A plan for people who trust locations, not people
Some people will never hand a stranger, or even a sibling, a piece of their most important secret. You do not have to. Places can hold pieces too, and places do not gossip.
Privacy is not the obstacle, it is the design
The usual inheritance advice assumes a circle of confidants. If the thought makes your skin crawl, build the circle out of locations instead. The recovery rule stays at full strength, three pieces required of five created, but four of the five holders are spots and files that only you, and one sealed letter, can enumerate.
The setup: one person, four places
- check_circlePiece 1: hidden inside a hollowed or dust jacketed book on your own shelf. Unremarkable to anyone else, unforgettable to you.
- check_circlePiece 2: taped inside the piano, or under a desk drawer, behind a mounted mirror, inside a vintage camera. Anywhere that stays put for decades and survives a casual search.
- check_circlePiece 3: a safe deposit box, which your executor can open through the normal legal process.
- check_circlePiece 4: a sealed envelope in your CPA’s client file. Professionals hold sealed documents routinely and your estate will involve them anyway.
- check_circlePiece 5: the one human you do trust, even if it is exactly one. They hold a piece, not your secret, and they never learn the locations.
The sealed letter is the keystone
Write one letter listing all five holders and the rule, any three in the HeirLock app, and leave it sealed with your executor or attorney. In life, nobody reads it. At your death, it turns your private map into your family’s recovery plan. Without it, your privacy outlives your usefulness to them, so treat keeping it current as the one non negotiable chore.
What this defends against
- check_circleA burglar finds the safe and the piano piece: two pieces, one short, and no idea more exist.
- check_circleYour one confidant turns untrustworthy: a single piece is nothing, and they know none of the locations.
- check_circleYou simply die without warning: executor opens the letter, and the bank box, the CPA, and the book make three.
Walk the route once a year
Hiding places fail quietly: books get donated, pianos get sold, offices close. Once a year, physically confirm each location, then reread the sealed letter and correct it. If any piece has gone missing, split the secret again and re-place all five. For the thinking behind piece based recovery, see how it works.
Private person questions
If somebody finds one of my hiding spots, am I exposed?
No. A single piece is meaningless on its own, and this setup requires three. A snoop who finds the piece in the piano has found nothing, and has no way to know the book, the bank box, or the CPA's file even exist.
What if I forget my own hiding places?
That is what the sealed letter with your executor is for. It is the one document that lists every location, and it sits in professional custody where you can also retrieve it yourself. Update it whenever you move a piece.
Can I do this with zero human holders?
You can, with five locations, but one trusted human is worth keeping. Locations cannot answer a phone call or vouch for the family during recovery. One person plus four places keeps the human element to exactly the level you choose.
Why involve a CPA?
Accountants, like attorneys, hold client documents as part of their normal practice, see your family during the estate process anyway, and have professional reasons not to peek. A sealed envelope in their file is one of the cheapest pieces of institutional custody available.
Nobody needs to know, until they need to know
Four hiding places, one person, one sealed letter. Any three pieces recover everything. HeirLock is free and fully offline.
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