Deciding who gets what isn’t just paperwork — it’s one of the clearest gifts you can leave behind. Without instructions, families are often left guessing, or worse, disagreeing, over things that matter far more emotionally than financially: a parent’s watch, a grandmother’s ring, the guitar nobody else knew meant so much. Myend’s Belongings module lets you catalog your possessions in your own words and assign each one to the person you want to have it, so your family isn’t left to guess.
What counts as a “belonging”
Belongings covers the physical things you own — the objects, collections, and possessions that make up an estate beyond bank accounts and cash. Myend organizes them into categories, including antiques, art, jewellery, vehicles (cars, motorcycles), real estate, electronics, musical instruments, collectibles, furniture, and more — 26 categories in total, so almost anything you own has a natural home in the list.
It’s easy to catalog the obvious things and forget the rest. Make sure you also think about:
- Safe deposit box contents
- Storage unit contents
- Vehicles
- Real estate
- Family heirlooms
A note on real estate and higher-value assets: you’re welcome to list them here so your wishes are clear, but Belongings is a record of your intentions, not a substitute for a legal Last Will & Testament. If an item needs to pass through probate or is subject to specific inheritance law in your state, make sure it’s also reflected in your legal will — Myend’s Complete plan includes a Last Will & Testament covering all 51 US jurisdictions, tailored to your state.
Adding an item
Start with the items that matter most — high-value possessions and the ones with real sentimental weight are usually the easiest to think through first. For each item, Myend asks you to:
- Name the item clearly, so there’s no ambiguity about what it is.
- Choose a category from the list (antiques, art, jewellery, vehicles, electronics, and so on).
- Assign a primary beneficiary — the person you want to receive it. You can pick anyone from your Contacts.
- Optionally, add an alternate beneficiary as a backup, in case your first choice can’t accept it.
- Add an estimated value, if you’d like your family to have a sense of it.
- Add any special instructions — care tips, conditions, or the story behind why this item is going to this person.
That last field is worth slowing down for. A short note — why you chose them, a memory tied to the object, how to care for it — turns a simple inheritance into something your beneficiary will actually treasure.
Before you finalize your list, it’s worth talking to the people you’ve named. A quiet conversation now — “I want you to have this, and here’s why” — prevents surprises later and gives you the chance to hear that they’d actually like something to go to someone else instead.
Choose a Legacy Contact
Your Belongings list only matters if someone trustworthy is in a position to act on it. That’s what a Legacy Contact is for: the person (or people) who will carry out your wishes 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 need to accept, and they get a free Myend account to do it.
Choose someone you deeply trust — often a spouse, adult child, sibling, or close friend, though a professional can serve in this role too. Talk with them before naming them, so they understand what you’re asking and agree to take it on. A Legacy Contact is distinct from a legal executor or financial trustee, though the same person can hold more than one of these roles.
How and when your Legacy Contact gets access
Nothing is handed over while you’re alive, and nothing is released by accident. Myend uses Proof of Life check-ins — automated, on a schedule you set — to confirm you’re still around. If you stop checking in, Myend escalates gradually: gentle reminders first, then notification to your Legacy Contacts.
Access itself requires three things together: your Legacy Contact’s Access Key, email verification, and your Proof of Life check-ins actually lapsing. Until all three align, your Legacy Contact cannot view your plan, your Belongings list, or anything else in your account — they can’t change your plans, delete content, or peek in early.
Once access is granted, your Legacy Contact can see your finalized Belongings list — including who you assigned each item to, any alternates, and the notes you left — and can use it to carry out your wishes. The clearer your instructions, the easier it is for them to do right by you and by everyone you named.
Everything stays private
Your Belongings list — like the rest of your Myend plan — is end-to-end encrypted, and your answers are never used to train AI. You can print, export, or delete anything at any time, and if you ever leave Myend, everything you created goes with you.
Cataloging what you own and deciding who should have it isn’t a small task, and it’s fine to do it in stages — add a few items today, come back to add more next week. Every item you assign is one less thing your family has to figure out on their own.