Founders' Circle Beta Tester Agreement

Version beta-2026-10-14. Last updated October 14, 2026.

This is an agreement between you and The Family File LLC, an Ohio limited liability company ("we" or "us"). It covers the Founders' Circle beta of The Family File at app.getfamilyfile.com.

Our Terms of Use and our Privacy Notice are part of this agreement. If they ever disagree with this agreement, this agreement wins during the beta.

When you tick "I have read and agree", you accept this agreement. If you don't agree, please don't use the beta.

Who can join

The beta is limited to the first 100 families who sign up, plus people we invite personally. You must be 18 or older and live in the United States. Your Family File is for your own information.

It's a beta

This is an early version. Features may change, move or go away. It may be slow, unavailable at times, or have mistakes. Please tell us when something goes wrong or is confusing, at hello@getfamilyfile.com.

If you send us ideas or feedback, we may use them to improve The Family File. We don't owe you anything for them, and we won't share your name with them unless you say we can.

What it costs

The beta is free. We don't ask for any payment details.

As a Founding Family, you keep all 12 sections for good. Your first year of changes is free, starting the day you join.

Near the end of that year, we'll email you once. Renewing to keep making changes is $19 a year, only if you want it. Before you agree, the renewal page will show the price, whether it renews by itself each year, and how to cancel. We will never charge you without your clear OK.

If you don't renew, everything you made stays here for you and your family to open, print and share, at no cost, forever. (If The Family File ever closes, "Our promise" below applies.)

Location, never the number

The Family File records where things are kept. Never enter Social Security numbers, full account or card numbers, passwords, PINs or security answers.

The app blocks the obvious ones, but it can't catch everything. What you enter is your responsibility. Keep those details on paper, on our printable worksheets, in your binder.

Not a will, and not advice

The Family File is a private, guided record for your family. It is not a will, trust, power of attorney, health care directive or any other legal document, and it does not replace one.

Nothing in The Family File, from us or from SI, is legal, tax, medical or financial advice. For those, please talk to a professional.

SI, our automated helper

SI is a computer program, not a person. It can ask you questions and suggest answers. It can be wrong or leave things out, so please check what it suggests. Nothing it suggests is saved until you approve it.

When you use SI, our server sends Anthropic, the company that runs it, what you type to SI and the section you're working on (its questions and what you've already written in that section). It does not send the rest of your file. See our Privacy Notice for more.

You can make view-only links to your file. Anyone who has a link can see your file until you turn the link off or it expires. Please share links only with people you trust, and turn off any you no longer need.

Executors

You can name a primary and a backup executor. They accept an invitation and set up their own sign-in. Until a request is made and the wait has passed, they see only whose executor they are, not your file.

How an executor can open your file:

An executor can ask to open your file by telling us you have died or can no longer manage your affairs.
We email you right away. A 7-day wait starts only once we've confirmed our email to you was sent.
You can cancel the request at any time, even after the file has opened.
If you don't cancel within 7 days, that executor can read your file and print it. They can't change it.

What we don't do: during the beta, we don't check death certificates, court papers or any other proof. We rely on what the executor tells us, and on your chance to say no.

What that means for you:

Choose executors you trust completely.
Our warning goes to your email. Keep your email account and your phone secure, check your email, and keep your email address up to date with us.
If someone else can read your email, they could hide our warning from you.

Our responsibility: what an executor, or anyone you share your file with, does with what they see is their responsibility, not ours. To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not responsible for their actions, including copies they print or download. Being an executor in The Family File doesn't give anyone legal authority. That comes from your will or a court.

Signing in takes two steps: a code by email, and a second lock on your phone or computer. Don't share your codes or your second lock with anyone.

If you lose your phone, we'll reset your second lock only after we've phoned you on a number we already know. We never do it from an email alone.

If you think someone else got into your file, tell us at once at hello@getfamilyfile.com.

Keep your own copy

Please print or download your file from time to time, and keep it with your binder. We keep backups, but this is a beta, and we can't promise nothing will ever be lost. A paper copy means your family is never stuck.

Your privacy

We don't sell your information, and we don't use it for advertising. A few companies help us run The Family File, such as our database, hosting and email services. Our Privacy Notice explains what we keep, who helps us, and your choices.

Your file is yours

What you write in your file belongs to you. You let us store it, show it, copy it for backups and send it where needed, only to run The Family File for you and the people you choose to share it with.

Stopping, and ending the beta

You can stop using the beta at any time. To have your file deleted, email hello@getfamilyfile.com from the address you sign in with. We'll delete it within 30 days.

We may pause or end your access if you break this agreement or misuse The Family File (for example, trying to get into someone else's file). Unless there's an urgent reason, such as a security risk, we'll tell you first and give you a chance to download your file.

When the beta ends, your file moves to the regular Family File service and you keep your Founding Family benefits. If we change or end the beta, we'll give you notice by email and a way to download your file.

Our promise

If The Family File ever closes, we will give 12 months' notice, a full export for everyone, and keep executor access running.

Limits on our responsibility

The beta is free and still being tested. So:

No extra promises. The Family File is provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent the law allows, we make no promises (called "warranties") beyond the ones written in our agreements. That includes any unwritten promise that it will work without errors or interruption, suit a particular purpose, or never lose information.
No system is perfectly secure. We work hard to protect your file, but we can't promise that no one will ever get in without permission.
Limits on damages. To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential losses, or for lost data, lost profits or lost opportunities, even if we were told they might happen.
A cap. To the fullest extent the law allows, our total responsibility for any claim about the beta is limited to $100.

Some states don't allow some of these limits, so some may not apply to you. Nothing in this agreement limits responsibility that the law doesn't allow to be limited, such as for our fraud or for harm we cause on purpose.

If we disagree

Please email us first at hello@getfamilyfile.com and give us 30 days to try to put it right. Most problems can be solved that way.

This agreement is governed by the laws of Ohio. Either of us may bring a claim that qualifies in small claims court, in the county where you live or in Fairfield County, Ohio. Otherwise, claims go to the state or federal courts serving Fairfield County, Ohio.

There is no arbitration clause in this agreement. You keep any rights you have under the consumer protection laws of the state you live in.

Changes to this agreement

We may update this agreement. If we do, we'll tell you in the app or by email before the changes take effect. For important changes, the app will ask you to read and agree again.

The rest

This agreement, our Terms of Use and our Privacy Notice are the whole agreement between us about the beta.
If a court finds part of it can't be enforced, the rest still applies.
If we don't enforce part of it right away, we can still enforce it later.
You can't transfer this agreement to someone else. We may transfer it to a company that takes over The Family File, but only if it keeps the promises in it.

Contact us

The Family File LLC, an Ohio limited liability company. Email: hello@getfamilyfile.com.