your gallery before you leave.
Some reasons cannot be fixed by tapping again — full phone storage, or a session that needs you to sign in again. The panel names the reason and does not offer "Try Again". Fix the reason, then send the message again.

The camera permission says "LifeToken" — is this the right app?

Yes, this is us — a few of our own screens still carry an earlier name for the app.

Nothing is wrong with your device or your account, and that wording is confusing; we are sorry for the scare. It is on our own screens and messages inside the app, not on your phone's permission prompt. Camera access is needed to record, and the microphone is needed for sound. The photo library is used two ways. It shows videos you already recorded so you can pick one, and it saves a recording to your gallery when you ask. If you said no earlier, open the Camera tab and tap "Enable Camera Access" — the app takes you to your device settings. In your device settings the app is listed as GivePeace; turn Camera and Microphone back on there.

Can I say in my video who should get the house or my ring? Is this my will?

You can say anything you like in your message, but a GivePeace message cannot give anyone your property — it is not a will.

A message that says "I leave my ring to Sarah" delivers your words to Sarah; it does not deliver the ring. GivePeace messages are not a legal will, a trust, or any other testamentary instrument. They transfer no property, appoint no guardian, and override no legal document, and a message that tries to has no legal effect through us. In the app we call your sealed messages your "will" only in the everyday, heartfelt sense; the Will readiness screen checks whether your people have accounts, and it does not make a will. Please do not use a message to make a gift — it will not work, and it can create painful false expectations for people you love. An attorney can advise you: a will for your things, GivePeace for your words. Who receives your messages is governed by the Digital Legacy Designation Agreement, and you can change that at any time while you are alive.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

Recipients & how messages are delivered

How a message finds the person you chose, and why it is slow by design.

How long after I pass away will my messages actually be sent?

Planning for the day you are not here is hard, and you deserve a straight answer about the timing.

Nothing is ever released instantly — every path runs a waiting period first, so we cannot promise a particular day.

A trustee's first report that you have passed away opens a 60-day wait by default.
Each further independent confirmation shortens the wait: 30 days, then 14 days, then a 48-hour notice when every trustee agrees. On the inactivity path, the first trustee to confirm brings it to 30 days.
With only one trustee, their confirmations alone never take the wait below 30 days. Only an approved death certificate, alongside a countdown already running, shortens it further.
If you turned check-ins on and no trustee reports, nothing can be released before 240 days — about eight months — from your last activity.
On every path, 48 hours before release we notify every channel we have: push, email, and a text if we have your number.

One confirmation from you that you are alive stops the whole process. The long wait is deliberate — sharing a living person's messages is the worst thing this service could do. A time capsule is the one exception: it arrives on the date you chose, with no death check. It is held only while an account is banned, deactivated, or being deleted.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

How do I check whether the people I recorded for will actually get my messages?

Will readiness shows, on one screen, who is set up and who is not.

Open the Profile tab and tap the settings icon (the sliders, top right) to reach Settings.
Under Your Legacy, tap Will readiness.
Read the two counts, Trustees and Message recipients. "Ready" means they have a GivePeace account; "Not yet set up" means they have not joined yet.
Tap "Send gentle reminders" to choose who to nudge, then send the suggested note yourself by Messages, Mail, or the share sheet.
Tap "View invitations you've sent" for what you already sent, or "Check again" to re-scan.

The suggested note names you and calls them a trusted contact; it never says a message exists. When everyone has joined, the screen reads "Everyone is ready. Nothing to do." Keep contact details current — a reassigned number or an inbox that has stopped working is one of the ways delivery fails.

A message I paid for was never delivered — what happens now?

A message that never reached the person it was for is a real loss, not a billing problem, and we treat it that way.

If we failed to deliver a message you sealed, you get a refund or, if you prefer, a credit of the tokens you spent on it.

Write to support@givepeace.co with your account email and, if you know it, the name of the person the message was for.
The app cannot process this itself. We are a small team, we read every email, and we make this right without argument.

This is the one exception to "spent tokens are not refunded": it covers a failure that is ours, not a message you cancelled or set aside. We cannot guarantee delivery or timing. Delivery can fail for reasons we cannot always control:

no trustees were named and check-ins were never turned on
a trustee is unreachable or declines to act
someone opted out of texts
an email address or phone number is deactivated or reassigned
a private-relay address stops forwarding
a message is never claimed

A long wait on its own is the design working — see How long after I pass away will my messages actually be sent?.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

Why didn't I get a text about the message someone left me?

Waiting to hear about something a person left for you, and hearing nothing, is hard.

Notices about a message left for you go by email and in the app first — we text only a number you verified with us yourself.

Check the email address that person had for you, including your spam and promotions folders.
Open the link in that email to claim the message.
If you have your own GivePeace account, a number you verify there is used for your own check-ins only — not for a message someone left for you.

A number another member typed in is never a number we text, so a quiet phone does not mean the message is gone. If you have replied STOP to a GivePeace text, that number stays quiet and we use email instead.

See: SMS & Communications Terms (givepeace.co/sms-terms)

Why is the video taking hours to be ready?

Waiting for someone's voice when it is nearly in your hands is its own kind of hard.

Messages are kept in deep cold storage so they last for decades, and bringing one back out takes roughly 5 to 12 hours.

Open the Home tab and tap the paper-plane icon at the top of the screen.
Tap Private Messages, then the message you were told about.
If it says "Still being prepared", you can close the app — the work continues on our servers.
Open it again later. The message stays ready to play for about a week; after a long gap it may need to be prepared again.

If it is still not ready after a day, we notice on our side and start the retrieval again on a faster setting.

Trustees

Who a trustee is, what they can and cannot see, and how invitations work.

Someone asked me to be their trustee — what am I agreeing to, and will I see their messages?

You are agreeing to two things: to tell us if that person passes away, and to answer honestly if you are asked about a report.

You will not see their messages. A trustee never sees who a member's recipients are, or what any message says. There is one narrow exception, and it protects the member's words. Each member has a primary trustee — the first trustee they named, unless they have since chosen a different one. If someone claims a message and their name does not clearly match the name the member gave, that primary trustee, and no one else, is asked to approve the claim. They are shown only that person's name and the fact that a message is waiting — never the message, never anyone else the member chose, and never how many messages exist. Other trustees are not asked and are not shown anything. If the primary trustee is no longer on the member's plan, the next trustee they named takes that place. Otherwise you see only the state of the process, such as a countdown running or a plan that has been paused.

Despite the word, this is not a trustee in the legal sense. The role is unpaid and does not make you an executor. It gives you no right to inherit or receive anything. Being named also tells you nothing about whether a message exists for you. You must be 18 or older.

Usually you become a trustee by opening the invitation, signing in and tapping Accept. The acceptance screen names the Trustee & Recipient Terms you are agreeing to, and you can read them there. Two other routes exist: a match the member confirms, and consenting for a 13 to 17 year old. Being named, on its own, never makes you a trustee.

See: Trustee & Recipient Terms (givepeace.co/trustee-recipient-terms)

I got an email saying my friend made me their trustee — what do I do now?

Open the link and tap Accept — until you do, nothing has happened and you hold no role.

Tap the givepeace.co/join link in the email or text — that link is how you open the invitation.
Sign in. If you do not have a GivePeace account, create one — it is free. If you tapped the link while signed out, we hold the code and open the invitation for you once you have signed in.
Read what the role involves, then tap Accept or Not right now.

You can register with any email address you like; it is the code, not the address, that connects you to them. We let your friend know whether you accepted or declined, and we never ask you for a reason. The role costs nothing. If you no longer have the link, ask them to send the invitation again.

How do I add a trustee, and how many can I have?

Add them from the Trustees tab and send the invitation by email — you can have up to 3.

Tap Trustees in the bottom bar.
Under "Add a new trustee", enter their name and their email address.
Send the invitation. You can also share the link with them yourself.
Until they accept, their card shows Status: Not Registered, with the invitation code you can share again.

A fourth person is refused with "You can only add up to 3 trustees." Trustees must be 18 or over, and so must you to send an invitation. If you are 13 to 17 you cannot add trustees. If a parent or guardian has given consent for you, they are your trustee. Naming someone gives them nothing until they open the link, sign in and accept. More than one trustee is better: with only one trustee, the waiting period can never drop below 30 days. Profile tab → settings icon → Settings → Your Legacy → Will readiness shows who is ready and who is not yet set up, and lets you send them a reminder.

The trustee invitation link expired, or the code doesn't work — how long is it good for?

An invitation is good for 45 days from the day it is sent, and then it quietly lapses.

The screen will say "This invitation has expired" and ask you to have a new one sent. If your invitation email says 30 days, 45 days is the one that applies. If the link looks incomplete, open the most recent one you were sent. The member can remove you and add you again from their Trustees tab, which creates a fresh code. If you create your GivePeace account with the exact email address you were invited at, we surface the invitation for you at sign-up, even after the code itself has expired. An invitation the member cancelled is final — that one needs a brand-new invitation.

I tapped "Not right now" on a trustee invitation — can I change my mind?

Yes — declining is never final.

The screen says so at the time: "No problem — nothing has changed. If you change your mind, just open this same link again before it expires and tap Accept. No new invitation is needed." So open the same link and tap Accept, any time within the 45 days. If it has already expired, ask them to send a new one. And declining is a complete answer — you owe nobody a reason.

I got a notification asking if someone is the right person to be my trustee — what is that?

That is us asking you to confirm a match before that person gets any part in your plan — until you say yes, they can do nothing.

When the name and phone number you entered match an existing member's account, we may link the two records. That link is inert. An unconfirmed match cannot report that you have passed away, cannot upload a death certificate, and does not count towards confirming anyone else's report. The question comes to you as a notification. "Yes, that's them" makes them a real trustee, and "No, remove" removes them. If you never answer, they simply stay powerless — there is no automatic approval, and a match on its own never makes anyone a trustee.

See: Trustee & Recipient Terms (givepeace.co/trustee-recipient-terms)

How do I remove a trustee?

You can remove a trustee at any time from the Trustees tab, and it takes effect straight away.

Tap Trustees in the bottom bar.
Find them under "My Trustees" and tap the delete icon.
Confirm. You will see "Trustee deleted successfully".

The same step removes someone who has not accepted yet. If they already have a GivePeace account, we let them know the relationship has ended, and we never tell them why. If you remove your only trustee, the inactivity check-in becomes the only way anyone could learn you have passed away — see What happens if I never add a trustee — will anything ever be sent? Keep the list current: these are the people who can start the release process.

How do I stop being someone's trustee?

You can step away at any time, without giving a reason and without penalty.

The simplest way is to ask the member to remove you — it is one tap in their Trustees tab. You can also step down yourself from the Trustees tab. If neither is open to you, email support@givepeace.co and say you want to step down. Stepping down changes nothing else about your account. If a member removed you, it carries no consequence for you, and we do not tell you why. If you are also the parent who gave consent for a 13 to 17 year old member, withdrawing that consent and stepping down as their trustee are two separate choices.

See: Trustee & Recipient Terms (givepeace.co/trustee-recipient-terms)

What happens if I never add a trustee — will anything ever be sent?

Then nothing will ever be sent.

Only a trustee can report that you have passed away or upload a death certificate. If you name no trustees and never turn on the inactivity check-in, there is nobody who can start the process, and nothing will be released. That is a real limit of GivePeace, and we would rather say it plainly than let you plan around something untrue. The strongest setup names more than one trustee and keeps everyone's contact details current. Profile tab → settings icon → Settings → Your Legacy → Will readiness shows who is ready and who is not yet set up, and lets you send a gentle reminder to the rest.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

Their messages have been released — do I get to see them now, or can I stop or redirect them?

We are sorry for your loss, and thank you for carrying this role for them.

No — a trustee is told only that the process has completed, never what any message says, and never the list of people the member chose.

If they left a message for you, you will hear about it separately, as a recipient. A trustee has no authority to direct, redirect, hold back or delete a message, and no authority over the account; we follow the choices the member recorded themselves. You can contest a report while it is still in its waiting period. The deny action sits on that person's card in the Trustees tab. Once messages have been released, that window has closed. If you are the executor or personal representative of their estate, our Legal Process & Estate Requests Policy explains what you can ask for.

See: Trustee & Recipient Terms (givepeace.co/trustee-recipient-terms)

Check-ins (proof of life)

The inactivity safeguard: what it sends, when, and how one tap stops everything.

Why does the app keep asking me to confirm I'm alive — is this email real?

It is real — it is the safeguard you turned on, checking that you are still here.

It is a strange thing to be asked, and your answer is the whole point: it is what keeps your messages sealed. The clock counts days since you last used GivePeace.

Day 90 and day 120 — a gentle hello, with no countdown mentioned.
Day 180 — we ask you to confirm you're alive, and a 60-day countdown starts.
At day 180 we also ask your trustees to help check on you. They are told your name and the date only — never your recipients or your words.
Reminders go weekly, then daily from day 230.
Day 240 — about eight months — we send one last notice. If we still hear nothing, your messages are shared 48 hours later with the people you chose.

Before we ask you to confirm, simply using the app keeps the clock at day zero. Once we have asked, only your confirmation stops it — one tap on "I'm here". Check-ins go by push notification and email, plus text if you added and confirmed a phone number. Profile tab → settings icon (the sliders, top right) → Settings → Your Legacy → Inactivity safeguard shows your status as a plain date, never a ticking clock.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

Why can't I turn off the inactivity check-in?

While you have messages waiting to be delivered, the check-in stays on — and you never have to delete a message to turn it off.

We know a setting you cannot switch off feels wrong. It is the only automatic thing that would notice you had passed away before those messages went out. Here is the way out:

Profile tab → settings icon (top right) → Settings → Your Legacy → Inactivity safeguard. A lock icon shows there before you tap anything. If you are 13 to 17, this row appears once a parent or guardian has given consent.
Tap the toggle. The dialog that appears has a "See my messages" button.
On that screen, tap "Set aside for now". A message you set aside is kept exactly as it is and is never shared.
With nothing waiting, the toggle turns off normally. Tap "Deliver this again" whenever you are ready.

Each person you recorded for has their own copy, so setting one aside only changes theirs. If a check-in is running right now, tapping the toggle offers a different choice — "I'm okay — check me in" — so you can settle that first. Stopping our texts is a separate thing — see Do I have to give you my phone number, and does opting out of texts count against me?

See: Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy (givepeace.co/health-data)

I got a text saying my messages will be released in 48 hours — I'm alive, what do I do?

That is a frightening thing to read, and one tap ends it: open the app and confirm you're alive.

Open GivePeace, from the link in the notice or straight from your phone.
Tap "I'm here" on the check-in banner at the top of the screen.
Your phone checks that it is really you — Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode. If your phone cannot make that check, we accept your tap.

That cancels the release and resets everything to day zero. Any report about you is discarded, and a later report would start again from the beginning. The 48-hour notice is the last step on every path, it always runs its full time, and no pause or emergency control can shorten it. We check your alive status once more inside the release itself, so your confirmation can never lose a race. If the app tells you the check-in was not registered, please try again — it never claims a check-in that did not happen.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

If I deactivate or just stop using the app, do my check-ins stop?

Not on their own — if your inactivity safeguard is on, deactivating asks you to choose what happens to your check-ins.

Go to Profile tab → settings icon (top right) → Settings → Account → Personal Settings → Deactivate Account. If your inactivity safeguard is switched on, you pick one of two options before you can continue:

"Keep my switch armed" — your check-ins keep going, so if something happens to you your messages can still be shared with the people you chose.
"Pause it" — your check-ins stop and nothing can be shared while it is paused. If messages are waiting, your phone asks you to confirm it is you — and if it cannot ask, we accept your choice.

Pausing is itself a sign of life: it resets your clock to day zero and cancels anything pending, and your trustees are told only that you paused. Reactivating your account resumes your check-ins automatically, starting again from day zero. If you simply stop using the app while the safeguard is on, the check-ins carry on — that is what they are for.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

Do I have to give you my phone number, and does opting out of texts count against me?

No to both — a phone number is optional, and choosing not to get texts is never read as a sign that something happened to you.

"Skip for now" is a real button on the phone step, and it stays there. Every check-in and safety notice works fully over push notification and email without a number. Add a number from the check-in screens and we text you a six-digit code. At launch, only a number you confirmed that way receives GivePeace texts. Our texts are transactional only — codes, check-ins, safety alerts and delivery notices — and never marketing. Reply STOP to any text and that number stops receiving GivePeace texts of every kind, while check-ins continue by push notification and email. To remove a number later, go to Profile tab → settings icon (top right) → Settings → Account → Personal Settings, clear the phone field and save.

See: SMS & Communications Terms (givepeace.co/sms-terms)

When someone has passed away — for recipients and families

For the people a message was left for, and for the families settling things afterwards.

My dad passed away and I got an email saying he left me a message — what do I do, and is it real?

We are so sorry about your father — the email is real, he recorded that message for you himself, and you open it in the free GivePeace app.

A genuine notice comes from noreply@givepeace.co with the subject "A Message From <his name> - GivePeace". It names him, links only to pages on givepeace.co, never contains the video itself, and never asks you for money, a password, or a code read back to anyone. If anything about it feels wrong, forward it to support@givepeace.co and we will tell you whether it is ours. Recipients are never told in advance that a message exists, so this is the first you would have heard of it.

Install the free GivePeace app and sign in, or create an account, using the exact email address or phone number the notice was sent to. Signing up with that contact attaches the waiting message automatically.
On the Home tab, tap the paper-plane icon at the top of the screen, then Private Messages.
Open the message and tap "Send me a code". The code goes to the contact he chose for you.
Enter the 6 digits, then tap Confirm. You will see "Your message is being prepared."

Viewing what he left you never requires a purchase. The message opens in the app on a phone.

See: Trustee & Recipient Terms (givepeace.co/trustee-recipient-terms)

I'm not ready to watch it yet — how long do I have, and will it go away?

Confirming the message is yours and watching it are two different steps — confirm within 30 days, then watch whenever you are ready.

The confirm step has a 30-day window, counted from when the message was matched to you. Once you have confirmed, there is no deadline for watching it. The message stays in your Private Messages: on the Home tab, tap the paper-plane icon at the top of the screen. The claim screen has no countdown designed to rush you and no pressure of any kind. If the 30 days pass before you confirm, the message is not deleted — it is simply marked unclaimed, and the app cannot reopen it. Write to support@givepeace.co with his name and we will tell you honestly what is possible. If you are struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available day and night in the United States: call or text 988.

See: Trustee & Recipient Terms (givepeace.co/trustee-recipient-terms)

The link expired, went to spam, or I deleted the email — can I still get my message?

Yes — the link is only a doorway, and signing in reaches the same message.

The link works once and lasts 30 days. The app says it plainly: "Your message is safe — you can find it in your Private Messages once you're signed in."

Sign in to the app with the same email address or phone number the notice was sent to.
On the Home tab, tap the paper-plane icon at the top of the screen, then Private Messages.
If asked, tap "Send me a code" and enter the 6 digits.

If that contact is already verified on your account, no code is needed. If the 30-day claim window itself has passed, write to support@givepeace.co.

It asks for a 6-digit code and I never got one, or it says too many tries

Nothing is lost — the lock is a pause, not a deletion.

The code goes only to the contact the person chose for you: their email address, or a phone number you have verified yourself. The screen shows it partly masked. You cannot send it somewhere else; that is by design, not a fault. Check your spam folder first. The screen always tells you where you stand. While you wait it reads "Send a new code in …". If your tries ran out it reads "Too many tries. You can request a new code in …". After a wrong code it shows how many tries are left and clears the field so you can type again. An expired code just needs a new one. If the contact on file is an old address you can no longer open, there is no in-app way to change it — write to support@givepeace.co.

It says the name doesn't match and a trustee has to approve — what does that mean?

It means the name the sender typed is not close enough to the name on your account, so their primary trustee is asked to approve — it is not a refusal.

The check exists because phone numbers get reassigned and email addresses get recycled. Close matches confirm with the code alone. Very different names also need the sender's primary trustee to approve, and the app notifies them. That trustee sees only what is needed to decide, never the message; no one can approve their own claim, and every approval is recorded. You still need the 6-digit code either way. Changing the name on your account does not clear the flag by itself. Nothing is deleted while a claim is waiting. Do not tap "Not for me" unless the message truly is not yours — that seals it permanently.

See: Trustee & Recipient Terms (givepeace.co/trustee-recipient-terms)

My message says "Resting for a moment" — is it gone?

It is not gone — viewing is paused for a short while, and nothing has been deleted.

The app says: "This message is resting for a moment. It's safe and will be here for you soon." Nothing is deleted while it rests. Most pauses lift on their own, so check back later rather than retrying. One case is different: if the sender turns out to be alive, the message closes for good and you will be told directly. If it has been resting a long time, write to support@givepeace.co with the sender's name.

I got a message about someone I've never heard of, or I don't want this message — can you delete it?

You never have to open it, and you can seal it yourself or tell us it is not yours.

Phone numbers get reassigned and email addresses get recycled, so this does happen. On the claim screen, "Not for me" seals the message permanently — the warning reads "This message will be permanently sealed. You won't be able to view it." Leaving it unclaimed is also an answer. If the notices reached you by text, replying STOP to any of them stops every kind of GivePeace text to that number. If you would rather we correct our records, forward the notice to support@givepeace.co. To have your contact details removed altogether, email support@givepeace.co with the subject "Privacy Request" — no account needed; the honest consequence is that a message genuinely meant for you could then be undeliverable. We cannot delete the member's own recording; it is theirs. Please do not claim a message you know was meant for someone else.

See: Trustee & Recipient Terms (givepeace.co/trustee-recipient-terms)

My mother passed away — how do I tell you so her messages go out? I'm not a trustee

We are sorry about your mother — but only a trustee she named can start this, and we cannot tell you who her trustees are.

A verification can begin in three ways, and only three: a trustee reports that she has passed away, her own inactivity switch runs its full course, or a trustee uploads a death certificate. A family member or recipient who is not a trustee cannot start it. If you think you may be one of her trustees, open the app and look under Trustees → I'm a Trustee For. If she named no trustees and never set her messages to be released, the process may never start — that is a real limit, and we would rather say so than let you wait. If you are her executor, the estate route is the Legal Process & Estate Requests Policy.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

My dad passed away and I'm his trustee — how do I report it, and why do I need a code?

We are sorry for your loss — you report it from his card in the Trustees tab, and the code is there because a report is one of the few actions that can start a clock.

Open the Trustees tab, then I'm a Trustee For.
Tap his card, then Report Death.
A 6-digit code is sent to you automatically — by text if your account has a phone number on file, otherwise to your account email. The screen shows where it went. Enter it. Code requests are limited to five an hour.
Tap Submit Report.

The code is not doubt about you. Your report opens a 60-day waiting period; it releases nothing by itself, and nothing becomes public. He is contacted directly and asked to confirm he is alive. If you reported by mistake, the same card offers Deny Death.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

I reported the death weeks ago and nothing has happened — why is it so slow?

The waiting is deliberate: a message that arrives late is a wound, but a goodbye sent about a living person cannot be taken back.

One report opens 60 days. A second trustee confirming independently shortens it to 30 days, and a third to 14. If the member named only one trustee, that person can never shorten the wait below 30 days, however many times they confirm. An approved death certificate collapses the wait to the 48-hour notice only when something independent already agrees — the inactivity countdown already running, or two trustees having confirmed. Otherwise the certificate is recorded and takes effect on its own once corroboration arrives, with no need to upload it again. The 48-hour notice always runs; there is no instant release. Throughout, one confirmation from the member cancels everything.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

Another trustee reported a death and the app asks me to confirm or deny — what should I do?

Answer only what you genuinely believe — denying is as valuable as confirming.

Go to Trustees → I'm a Trustee For → their card, then Confirm Death or Deny Death. A 6-digit code is required. Confirming shortens the waiting period, because two people who agree independently is a stronger signal than one. Denying is one of the most useful things a trustee can do if you doubt the report. You answer for yourself only; you cannot answer in another trustee's place. The alert stays in your list, marked unread, until you answer it. That is deliberate — a push notification can be missed, so the notice itself waits for you.

See: Trustee & Recipient Terms (givepeace.co/trustee-recipient-terms)

I reported him as passed away and he's alive — how do I undo it, and am I in trouble?

You can withdraw the report yourself, and an honest mistake is not a violation.

Go to Trustees → I'm a Trustee For → his card → Deny Death, and enter the 6-digit code.
Ask him to open the app and tap "I'm here" on the check-in banner. His own confirmation cancels the whole process and restarts his check-in clock at day zero.

Every trustee is then told the report was cancelled and that he has confirmed he is alive. Nothing was released: a report releases nothing on its own, a 48-hour notice always comes first, and nothing was made public. The duty on a trustee is honesty, not certainty. Knowingly reporting a living person's death is a different matter — it can end the trustee role, end the account behind it, and carry legal consequences beyond GivePeace. If you believe someone is misusing the process, write to support@givepeace.co.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

My account says I passed away and I'm still here

This should not have happened, and we can put it right — but once a death has been recorded, a tap is deliberately not enough.

If you can see the "A check-in is needed" banner, tap "I'm here". While a countdown is still running, that one confirmation ends the whole process.
Otherwise, open the notice that reads "If this account was marked in error, we can help", tap Get help, then Tell our team. You will see "A person from GivePeace will review this and contact you. Nothing about this account has changed." If the app cannot reach us it tells you so, and nothing is left queued.
Also write to support@givepeace.co from the account email. This is one of the cases that must come by email.

We then verify you directly, by live video and identification — never by a tap and never over text — because whoever is holding a phone is not always its owner.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

My messages went out to people while I'm alive — can you undo it?

We are so sorry — this should never have happened, and we do not leave it standing: we lock everything first, then roll it back once a person has verified you directly.

Your memorial comes down and every released message is locked, so no one can open it again.
A person from GivePeace verifies with you by live video and identification.
The messages go back to being private and stay locked, including for anyone who already watched.
Every recipient gets a plain, personal note saying you are alive, and an apology.
The memorial is archived rather than destroyed, and shows "This memorial was created in error — the person it was made for is alive. Everything here has been withdrawn."
The plain copies made for delivery are deleted from our storage and cleared from our content network.
Wildflowers people bought are refunded to their card automatically; nobody has to ask.
Your plan comes back on and your check-in clock restarts at day zero.

We tell you exactly who opened what and when, because those were your private words. The trustee whose report caused it is told privately; everyone else is told only that a mistake was corrected. A time capsule is the exception — you chose that date yourself, so it stays delivered. What we cannot do is unread what someone has already read. Every step is written to a record.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

I got a message from my sister but she is alive, or an email saying the memorial was created in error — what happened?

That correction note is real, and its news is good: she is alive, and that message should never have reached you.

Ask her to open the app — that is the fastest way through. While a countdown is still running, one tap on "I'm here" ends it. Once a death has been recorded, she opens the notice that reads "If this account was marked in error, we can help". She taps Get help, then Tell our team, and a person from GivePeace reaches out to her. If you cannot reach her, write to support@givepeace.co and tell us what happened. The message has been closed and cannot be opened again; it goes back to being private to her, saved for its right time. A memorial made in the same error is withdrawn and says so, rather than showing you a broken page. If you bought flowers, the money goes back to the card you used without you asking; if a refund fails, tell us. We are a small team and we read every email.

See: Trustee & Recipient Terms (givepeace.co/trustee-recipient-terms)

Is there a message waiting for me? Can you tell me who else got one?

Until a release actually reaches you, we will not confirm or deny that a message exists for you, and who received what stays private afterwards.

That silence protects every member's privacy, including from the people closest to them, and no informal request changes it. If someone left you something and the process completes, we contact you at the details they gave us. Being named a trustee is not a sign that a message exists for you — trustees never see recipients or the contents of a plan. We also do not confirm to a caller, an employer, an insurer or a reporter that a member has passed away or that a verification is underway. Only valid legal process can require more.

See: Trustee & Recipient Terms (givepeace.co/trustee-recipient-terms)

I'm the executor of the estate — can I get her messages, her password, or a list of who she left messages for?

We are sorry for your loss. Release means one thing: the messages she set to be released go to the people she named, and to no one else.

Naming a recipient is also a direction that the message not go to an executor, a sibling, or anyone she did not name. If she left one for you, it reaches you through ordinary delivery. We never provide login credentials or live account access to anyone. Where a request qualifies, we produce a copy — an export of the specific material the estate is entitled to. Her list of recipients is private, and her recorded directions defeat a request for it unless a court orders otherwise.

Estate requests come by email to support@givepeace.co with "Attn: Legal" in the subject.

For records: a written request, a certified copy of her death certificate, and a certified copy of the letters testamentary or letters of administration appointing you.
For the contents of messages: those three, plus evidence of her consent — and a court order may also be required.
We comply, or tell you in writing why we cannot, within 60 days of a complete request.

We preserve, rather than delete, a member's account after death. One exception: if she had already started deleting her account and passed away inside the 30-day grace period, that deletion completes. The messages she had set to be released still deliver through a narrow delivery archive. An attorney can advise you on the estate itself.

See: Legal Process & Estate Requests Policy (givepeace.co/legal-process)

Death verification & certificates

How we know, what a certificate does and does not do, and what living people see.

How do you actually know when I've died? Do you check death records?

Asking this plainly deserves a plain answer.

We never check death records — a verification can begin in only three ways, and none of them releases anything on its own.

A trustee you chose reports that you have passed away.
Your inactivity safeguard, if you turned it on, runs its full course with no word from you. After about six months of silence, we ask you directly and a 60-day countdown starts.
A trustee uploads a death certificate.

There is no other door. A trustee's report and the inactivity safeguard each open a waiting period, and every release ends with the 48-hour notice. A certificate on its own opens nothing — see Does a death certificate make it happen faster? We do not check government death registries or death-index databases. We do not use health data, wearable devices or medical records, and we will not add them later. Verification rests on people you chose, your own responsiveness, and documents a person reviews by hand.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

Can one person just say I'm dead and get my videos?

It is a frightening thought, and the protection against it is built into the timings.

No — one trustee's reports can never shorten the wait below 30 days, and no trustee ever sees your messages.

A first report opens a 60-day window. A shorter window opens only when a second independent signal agrees — another trustee with their own accepted role, or your own inactivity countdown already running. If you have one active trustee, that person can never move you past 30 days, however many times they confirm. A certificate they upload works differently, and only alongside independent evidence — see Does a death certificate make it happen faster? Trustees can never see who your recipients are, which messages exist, or what any message says — with the one narrow exception described under Someone asked me to be their trustee — what am I agreeing to, and will I see their messages?. Throughout the window we keep contacting you, and one confirmation from you cancels everything and resets it to day zero. Knowingly reporting the death of a living person breaks our Terms. It ends the reporter's trustee role, can end their account, and can carry legal consequences.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

I have the death certificate — where do I upload it, and which copy do you need?

We're so sorry for your loss.

Only a trustee can upload a certificate, and we need the informational "fact of death" certified copy — not the confidential version that lists cause of death.

Open the Trustees tab and choose I'm a Trustee For.
Tap their card, then the document icon.
Tap Choose a file — PDF, JPG or PNG, up to 10 MB.
Tap Send for review.

We check the file by reading it rather than trusting its name, so a renamed file is turned away. Recipients cannot upload a certificate, and a certificate emailed to us cannot start or speed up a release. A person on our team reviews every certificate by hand — no automated system and no AI approves one. The member is told the moment you upload, before anyone reviews it, so a living person is never the last to know. If cause-of-death information reaches us anyway, we treat it as extra-sensitive and may redact or delete it.

See: Trustee & Recipient Terms (givepeace.co/trustee-recipient-terms)

Does a death certificate make it happen faster?

We know how hard it is to be asked to wait when you are holding the document.

By itself, no — a certificate shortens the wait only when something independent already agrees with it.

A certificate can open a file, but on its own it never completes verification and never shortens anything, because a document is easy to forge. An approved certificate accelerates only where the member's own inactivity countdown was already running, or at least two different trustees have independently reported. Where that is true, the countdown collapses straight to the 48-hour notice, whatever tier it was on. Where it is not, the certificate is recorded and takes effect by itself if corroboration arrives later — you never need to upload it again. Nothing ever skips the 48-hour notice.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

You said you couldn't verify the certificate I sent — what was wrong with it?

Being turned away in the middle of this is the last thing you needed, and almost certainly you did nothing wrong.

We do not pass back the reviewer's reasoning — that same review is what protects a living person from a forged document — so the quickest way through is to send a clearer copy.

Go back to Trustees tab → I'm a Trustee For → their card → the document icon.
Tap Choose a different file — the certified copy, or a clear full-page photo, works best.
Tap Send for review. You can do this again as many times as you need.

The commonest causes are a hard-to-read photo or the wrong version of the certificate. The app tells you straight away about the two it can see for itself: a file that is not PDF, JPG or PNG, and a file over 10 MB. A rejection changes nothing else — your report and any waiting period carry on exactly as they were.

Who can see the death certificate I uploaded? Will it show on the memorial?

A certificate usually states a cause of death and can name living people, so this is a fair thing to ask.

No — only our review team ever sees it, through a logged link that expires in about 15 minutes.

Certificates are held in restricted storage, apart from anyone's messages, and the review pages are open to our team only. A certificate is never shown to other trustees, to recipients, or on any memorial or feed. The app never previews it, saves a copy or shows a thumbnail — you see the file name and size, and nothing else. The only others who ever see one are the providers who store it on our instructions, and a legal requester where valid legal process compels it. We collect it for one purpose: manual corroboration that a person has passed away.

See: Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy (givepeace.co/health-data)

I got an email saying someone uploaded a death certificate about me — I'm alive

That is an alarming message to receive, and we're sorry; we send it early on purpose, so you get the earliest possible chance to stop this.

Open the app — if anything is counting down about you, one tap confirms you're alive and resets it to day zero.

Open the app. If a countdown is running about you, a banner reads A check-in is needed.
Tap I'm here, and let your phone check that it is you — Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. If your phone cannot make that check, we accept your confirmation anyway.
If no banner appears, nothing is counting down: a certificate on its own moves nothing.

A certificate shortens the wait only alongside independent evidence, and even then the 48-hour notice still runs and you can still stop it. An uploaded certificate does not limit your account, and no one else is told about it — not your recipients, and not your other trustees. You can also remove that trustee yourself: Trustees tab → their card → Delete Trustee. If you believe someone did this deliberately, write to support@givepeace.co.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

I'm terminally ill — is there a way to make delivery happen faster?

Thank you for telling us, and we will answer you straight.

There is no way to shorten the waiting periods, but how you set things up decides how quickly and how surely your messages arrive.

Name more than one trustee — you can have up to three — because independent confirmations shorten the wait from 60 days to 30, and then to 14.
Tell them plainly what you expect of them, and when to report.
Turn on the inactivity safeguard: Profile tab → settings icon → Settings → Your Legacy → Inactivity safeguard. Your own silence then becomes a second, independent signal.
Check Settings → Your Legacy → Will readiness to see which trustees and recipients already have a GivePeace account, and to invite the ones who do not.
For anything tied to a date, record a time capsule: when you save a message, choose Time capsule under "When should it arrive?", then Choose the date. It arrives on the day you pick, with no waiting period. You can change the date for 30 days after sealing, and cancel any time while you are alive. Your sealed capsules are listed under Last Words tab → Outgoing → Time capsules.

We would not build a way to shorten the windows. A message that arrives late is a wound; a living person's private words released by mistake is a catastrophe.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

Time capsules

Messages that arrive on a date you pick, outside the death process entirely.

Can I record something now for someone to open on a date I choose?

Yes — that is a time capsule: you pick the people and the day, and it arrives on that day.

Record your message as usual.
On the save screen, under "When should it arrive?", choose "Time capsule — Arrives on a date you pick".
Tap "Choose the date", pick the day, then tap "Seal time capsule".

Anyone aged 13 or over can seal one, and it is the usual way a member aged 13 to 17 sends a message. Sealing uses one recording token and needs a date of birth on your account. The people receiving it are told nothing in advance — the first they hear of it is the day it arrives. The date is the only trigger. A capsule is never set to send "when I die", and it never travels through the death process. No waiting period applies to it. It still arrives on its date if you have passed away by then, and the notice says so plainly and gently.

I sealed a capsule with the wrong date — can I change or cancel it?

You can change the date for 30 days after sealing, and you can cancel a capsule at any time while you are alive.

Open Last Words, then tap the "Outgoing" tab.
Tap "Time capsules".
Tap the capsule you want to change.
Tap "Change the date" to move it, or "Cancel this capsule" to stop it.

The date is the only thing you can change, and only in those first 30 days. The recording and the people receiving it are fixed the moment you seal. After 30 days the date locks too. The window is set when you seal and never moves. Cancelling stays open after the lock, right up to the moment the capsule goes out, and a cancelled capsule is never delivered. If you cancelled the wrong one, record a new capsule — that uses another token.

A time capsule arrived from my brother, but he passed away last year — why is it only coming now?

We are sorry about your brother — what arrived is a time capsule, a message he scheduled himself for a date he picked.

The date he chose is the only thing that sends it. A capsule is never set to send "when I die", and our death process never touches one. That is why it can arrive long after someone has passed away, exactly as they planned it. The notice tells you so rather than letting you find out from the message itself: "We are sorry for your loss. They picked <date> as the day you would see this, and it has arrived as they planned."

To watch it: open the Home tab, tap the paper-plane icon at the top of the screen, then tap "Private Messages". You confirm it is you, and then it opens.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

My dad scheduled messages before he passed away — can we stop the ones that haven't been sent?

We are sorry about your dad — yes, a capsule that has not gone out yet can still be stopped, by email.

While someone is alive, only they can cancel their own capsules. After a death, a family member or the representative of the estate can ask us.

Email support@givepeace.co with the subject "Attn: Legal".
Include his name and, if you have it, the email address on his account.
We confirm the death and your relationship to him before we act.

We can only do this once his account is recorded with us as having passed away. If nobody has reported it yet, say so in the same email and we will start there. We can only stop a capsule that has not been delivered — anything already delivered cannot be recalled. Nothing else about his account is deleted or changed by the request.

See: Legal Process & Estate Requests Policy (givepeace.co/legal-process)

What happens to a time capsule if I delete my account, deactivate it, or pass away?

A capsule survives your death and still arrives on its date, but it does not survive your account being deleted.

You pass away. The capsule still arrives on the day you picked, with wording that says so gently.
Your account is deactivated. A capsule that comes due is held rather than delivered, and it goes out late once your account is active again.
You have asked to delete your account. During the 30-day grace period a capsule is held the same way.
The deletion becomes permanent. The capsule is deleted with everything else and never delivered. Deleting ends your release plan too. The one exception is if you pass away during the 30-day grace period: messages you had already set to be released still reach your people.

If a capsule matters to you, either let it go out before you leave, or stop the deletion at Settings → Account → Delete Account → "Cancel Deletion".

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

Under 18, parents & guardians

What a 13–17 member can do, what waits for 18, and what a parent's consent actually unlocks.

How old do you have to be, and what can my 15-year-old actually do on GivePeace?

You must be 13 to join, and a 13–17 member can do almost everything except set a message to be released after they pass away.

We ask for a date of birth on every sign-up path, including Apple and Google. A date under 13 is refused on the spot: "You must be at least 13 to join GivePeace." We do not collect government ID.

A member aged 13 to 17 can:

Record and save messages, which we keep as private drafts.
Seal a time capsule that arrives on a date they choose.
Take part on public memorial surfaces — prayers, comments and tributes.
Buy tokens (Settings → Purchases → Tokens).
Receive, view and claim any message someone left for them.

What waits until 18: setting a message to be released after they pass away, and naming trustees. Also waiting: serving as someone's trustee, choosing the tombstone video on their memorial, and sending will-readiness invitations.

At sign-up a 13–17 date shows one line: "We recommend that a parent or guardian knows you use GivePeace." That is a recommendation, not a consent step. No one's permission is needed for anything a young member does here.

For any member under 18 we process only what is strictly necessary. We never sell or share a minor's information, never use it for targeted advertising and never profile them. There are no ad networks anywhere in GivePeace.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

I'm 15 — why can't I choose who gets my messages or send them?

Recording is open to you at any age; what waits until 18 is setting your messages to be released after you pass away.

The app says it this way: "You can record and save your words now, and they stay private to you. At 18, you'll choose how and when they're shared."

Everything you save is a private draft. Only you can see it. No family member, no trustee and no parent can see it or is told it exists. No one is counted as receiving it, and it appears on no feed or memorial surface.

If you name people for a draft, nothing is sent and they are never told. Naming someone becomes real only when you set that draft up for sharing. Our servers enforce this, so no version of the app can get around it.

Two things can open it earlier: you turn 18, or a parent or guardian gives verified consent — which you start yourself, from Settings. We never prompt you for it.

If you want to send words on a chosen date instead, seal a time capsule: Last Words tab → Outgoing → Time capsules.

The honest answer to the hard question: drafts are not delivered automatically if something happens before you turn 18. Your family can write to us about your drafts.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

I just turned 18 — what happens to the drafts I saved?

Nothing changes on its own — nothing arms, nothing is deleted, and the choice is yours whenever you want it.

A banner appears on your Last Words tab: "You're 18 now — Your saved words are still private. When you're ready, you can choose how and when they're shared."

Tap "Set up sharing" and we show you the people you chose and ask you to confirm. The dialog says plainly: "Right now this is private to you and nothing has been sent to anyone." "Not now" changes nothing at all.

Naming trustees and will readiness also become available at 18.

If a parent or guardian had unlocked sharing for you, that record closes on your birthday and the plan becomes fully yours after one confirmation: Profile tab → settings icon (top right) → Settings → Your Legacy → "This plan is yours now" → "This is mine now". The parent who consented stays your trustee unless you change that yourself.

Can my mom give permission so I can set my messages up before I turn 18? How do I ask her?

Yes — it is optional, you start it yourself, and it is the one thing that unlocks sharing before 18.

Profile tab → settings icon (top right) → Settings → Your Legacy → "Unlock sharing with a parent".
Read the explainer. It tells you exactly what she will and will not be able to see.
Tap "Ask a parent or guardian" and enter the email address she actually checks.
We email her a link. Nothing changes until she finishes.

To consent she needs a GivePeace account with a confirmed email matching the invitation, to be 18 or older, and to complete a $0 card check. Only one request can be live at a time.

You can withdraw a request she has not finished: on the status screen, tap "Cancel this invitation". "They will not be able to use the link. You can ask again whenever you want to."

Consent unlocks two things: your ability to set your own drafts up for sharing, and the inactivity check-ins that work alongside it. It does not let you name other trustees or serve as one. The parent who consents becomes the single trustee on your plan. Your drafts and time capsules work without any of this.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms) §3.5

I got an email saying my daughter wants me to consent — what am I agreeing to, and will I see her videos?

A young person has asked you to help with something very hard. You are unlocking her ability to set her own messages up for sharing, and you will never see them.

Open the link in the email and sign in. The screen is titled "A request from someone young", and "What you are agreeing to" lists it in three lines.

Consent unlocks her ability to set her own saved messages to be released before she turns 18, with the inactivity check-ins alongside. It does not let her name other trustees, serve as one, or use any other adult-only feature.

You become the trustee on her plan — the person we would reach out to if we ever needed to check on her. You will never see what she recorded, or who her messages are for. You see only whether her plan is set up and whether we are checking in. It gives you no ability to record, edit or delete anything of hers. There is no parent dashboard.

The honest timeline, before you say yes: if she passed away, nothing would be shared quickly. Reporting it as her only trustee opens a 60-day wait, and one trustee alone cannot shorten it. If she has turned on the inactivity safeguard, silence alone takes about 240 days. Either way a 48-hour notice to her comes last, and her answering it stops everything.

Separately, a parent or guardian may sign a copyright notice for a 13–17 member in their own name.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms) §3.5

Why do you need my credit card to say yes for my daughter? Are you charging me?

No money is charged and no money is taken — it is a $0 card authorization, the same check banks and app stores use to confirm an adult is present.

We ask your bank to confirm the card is real and active. Nothing leaves your account, so there is nothing to refund.

The card page is hosted by Stripe. We never see or store your card number; Stripe gives us only an opaque reference.

We do not ask for, collect or keep identity documents or images of any kind.

What we keep is small: your first name and email, the reference to that check, and the dates consent was given, changed or ended.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms) §3.5(a)

I'm the parent who consented and I want to withdraw it — and what if something happens to me?

You can withdraw at any time until they turn 18, and withdrawing puts everything back to a private draft.

Open the link from the invitation email again and sign in with the same account. Keep that email — the link is the only way back to this screen. On that screen, tap "Withdraw this", then "Withdraw".

Before you confirm, the app tells you what happens: "Anything they have set up for sharing goes back to being a private draft, and anyone who was invited to receive something will no longer be. Their recordings are untouched and stay theirs."

Nothing new can be set up for sharing afterwards, and nothing is deleted. Their side reads "Sharing is paused." They can set things up again if consent is given again, or at 18.

Withdrawing does not by itself remove you as their trustee.

If you delete your account or you pass away, anything already set up stays as it is, and anything new pauses until another parent or guardian consents. There is no hurry.

One thing cannot be changed in the app: once a young member is confirmed to have passed away, the plan is locked, and the app says "Please write to us at support@givepeace.co and a person will help you."

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms) §3.5(d)

My son passed away and he had recordings on here — can our family get them?

We are so sorry. We will be direct with you, because a promise we could not keep would be worse: drafts are not delivered automatically, and nothing that was never armed is released by our process.

That is true at every point — not at the age he would have turned 18, and not for the asking.

A parent, guardian or estate representative may write to support@givepeace.co with the subject "Attn: Legal" and ask about a young person's drafts. There is no checklist for that letter.

We verify the death and your authority before anything happens. Then we tell you honestly what exists and what is possible. Where the law puts the decision about a young person's saved words with the family or the estate, that decision is theirs — never ours, and never automatic.

Two things work differently. A time capsule he scheduled is still delivered on its date, even though he has passed away. If one has not gone out yet and you would rather it did not, write to support@givepeace.co with the subject "Attn: Legal". We verify the death and your relationship to him, then stop it. And if a parent's consent was on file and he had set messages up for sharing, those follow the normal release process.

We preserve his account; we do not delete it.

See: Legal Process & Estate Requests Policy (givepeace.co/legal-process)

Can my 8-year-old or my 16-year-old open a message someone left them?

Yes — receiving, viewing and claiming a message is never age-gated, at any age, and no parent's consent is needed for us to deliver one.

Grief does not check ID. The claim path carries no age check at all; the age rules apply only to setting up a plan of your own.

To open it: sign in → Home tab → the paper-plane icon at the top of the screen → "Private Messages".

From a child we collect only what showing them their message requires. You can sit with a young child and open it together — there is no deadline pressure in the room.

Many members address a message meant for a young child to a trusted adult instead. That choice belonged to the person who recorded it.

One limit stays: a 13–17 member cannot serve as someone's trustee. The app says it kindly — "Being someone's trustee is an important role, so it's available once you turn 18."

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms) §7.3

I think there's a kid under 13 on here, or my 11-year-old made an account — how do I get it removed?

Thank you for telling us — email support@givepeace.co. This is one of the few things that has to come by email, and we act promptly.

Include the account email or name, and what makes you think the person is under 13; a link or a screenshot helps. If it is your own child, include their real date of birth.

GivePeace is not directed to children under 13. If we learn an account belongs to one, we close it and delete its information promptly. The 30-day grace period does not apply, and that deletion is not recoverable.

The flag control inside the app reports a post, not someone's age, so please use email for this.

Separately: any attempt to target, groom or exploit a young person ends the offender's account and, where the law is implicated, goes to the authorities.

One thing this never touches: a child under 13 can still receive and view a message a loved one left for them.

See: Privacy Policy (givepeace.co/privacy) §15.2

Can I get into my child's account or see what they've made?

No — there is no parental access, and a young member's saved messages are private to them.

Accounts are personal and may not be operated by anyone else. No screen anywhere shows a young member's drafts to a parent, and the furthest any awareness here goes is whether an account exists — never what is inside it.

A conversation about what they are recording is one to have with them.

If a 13–17 member wants to close their account, they do it themselves: Profile tab → settings icon (top right) → Settings → Account → Delete Account. There is a 30-day grace period, and their drafts, time capsules and tokens go with the account.

A young person who has passed away is a different situation — see My son passed away and he had recordings on here — can our family get them?

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms) §4.3

Privacy, security & encryption

The honest limits of what we can see, and what we will never do.

Are my videos encrypted? Can anyone at GivePeace watch them?

Your videos are encrypted in transit and at rest, no one here watches a sealed message, and GivePeace is not end-to-end encrypted — we will not pretend otherwise.

Each account has its own encryption key, protected by a hardware-backed key service. Every video is sealed with authenticated AES-256 encryption, with a further layer of encryption on our storage. We hold and control those keys. That is what makes delivery after you pass away possible. It also means we are technically able to open an encrypted message, and can be required to produce one under valid legal process. Sealed private messages and waiting time capsules are not part of any review queue — not while they wait, and not on the eve of release. One automated step touches an upload: a virus scan, which looks for malware and nothing else, and never for what you said. Any lawful access is logged, and internal access to production systems is restricted and logged. No one sees anything because they are a trustee. The trustee role shows the status of the plan and nothing else — never who your recipients are, never which messages exist, never a word of one.

See: Privacy Policy (givepeace.co/privacy)

Do you sell my information, or use my video in your ads?

No to both — we do not sell personal information, and a member's video is never used in our advertising.

We will not sell personal information at any price, including sensitive data, and never for anyone under 18. There is no "Do Not Sell or Share" link because there is nothing to opt out of. No ad networks, trackers or data brokers exist anywhere in GivePeace; we make money from tokens and wildflowers. Our own advertising uses staged content with actors — never a tombstone video, never a memorial. You keep full ownership of what you record. The licence you give us lets us host, encrypt, store and deliver your messages as you directed, and to operate, secure and improve the service. It continues after you pass away, so we can finish the deliveries you set up and keep the memorial choices you made. These promises bind anyone who ever acquires us.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

Do you have to give my messages to the police if they ask?

This is a fair thing to worry about, and the honest answer is that valid legal process can compel us to produce a message.

Because we hold the keys, we will never tell you it is technically impossible. We may also disclose where the law requires it, or to prevent imminent danger to a life. Where the law allows, we notify you first and give you a chance to object; we read every request narrowly and object to overbroad ones. What a requester actually needs:

Basic subscriber records — a subpoena or equivalent valid process.
Other non-content records, such as audit-log entries — a court order or a search warrant.
The contents of messages — a search warrant on probable cause, or the lawful consent of the sender or an intended recipient.

All legal process goes to support@givepeace.co with the subject "Attn: Legal"; an emergency adds "— Emergency Disclosure Request". If someone is in immediate danger, call 911, and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be called or texted any hour.

See: Legal Process & Estate Requests Policy (givepeace.co/legal-process)

Do you scan my face or voice, track my location, or read my contacts?

No — no face or voice scanning, no GPS location, and your contacts are never uploaded.

We do not perform facial recognition, face matching, face-geometry scanning or voiceprint analysis on any video, image or audio. We never create, store or transmit a biometric template, and our processors are barred from doing it for us. Face ID and Touch ID appear in two places only: the optional app lock (Profile tab → settings icon → Settings → Security) and the check before you confirm you are alive. Both run entirely on your device, through Apple's own systems. All we learn is whether your phone said yes. The only location information we hold is the city, region or country you type into your profile yourself. It is part of your public profile, and it helps the app show you people near you. Clear it any time in Settings → Account → Personal Settings → Edit. We do record your device model, OS and app version, push token and IP address, for security and audit records.

See: Privacy Policy (givepeace.co/privacy)

What health information do you have about me, and how do I get it deleted?

GivePeace is not a health app, and the complete list is five things — most of which you can delete yourself.

The five are: your check-in responses and their timing; death-verification records, including the ones that undo a mistake; a death certificate a trustee uploads; memorial words that may mention an illness; and anything about health you say inside your own sealed messages.

We never buy it, never take it from data brokers, never sell it, and never use it for advertising.

In the app you can delete an unreleased message, remove a memorial post, or delete your account. You can cancel a scheduled capsule at Last Words tab → Outgoing → Time capsules → open it → Cancel this capsule.

For a formal request, email support@givepeace.co with the subject "Health Data Request". Say you are a Washington or Nevada consumer. You do not need an account, and trustees and recipients are covered too.

We respond within 45 days, with one possible extension, and free up to twice a year. A deletion clears our live systems and reaches archives within six months. We keep only what the law requires, plus our audit records.

If we decline, reply or write with the subject "Health Data Appeal" for a written answer within 45 days. You can then raise it with your state Attorney General (atg.wa.gov/file-complaint or ag.nv.gov).

See: Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy (givepeace.co/health-data)

I think someone else has access to my account — how do I lock it down?

That is a frightening thing to notice, and the fastest fix is to reset your password, which signs your account out on every other device.

On the sign-in screen, tap "Forgot Password?" and reset it. If you sign in with Apple or Google, change your password with them.
Sign back in. Other devices lose access on their next request.
Open Settings → Account → Sign-in methods to see what is linked.
Open Settings → Your Legacy and check that your inactivity safeguard is as you left it. If it is locked on, tapping it shows the messages still waiting to be delivered.
Turn on Face ID or Touch ID in Settings → Security.

There is no "sign out other devices" button and no account-level two-factor setting, so we will not tell you to look for one. Six-digit codes already guard deleting your account, claiming a message, verifying a phone, and a trustee's death report. Confirming you are alive also asks for Face ID or Touch ID where your phone has them. That check is deliberately generous: if biometrics are unavailable or nothing is enrolled, the confirmation still goes through. We will never let a face stand between a living person and telling us they are alive.

Your inactivity safeguard cannot be switched off while messages are waiting to be delivered. Your account email stays the recovery key, so keep it current. If you lose access to that email as well, the account cannot be recovered.

Is this email or text really from you? I got a link from givepeace.app

Trust that instinct — our only domain is givepeace.co, and we do not own or use givepeace.app.

Our email comes from addresses on givepeace.co, such as noreply@givepeace.co, and replies reach us at support@givepeace.co. A genuine invitation or message notice names GivePeace, or names the member concerned, and links only to givepeace.co — never bit.ly, TinyURL or any other shortener. A verification code text names neither; it just carries the code. We send codes to you; no real message and no real person here will ever ask you to read a code back, share a password, or send money. On GivePeace, "claim" only ever means retrieving a message someone left for you — never a prize and never an offer. If it feels wrong, do not tap it: type givepeace.co into your browser yourself, or forward the message to support@givepeace.co and we will tell you whether it is ours.

See: SMS & Communications Terms (givepeace.co/sms-terms)

How do I turn off analytics, and what do you collect?

Email support@givepeace.co with the subject "Privacy Request" to opt out of product analytics — there is no in-app toggle today.

We are a small team and we read every email, and we will write back to confirm when it is done. Product analytics records pseudonymous events, such as which screens were opened, and is configured not to attach your email address. Crash reports strip identifiers such as your email and phone number, and screenshots are stripped on sensitive screens. Neither one is advertising: no ad SDKs, no cross-app tracking, no data brokers, no fingerprinting. Opting out never affects your safety check-ins, and we will never treat you differently for asking.

See: Privacy Policy (givepeace.co/privacy)

Tokens, purchases & refunds

What tokens are, what things cost, and how refunds work — with us, not the App Store.

What are tokens, how much do they cost, and do they expire?

A token is a prepaid credit you spend once to seal a message, and unspent tokens never expire.

One private-message token seals one private video message, saves one draft, or schedules one time capsule. One tombstone token publishes one tombstone (memorial) video. Either way it is one token, however many people the message goes to. You have two separate balances, private-message tokens and tombstone tokens, shown side by side at Profile tab → settings icon → Settings → Purchases → Tokens. A private token cannot publish a tombstone video, and a tombstone token cannot seal a private message. Prices: $5 for one private message, $12 for three, $15 for one tombstone message, and $20 for three private plus one tombstone. Everything is a one-time purchase — no subscriptions, no renewals, no trials, no automatic reloading. The price you see is the price you pay. Tokens have no cash value and cannot be transferred to another person or account.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

Why does buying tokens open a web page instead of the App Store?

That is expected — you buy directly from Give Peace Inc. through our payment processor's secure checkout, not through the app store.

Tapping "Buy More Tokens" opens the package list. Choose a package and tap Buy, and Stripe's secure checkout page opens in your browser. When you are done it returns you to the app through a givepeace.co page. Every place in the app that sells tokens uses that same checkout, and the price comes from our server, not from your phone. We never see or store your full card number. If you close the page without finishing, the app says "Payment wasn't completed" and nothing is charged. Wildflowers are the one exception — those are bought inside the app.

I paid but my tokens haven't shown up

Tokens are added the moment the payment is confirmed, which is usually seconds, and here is how to check.

Go back to Settings → Purchases → Tokens. The balance updates on its own the moment the credit lands.
Open Purchase History and look at the status on your purchase: completed, pending or failed. Pull down to refresh.
If the status says completed but your balance still looks wrong, the app cannot correct that itself.

Each payment is credited exactly once, so one payment can never be credited twice. If you were charged twice, that is a duplicate charge — write to us and we will refund it. If it is still missing, email support@givepeace.co with the date, the amount, and the receipt we emailed you. The app cannot re-credit a payment on its own, so please write to us rather than buying again.

How do I get a receipt, and why is there a charge I can't find in the app?

Every token purchase has a receipt in Purchase History, and wildflower purchases are charged separately and never appear there.

Go to Settings → Purchases → Tokens → Purchase History and tap the purchase. Choose "Email Receipt" to have a PDF sent to your account email address, or "Download PDF" to open it. Each entry shows the date, the package, the amount and the status. On the checkout page and on the receipt, the package is named as the service it pays for — verifying, notifying and delivering. So the wording can look different from the name in the app. If you see a duplicate charge or a billing error, email support@givepeace.co with the date and amount. We will make it right. Apple is not a party to the purchase and cannot help.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

I want a refund for tokens — do I ask Apple or you?

Ask us — Apple and the other app stores are not part of the purchase and cannot refund it.

There is no refund button in the app, so email support@givepeace.co with your account email address and the date of the purchase. Unused tokens: a full refund on request within 14 days of purchase, including when you bought the wrong kind of token. Spent tokens are not refundable, because the service they pay for has begun. A token is spent when you seal a message, schedule a time capsule or publish a tombstone video, and it is not returned if you later delete that message. The one exception is our own failure: if we fail to deliver a message you sealed, we refund or credit the tokens you spent on it. Nothing here limits refund rights you have under the law where you live.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms) · Refund summary (givepeace.co/refunds)

My teenager bought tokens on my card without asking — can I get that back?

Write to us and we will make it right.

An unexpected charge on your own card is unsettling, and this is a question we are glad to get. A purchase made by someone under 18 without a parent's or guardian's permission is covered by our refund policy, and we apply it generously. Email support@givepeace.co with the account email address and roughly when the charge happened. Please do not go to the App Store — the purchase was made with us. We ask young people to tell a parent they use GivePeace, but we do not gate their purchases, which is why this happens. A parent who unlocks sharing becomes a trustee, and a trustee never sees what is inside a message. If a young person passes away, a parent, guardian or personal representative may write to us about their saved drafts. We verify the death and the relationship before anything is shared, and nothing is released automatically.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

What are wildflowers, what do they cost, and why did mine disappear from the memorial?

A wildflower purchase plants real seeds in someone's memory and places a tribute on their memorial for two weeks.

Seeing a tribute you left disappear is upsetting, so here is exactly what happens. Open their memorial profile and tap the flower icon: 3 wildflowers for $3, 10 for $8, 50 for $30, 100 for $50, paid by card inside the app. Tokens cannot buy wildflowers, and wildflowers cannot send messages. The tribute stays on the memorial for 14 days and is then removed. The seeds are still real: they are planted in memory of the person. You can send wildflowers again whenever you like.

Can I get my money back for the flowers I sent?

Wildflowers are not refundable once the tribute is placed, and that happens the moment you buy — but anything that went wrong, we put right.

If the flowers did not do what you hoped, we would rather hear from you than not. If the tribute never appeared, landed on the wrong memorial, or you were charged in error, email support@givepeace.co with the date and the name on the memorial. There is one case we handle without being asked. If a memorial turns out to have been created in error and the person is alive, we refund every wildflower purchase on it to the original card. If that refund fails — an expired card, for example — write to us and we will sort it out.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

If I delete my account or pass away, what happens to unused tokens?

Deleting your account deletes your tokens with it, and tokens can never be cashed out or inherited.

It is a fair thing to plan for, and the answer is short.

Deletion starts at Settings → Account → Delete Account. We send you a verification code first, and then a 30-day grace period opens.
Sign back in within those 30 days, open Settings → Account → Delete Account and tap "Cancel Deletion". Your tokens come back with your account.
After 30 days the deletion is permanent, and the tokens are gone.
If you have unused tokens bought within the last 14 days, ask us for the refund before you delete.
If you only want a pause, Settings → Account → Personal Settings → Deactivate Account keeps everything.

If someone passes away during that 30-day grace period, the deletion still completes, and the messages they had already set for release are still delivered. Tokens are not money: an estate cannot redeem, transfer or spend them. If an unclaimed-property law treats an unspent balance as reportable, we follow that law, including any notice it requires. We send that notice to the estate's personal representative, where one is on record with us. For estate questions, email support@givepeace.co with the subject "Attn: Legal".

See: Legal Process & Estate Requests Policy (givepeace.co/legal-process)

Memorials, the feed & community

When a memorial appears, what it looks like, and what the public surfaces are for.

Will everyone find out I've passed away because of GivePeace? When does a memorial appear?

No — confirming that someone has passed away publishes nothing.

This is one of the first things people ask us, and the answer is deliberate. When we confirm a death, no memorial appears, no post is made, and your death status is not shown to anyone. A memorial exists only if you recorded a tombstone video for one, and it becomes visible at your family's visibility step. It never appears just because a verification finished. Delivery is private too. A recipient is told a message was left for them. Your trustees are told only that the release has happened, and no one else is told anything. Leaving a comment or a prayer on a memorial needs a free account, and what people leave there follows the Community Guidelines. A wildflower is a paid tribute, and it cannot be refunded once it is placed.

See: Death Verification & Posthumous Release Policy (givepeace.co/death-verification)

Why does my friend's profile picture look like a headstone now?

Coming across that change without warning can be a jolt.

The arch is how the app shows that a profile is a memorial — the photo itself is untouched.

A living member's picture is a circle; on a memorial the same picture is masked into an arch, like a headstone. We never fade, grey out or blur the photo, because dimming someone reads as erasing them. On lists and in search their name carries the years — "Maria Lopez · 1950 – 2024" — and when only the year they passed away is known, it reads "– 2024". The arch appears only once the memorial itself is visible; see Will everyone find out I've passed away because of GivePeace? When does a memorial appear?

Can I use my mom's favorite song in her tribute video, or ask for donations on her memorial?

Music you do not have permission for is the fastest way to lose a tribute video, and asking for money on a memorial is not allowed.

These are hard rules on a memorial, and we would rather you hear them now than after a takedown. A recorded song generally needs permission from both the music publisher and the record label. Owning the album or paying for streaming grants neither, and no music license comes with GivePeace. Rightsholders send takedown notices in high volume, often automatically. A valid notice brings a tribute video down, however much love went into it. The safest choices are your own words, your own recordings, and music you have explicit permission to use. We cannot tell you whether a particular use is lawful. Asking for money on a memorial is not allowed: spam, scams and commercial solicitation are barred on every public surface. A person's name, face or voice may not be used to sell or promote anything. There are no ads on GivePeace and there never will be, and a memorial or message may not be used to give away property or direct who gets what.

See: Copyright & DMCA Policy (givepeace.co/copyright) See: Community Guidelines (givepeace.co/guidelines)

The feed is empty and says it's resting

That is a pause on our side — not your connection, and nothing to do with your account.

When we take the feed down for a moment you see "The feed is resting" with the line "The feed is resting for a moment — please check back soon." Search shows "Search is taking a short break" for the same reason. If memorials had already loaded, they stay on screen and you get a short banner instead of the empty state. Tap Refresh on that screen, or come back a little later. If memorials were already on screen, pull down to refresh instead. Nothing you recorded and no message left for you is touched by a pause like this. The feed, search and uploads rest separately, so one can be resting while the others work normally.

Reporting, blocking & safety

Handing something to us, keeping someone out of your sight, and what happens after.

Someone posted something cruel on my mother's memorial — how do I report it?

A memorial is the last place that should happen, and you do not have to argue with anyone there.

Tap the flag icon on the memorial or on the post, pick a reason, and tap Submit Report — that hands it to us.

Open your mother's memorial in the feed, or open the post itself.
Tap the flag icon.
Choose a reason — Abuse or harassment, False information, Spam, Disrespectful to grief or memory, or Something else. Add details if you like, then tap Submit Report.

Reports are private. The person you reported is never told, and neither are their trustees or anyone else who reported them. One report is enough — tap again and you will see "You've already reported this — one report is all we need." A reported post may be hidden from view while a person reviews it. Reports about memorials of people who passed away recently get extra care. When we act, we remove or hide a whole post; we never edit or rewrite anyone's words.

To report a comment, a prayer, or a message that named you, tap the flag icon beside it and pick a reason. You do not need an account to write to us at support@givepeace.co about a memorial.

See: Community Guidelines (givepeace.co/guidelines)

How do I block someone, and how do I unblock them if I made a mistake?

You should not have to keep seeing someone who is hurting you.

Tap Block on their memorial card or on their post and confirm — their posts and comments leave your feed right away.

On the memorial card in the feed, or on their post, tap Block.
Confirm at "Block this user? You won't see their content anymore, and they won't be able to contact you."
Their posts and comments drop out of your feed and out of comment threads straight away.

To undo it, open your own profile, tap the settings icon at the top right, and unblock them from your blocked list. Blocking is separate from reporting: a block sends us nothing to look at, so report as well if the rules were broken. If someone will not leave you alone, write to us with the subject "Memorial Concern" — we remove people from GivePeace for harassing or preying on members.

See: Community Guidelines (givepeace.co/guidelines)

You took my post down and I think you got it wrong — can I appeal?

Yes — email support@givepeace.co with the subject "Moderation Appeal," and a person takes a second look with fresh eyes.

Include your account email and, if you can, what the post was and roughly when it disappeared. A post that vanished may only be quarantined — hidden while we review it — which is temporary and reversible, not deletion. A removal under a copyright notice works the same way: the material is hidden, never destroyed, while the claim is unresolved. If we got it wrong, we put it back and say so. Where a violation is not dangerous, we prefer to warn and explain first. The steps we can take are removing a post, restricting an account, suspending it, and terminating it. Reporting something in good faith is never held against you.

See: Community Guidelines (givepeace.co/guidelines)

You closed my account — will the messages I set up still be delivered, and can I appeal?

This is the hardest consequence on GivePeace, so we say it plainly.

No — your sealed, unreleased messages will not be delivered; you can appeal by email, and a successful appeal restores the account whole.

A closed account is deactivated, never left armed. Any countdown toward release is cancelled, and nothing can be released from it. A time capsule still waiting for its date is held rather than sent. Where the law allows, we email you at your account address first and give you a window to export your own videos before anything is deleted. To appeal, write to support@givepeace.co with the subject "Moderation Appeal." We keep your account data through the appeal window, so a wrong decision can be undone. Repeated valid copyright notices can end an account the same way. There is no published strike count, and material restored after a counter-notice does not count against you.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

I got a trustee invitation or a text about someone I've never heard of

It is almost certainly a reassigned phone number or a recycled email address — tell us and we will stop.

For a text: reply "wrong number" — we treat that as a stop request — or reply STOP.
For an email: forward it to support@givepeace.co and tell us it was not meant for you.
Please do not accept an invitation meant for someone else.

We correct our records and stop contacting that number or address. If texts are reaching a number that belonged to someone who passed away, the same reply works, and you do not need legal process for it. We only text a number the person receiving the text verified themselves; invitations and notices go by email and in the app first.

See: SMS & Communications Terms (givepeace.co/sms-terms)

Deleting or deactivating your account

Taking a break, leaving for good, and what survives either way.

How do I delete my account, and do the messages I set up still get delivered?

You can delete your account entirely in the app. If you pass away during the 30-day grace period, the messages you had set to be released still reach the people you chose.

Go to Settings → Account → Delete Account, and tap Continue.
If you sign in with Apple or Google, confirm with them first.
Enter the 6-digit code we email you.
Tick the three acknowledgements, one confirming that your legacy messages will still be delivered.
Tap Delete My Account.

Deletion pauses your check-in switch, then a 30-day grace period runs. After that we permanently remove your profile, plan, token balance, relationships, sign-in records, stored files, unreleased messages and your entry in search. Passing away inside those 30 days does not stop the deletion. Those messages travel out through a small delivery archive, holding the encryption key and delivery details and nothing more. If you are still alive at 30 days, those messages are deleted with the account.

Deleting is not a way to quietly cancel what you set up. To stop a message, set it aside first — see Can I delete a message I've already set to be delivered?. A time capsule is held during the grace period, then deleted with everything else — see What happens to a time capsule if I delete my account, deactivate it, or pass away?.

Being someone's trustee does not stop you: they are told, and you leave their plan. An account already marked as passed away cannot be deleted. If that is wrong, start the check inside the app, or write to support@givepeace.co.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms) · Privacy Policy (givepeace.co/privacy)

I deleted my account by mistake — can I get it back?

That is a frightening thing to realise, and there is still time to undo it.

Yes — sign back in within 30 days and cancel the deletion yourself.

Sign back in. Starting a deletion signs you out everywhere, so use your usual email, Apple or Google sign-in.
Go to Settings → Account → Delete Account. The screen shows "Account Deletion in Progress", the days remaining and the scheduled date.
Tap Cancel Deletion, then confirm.
You will see "Your account has been restored", and we email you a confirmation.

Your messages, recipients and token balance come back, and the check-in switch the deletion paused starts running again. Two things do not come back on their own. Starting a deletion clears your display name, your profile photo and your phone number, and cancelling does not restore them. Set your photo again by tapping it on your profile, and your phone number at Settings → Account → Personal Settings. Your display name is the one piece the app cannot set back for you yet. Write to support@givepeace.co with the name you want, and we will look at it.

The other is your trustee role. If you were serving as someone's trustee, they were told and you left their plan, so they must invite you again. Removing the app from your phone does not cancel a deletion — the 30-day clock runs on our side. After 30 days the deletion is permanent, and no one, including us, can undo it.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

I want a break, not to delete everything — what happens if I deactivate?

Deactivating hides your profile while everything stays saved, and you can come back whenever you are ready.

Go to Settings → Account → Personal Settings → Deactivate Account. You can also tap "Deactivate my account instead" at the top of the Delete Account screen.
If your inactivity safeguard is on, choose "Keep my switch armed" or "Pause it".
Tap Deactivate My Account and confirm.

While deactivated you do not appear in search, and someone looking you up by email or phone cannot find your account. Messages already set up for you still reach you. Your messages and your trustees are preserved, and you keep your sign-in.

Choosing "Keep my switch armed" means check-ins carry on, so if you pass away your messages still go out. Choosing "Pause it" freezes the inactivity clock and cancels any countdown. Your trustees are told only that your plan is paused, and nothing can be released. If messages are already waiting, the app asks you to confirm it is you before accepting the pause — Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.

To come back, open the same screen and tap Reactivate Account. If you had paused, your check-ins start again from day zero, and nothing from before the pause carries over. A time capsule that comes due while you are away is held, and goes out late once you are back. An account already marked as passed away cannot be deactivated; if that is wrong, start the check inside the app. If you decide to leave for good, that same screen has "Permanently Delete Account".

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

Your legal rights (data requests, copyright, arbitration opt-out, court and estate requests)

Most of these are formal requests you send by email to support@givepeace.co, using the subject line shown.

How do I download a copy of my data — or get my information deleted if I don't have an account?

Email support@givepeace.co with the subject "Privacy Request" — there is no export button in the app today.

Write from the email address on your account.
We send a ZIP in a portable format.
It holds your profile, plan settings without encryption keys, trustees, and tokens and purchase history. It also holds your connections (up to the first 5,000) and your messages listed with their dates and recipients.
Your own unreleased videos are included. If any are in deep cold storage, we bring them back first. An export with video takes longer to build than one without.
The download link works for 7 days, and you can ask for one export every 24 hours.

Requests are free, and we answer within 45 days. A complex request may take one more 45-day period, and we will tell you. Nothing about your service changes because you asked. If you want everything gone instead, Settings → Account → Delete Account is faster. For anything health-related, use the subject "Health Data Request" — see What health information do you have about me, and how do I get it deleted?.

If a member entered your details and you have no account, you have the same rights: ask what we hold, correct it, object to contact, opt out of texts, or have your details deleted. We hold only the name, email address or phone number the member entered, your role, whether an invitation is open, and a reference to a message — never the words in it. The honest consequence: if we delete your contact details, a message someone recorded for you may never reach you.

See: Privacy Policy (givepeace.co/privacy)

Someone posted my photo, song or video on a memorial without permission — how do I get it taken down (DMCA)?

Email support@givepeace.co with the subject "DMCA Notice" — no account, portal, form or notarization.

Our designated agent's postal address, phone and Copyright Office designation DMCA-1080314 are in Copyright & DMCA Policy §2.1.

Your notice needs the six things U.S. law lists:

Your signature — a typed full name at the end of the email counts.
The work you believe was infringed.
The material you want removed, and where it is; a link is best.
How to reach you.
A statement that you believe in good faith the use is not authorized.
A statement that your information is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act for the owner.

We remove or disable access expeditiously; if something is missing we reply and say what. Weigh fair use first: a takedown here reaches a grieving family, and a knowing misrepresentation carries liability under 17 U.S.C. §512(f). A notice aimed at an undelivered message holds it, unopened; a hold defers delivery rather than cancelling it. Repeat infringers lose their accounts.

A removed tribute is quarantined, not destroyed. Counter-notice to the same address, subject "DMCA Counter-Notice", with:

Your signature.
The material, and where it was.
A statement under penalty of perjury that it was removed by mistake.
Your name, address and phone number.
Consent to the federal court where you live — or, outside the U.S., any district where Give Peace Inc. may be found.
Your agreement to accept service, which means the other side can sue you.

We restore the material 10 to 14 business days later, unless they first tell us they have filed a court action. One case is different: material also withdrawn because a member was wrongly reported as passed away stays down, and no counter-notice undoes it. We will tell you. For a member who has passed away, only the court-appointed personal representative may counter-notice, with letters of appointment and a certified death certificate; a parent or guardian may sign for a 13-to-17 member. A trustee cannot file or counter-file for a member and is not told about notices, but may send one for their own work.

See: Copyright & DMCA Policy (givepeace.co/copyright)

How do I opt out of arbitration, or take you to court?

You have 30 days from the day you accept each version of the Terms to opt out — email support@givepeace.co with the subject "Arbitration Opt-Out".

Send your name, your account email, and one line saying you opt out of arbitration.
There is no form, no reason required, no penalty, and nothing else about your account changes.
If Section 21 of the Terms changes, your 30-day window starts again.
For a dispute, email us first with the subject "Legal Dispute" — your name, account email and the issue — and give us 60 days to resolve it informally. The limitations clock pauses during those 60 days.

If that fails and you did not opt out, disputes go to binding individual arbitration before JAMS under its Consumer Arbitration Minimum Standards and the JAMS Streamlined or Comprehensive Arbitration Rules. That means a single arbitrator, by video or phone or in the county where you live. We pay JAMS filing, administration and arbitrator fees beyond $25, unless the arbitrator finds the claim frivolous. For claims of $10,000 or less you may choose a documents-only arbitration.

Four things stay out of arbitration: small claims, court injunctions over intellectual property or unauthorized access, public injunctive relief, and — at your choice alone — disputes involving sexual assault or sexual harassment. There is a jury-trial and class-action waiver. If you opted out, disputes go to Delaware state or federal courts, or to small claims where you live. This section binds members only. Trustees and recipients take on their own dispute terms only by accepting the Trustee & Recipient Terms.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms) §21

Am I stuck with whatever my husband agreed to? Do I have to accept terms to watch his message or be a trustee?

Losing him is enough to carry; you are not inheriting his agreements as well.

No — your rights and obligations come only from the terms you accept yourself.

When you accept a trustee invitation, that screen names the Trustee & Recipient Terms and links them before you tap Accept. When you claim a message left for you, you are shown the same terms and asked to accept them. They are your own agreement with us, and you can read them without an account at givepeace.co/trustee-recipient-terms. Nothing he agreed to binds you; the class-action waiver in his Terms reaches heirs only for claims that come from his own rights. Until you accept anything, the only thing governing our relationship with you is Section 4 of the Privacy Policy.

See: Trustee & Recipient Terms (givepeace.co/trustee-recipient-terms)

The app is asking me to accept new terms before I can use it — why?

We updated the Terms of Service or the Privacy Policy, so everyone is asked once to look them over.

Tap "Read the full Terms" or "Read the Privacy Policy" to open either document in full.
Tap "Accept and continue". Accepting keeps your account exactly as it is.

There is nothing to decline and no counter running. The screen waits while you are claiming a message, on a memorial, or watching a message someone left you, and shows afterwards. If we cannot read your acceptance state, we let you in and ask next time. It applies to everyone, including members aged 13 to 17. You can re-read any of the ten documents any time at Profile tab → settings icon (the sliders, top right) → Settings → Legal, or at givepeace.co. For a paper copy of any document, email support@givepeace.co with the subject "Paper Copy Request" — paper copies are free. We also archive earlier versions and will send you one if you ask.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms)

I'm a detective, executor, or attorney — how do I submit a legal request?

Email support@givepeace.co with the subject "Attn: Legal"; formal process may be served on our registered agent in Delaware.

Include who you are and your authority, the account email, the records and date range you need, your legal basis, and how to reach you.

For an estate: send a written request, a certified copy of the death certificate, and certified letters testamentary or letters of administration. Message contents additionally require the member's own consent or a court order. The member's recorded designation also controls — it can bar disclosure to anyone they did not name. Once a request is complete we comply, or say in writing why we cannot, within 60 days. We produce a copy of the records in a file; we never hand over login credentials or live account access. Where the law allows, we may ask the reasonable costs of producing records, stating any charge before we incur it.

For law enforcement: basic subscriber records require a subpoena. Other non-content records require a court order on the specific-and-articulable-facts standard, or a warrant. Message contents require a search warrant on probable cause, or the lawful consent of the sender or an intended recipient. The age of the message makes no difference. Our default is to notify the affected person, except under a nondisclosure order or in an emergency. Emergencies use the subject "Attn: Legal — Emergency Disclosure Request" and are never billed. Requests from outside the U.S. come through a U.S. court, by MLAT or letters rogatory.

See: Legal Process & Estate Requests Policy (givepeace.co/legal-process)

What happens to my messages if GivePeace shuts down or is sold?

You get at least 90 days' notice, and then what happens to your messages is your choice.

Export your own unreleased videos and messages, at no charge.
Or continue your scheduled delivery through a successor custodian, if one exists — that transfer is opt-in only, never automatic, and the successor must agree in writing to terms no less protective than ours.
Or have everything deleted immediately.

Notice comes by email, in the app, and at givepeace.co. Deliveries already in flight for members who have passed away are completed before shutdown. If there is no successor, or you make no choice, all encrypted messages, videos and keys are permanently destroyed — destruction is the default, never sale or quiet retention. Any acquirer of the company or the Service must take on these same commitments, and erasure rights, including GDPR Article 17, are honored throughout.

See: Terms of Service (givepeace.co/terms) §14

I don't want legal notices by email any more — can I switch that off?

That is your right, and there is one consequence worth knowing before you ask.

You can withdraw consent to electronic records by emailing support@givepeace.co with the subject "Electronic Records" — but it closes your account.

GivePeace exists only electronically: recording, sealing, check-ins and delivery all happen through electronic communications. So we cannot keep operating your account without that consent, and we treat the withdrawal as a request to close it. Withdrawal works forward only and does not affect records already sent. Before we close the account, you may ask us by email for a full export of your data. If it is only some notifications you want to stop, you can turn them off at Profile tab → settings icon (the sliders, top right) → Settings → Notifications → Manage Preferences — each toggle covers push, email and text for that category. Paper copies of any document are free with the subject "Paper Copy Request".

See: SMS & Communications Terms (givepeace.co/sms-terms)

How do I stop the text messages and emails — I never signed up for this

Reply STOP to any GivePeace text, or email support@givepeace.co — you never need an account, a login or a code.

Reply STOP. QUIT, END, CANCEL and UNSUBSCRIBE work the same, and so do your own words, like "please stop texting me".
You get one confirmation text, and then nothing.
Or email support@givepeace.co — one email ends texts to that number.
For emails, use the opt-out link or write to us, and we stop contacting that address.

Opting out is by phone number and stops every kind of GivePeace text — check-ins, invitations and delivery notices — promptly, and always within ten business days. One narrow exception: if you later ask us for a verification code yourself, we send that one code.

If we emailed you, a member named you as their trustee or recipient, or a 13-to-17 member named you as their parent or guardian. The email says which. We text only a number you verified yourself, so we never text a number another member typed in.

Email, push and the app keep working, and our claim link opens the app, so claiming never depends on texts. An opt-out is never read as a sign that someone has passed away. The honest cost: one way of reaching you is gone. If your email also stops working, a message meant for you may not reach you. With an account, you can remove a phone number at Settings → Account → Personal Settings. Changed your mind? Reply START or UNSTOP, or re-enroll in the app — that restores only what you re-enroll in. Message and data rates may apply.

See: SMS & Communications Terms (givepeace.co/sms-terms)

Still need help?

If this page did not answer your question, start at givepeace.co/contact — it shows the right answer for your situation first, and then gives you a pre-addressed way to reach us with the details we need. The one address behind it is support@givepeace.co, and a person reads it — there is no phone line and no chatbot. If you are writing about someone you have lost, we are sorry, and you do not have to find the right words or explain yourself carefully. Tell us what happened and we will take it from there.

What to include

The email address on your account — write from it if you can.
The name of the loved one your question concerns, if it is about someone else's messages.
The approximate date and amount, for anything about a charge.
A screenshot of what you are seeing.
The subject line named in the answer above, if there is one, so your email reaches the right pile.

Things that have to come by email

These have no path in the app, or the law requires them in writing.

A copyright takedown — subject "DMCA Notice" — or a reply to one — subject "DMCA Counter-Notice".
A privacy request: a copy of your data, a correction such as a wrong birthday, deletion, or opting out of product analytics — subject "Privacy Request". You do not need an account, and this is the route for anyone whose details a member entered.
A health-data request — subject "Health Data Request" — or an appeal — subject "Health Data Appeal".
Opting out of arbitration — subject "Arbitration Opt-Out" — and the 60-day notice before a dispute — subject "Legal Dispute".
Legal process, law-enforcement and estate requests — subject "Attn: Legal", or "Attn: Legal — Emergency Disclosure Request" in an emergency. This includes stopping a passed-away member's unsent time capsules, and a parent's or guardian's request about a young person's saved drafts.
Stopping our texts or emails, as a second way alongside replying STOP.
Reporting an account that belongs to someone under 13.
Recovering an account that was wrongly reported as passed away, after you have tapped "Tell our team" in the app.
Appealing a post we removed or an account we closed — subject "Moderation Appeal" — or someone who will not leave you alone on a memorial — subject "Memorial Concern".
Refunds the app cannot process itself: unused tokens within 14 days, a duplicate charge, a purchase a young person made on your card, a wildflower tribute that never appeared, tokens that never arrived, and the credit we owe you if we failed to deliver a message.
A paper copy or an earlier version of any of our documents — subject "Paper Copy Request". Paper copies are free.
Turning off electronic notices — subject "Electronic Records".
An account you think someone else has access to.
A claim window that has already passed.
Unblocking someone, until that screen ships in Settings.

Two honest notes. There is no refund button, no export button, no two-factor setting and no "sign out other devices" button in the app today, so please do not spend time hunting for them. And if both the password and the inbox on an account are gone, we have no way to verify who you are and hand it back — we would rather tell you that now than leave you waiting.

We are a small team and we read every email. We will not promise you a reply by a particular hour or day, because that is not a promise we could keep — but nothing you send us goes unread.

If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. If you are in a suicidal crisis in the United States, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be called or texted, day or night.