If you have had an email from us with someone's name on it, this page explains what you were actually asked. It is a small job, it is almost certainly never going to happen, and you can say no.
Someone wrote letters they want delivered to particular people if they die. We email them regularly to check they are still around. If they stop answering for long enough, we email you and ask one question: have you heard from them.
You do not have to prove anything, produce a document, or make a decision about anybody's estate. You answer a question about whether you have heard from a person you know.
Two people, named separately, both have to say the same thing before anything is sent. Either of you saying you have heard from them recently stops the whole process at once and resets it.
The reason is simple. Delivering somebody's final letters while they are alive and well would be the worst thing this service could possibly do, and there is no undoing it. So we made it impossible for one person to cause it, and impossible for one mistake to cause it. It also means that if you are unsure, you can say so, and nothing bad happens.
Somebody chose you out of everyone they know to be one of two people whose word would be taken about whether they are alive. They did not need your permission to think that. You are allowed to be a bit moved by it, and you are still allowed to say no.
Almost certainly nothing, ever. If we stop hearing from the person who named you, and they have not answered several check-ins over more than a month, we will email you one question: have you heard from them. There are three answers and it takes about ten seconds. That is the whole role.
No. You never make an account, you never pay anything, and you do not need to keep anything safe. The link in your email is all there is.
Yes, and it is better to decline than to accept and not mean it. Decline and we will not contact you again, and the person who named you can ask somebody else. Nobody is told off.
No. You are not an executor, you are not administering an estate, and you are not signing a will. You are answering a question about whether you have heard from someone. This is not a legal role and it carries no liability.
On its own, nothing. Two people who were named separately have to say the same thing before a single letter is sent. If either of you says you have heard from them recently, everything stops and resets immediately. That is deliberate: sending someone's final letters while they are alive is the worst thing this service could do, so one person cannot cause it, and neither can one mistake.
No, unless they also named you as someone who should receive a letter. Being a witness and being a recipient are separate things. We do not show witnesses the letters, and we do not read them ourselves.
If something about the email you received looks wrong, or you think you have been named by mistake, tell us and a person will read it. We would rather hear from you twice than not at all.
If You Die is operated by Thrive Haven Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 16319387.