When you add belongings to your Myend plan, you’re doing more than making a list — you’re leaving clear, unambiguous instructions about who gets what. Here’s exactly how that plays out, from the moment you assign an item to the moment your Legacy Contacts carry it out.
What you do now
In the Belongings section, you catalog your possessions and assign each one to a beneficiary. For every item you can:
- Name it clearly and pick a category (antiques, art, jewelry, vehicles, real estate, electronics, musical instruments, collectibles, furniture, and more — 26 categories in total)
- Assign a primary beneficiary — the person who gets it
- Optionally add an alternate beneficiary as a backup
- Add an estimated value and any special instructions — care tips, conditions, or context that matters to you
It’s worth starting with high-value and sentimental items first, and not forgetting the easy-to-overlook ones: safe deposit box contents, storage units, vehicles, real estate, and family heirlooms. Once an item is assigned, your job on that item is done — the instruction is saved as part of your plan.
Who carries it out
Myend doesn’t distribute anything itself, and it never will. Myend is end-to-end encrypted, so Myend staff can’t read your plan or see what you’ve assigned to whom — the company is deliberately not part of the process of dividing your belongings. That job falls to the people you’ve trusted: your Legacy Contacts, and where relevant, your attorney or executor.
A Legacy Contact is someone you’ve added and specifically marked as trusted to access your account after you’re gone. Setting one up takes three steps: add them as a contact, mark them as a Legacy Contact, and send the invitation — they’ll receive an Access Key and accept as a free Myend account holder.
How — and when — access actually opens
This is the part people most want reassurance about: nothing opens by accident, and nothing opens while you’re alive. On the Complete plan, Myend adds Proof of Life — automated check-ins on a schedule you set. As long as you check in, everything stays exactly as private as it’s always been.
If you stop checking in, Myend escalates gradually: gentle reminders first, then notification to your Legacy Contacts. Access to your account only opens once three things are true at the same time:
- Your Legacy Contact has their Access Key
- Their email is verified
- Your Proof of Life check-ins have actually lapsed
Until all three line up, a Legacy Contact cannot see your belongings list, change anything in your plan, or access your account at all — even if they already hold an Access Key. Once access does open, they can see your finalized directives, your goodbye messages, your contact list, and any documents you’ve shared with them — including the belongings assignments and special instructions you saved as part of your plan — so they know exactly what you intended and for whom.
Why clear instructions matter
Your Legacy Contacts are carrying out your wishes, not guessing at them. The more specific you are — which item, which person, any special instructions — the easier it is for them to do right by you and avoid confusion or disagreement among family members at an already difficult time. If an item matters for a particular reason, say so; a short note in the instructions can prevent a lot of uncertainty later.
It also helps to talk to your beneficiaries while you’re still able to. Letting people know in advance what they’ve been assigned — and why — tends to avoid surprises and gives everyone a chance to ask questions now rather than after you’re gone.
Want help deciding which belongings to include or how to list them clearly? Check the other Help articles on Belongings and on setting up your Legacy Contacts.