Terms of Service
Working draft — pending review by Texas counsel before public launch. Effective date will be set at launch.
1. The service
Alamo Wills (“we,” “us”) provides a self-help records service: we accept a photograph of your handwritten (holographic) will, encrypt it, record a cryptographic fingerprint of the encrypted file on a public blockchain, store the encrypted file, and release it according to your instructions upon verified proof of death. We are not a law firm, we do not provide legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. We do not review, validate, or opine on any document.
2. One-time recording ($18.36)
The one-time recording fee is an introductory price of $18.36; prices are subject to change. Your card is authorized when you reach the payment step and charged only when your recording completes. If recording fails or you abandon the process, the authorization is released. The recording includes: encryption and blockchain recording of your photograph; 30 days of self-service downloads from your account; permanent free verification; private retention of your sealed file for release to your designated contacts; and up to three designated contacts. This is a single, one-time charge. Recording a will does not enroll you in any subscription or other recurring billing — the Will Renewal subscription in Section 3 is a separate, optional purchase you start only if you choose it.
3. Will Renewal subscription ($3/month)
Will Renewal is entirely optional and is never started automatically; you are enrolled only if you choose it yourself, separately from any one-time purchase. It keeps all your filings hosted and downloadable while you subscribe — so anyone with access to your account email may sign in and retrieve them, which is intended to help your estate after your death. It also lets you file an optional new photograph in any month you revise your will (there is no requirement to do so), keeps your complete filing history, and allows more than three designated contacts. Cancel anytime through your dashboard; on cancellation, hosting continues for 30 days past the end of your paid period, after which files revert to private, non-downloadable retention. Blockchain records and verification are unaffected by cancellation.
4. Keepsake Kit ($69)
The Kit is a physical product: a branded binder, archival sheet protectors, a blank USB drive, tabbed dividers, and a printed instruction card. It does not contain your will or any decryption key. Using the tools in your account, you print your own documents and copy your own archive package onto the USB drive; those steps, and the resulting copy, are yours to perform and keep. Price includes US shipping to the address you give at checkout. Once you load it, the Kit holds your readable will and its key together, and you accept the risks of possessing that copy. Kits ship within a reasonable time; refunds are available until a Kit ships.
5. Storage, retention, and the blockchain
The encrypted copy of your file is placed on private, content-addressed storage (IPFS) and its fingerprint is recorded in a blockchain transaction. Public blockchain records are permanent and cannot be deleted by us or anyone. While we operate, you obtain a copy of the file through your account or our proof-and-request process. After your 30-day hosting period ends, we move the encrypted file off our web server into long-term archival storage — less costly for us to keep and no longer offered as a self-service download — retain it privately for fulfillment of your release instructions, and your record remains verifiable indefinitely. If you subscribe to Will Renewal, this move does not occur: your files stay on our web server, hosted and downloadable, for as long as you subscribe. Because the file is addressed by its content identifier, it can also be retrieved from public IPFS if it is ever re-published there — for example, should we wind down the service. We cannot recover lost decryption keys.
6. Release upon death
Upon presentation of a death certificate we reasonably believe to be valid — through your record’s public page or the Law Enforcement Portal — and after manual review, we will notify your designated contacts and provide your recorded will to them by email or phone, and deliver a copy to the clerk of the appropriate probate court if required by law. We may verify deaths with state vital-records services, may refuse any request we cannot verify, and report suspected fraud. We hold an image of your document and are not the custodian of any original will.
7. Your responsibilities
You confirm that the document you photograph is yours, that the photograph is legible, and that your contact and next-of-kin details are accurate and kept current. You are responsible for safekeeping your original document and any archive package you download or receive.
8. Identity verification
Government-ID verification is not yet active and is labeled as such during filing. Until it is, filings rest on your attestation, and releases rest on our manual death-certificate review.
9. Acceptable use
No filings of documents you have no right to file; no false death reports; no attempts to access others’ records. Violations void the service and may be reported to law enforcement.
10. Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim arising from the service is limited to the amounts you paid us in the twelve months before the claim. We are not liable for the legal effect of any document, court treatment of any record, or losses from a lost original or lost decryption key.
11. Changes; governing law
We may update these terms with notice on this page; material changes will be emailed to account holders. Texas law governs; venue lies in the State of Texas.