Terms of Use

Last updated October 13, 2026.

These terms are an agreement between you and The Family File LLC, an Ohio limited liability company ("we" or "us"). They apply when you use The Family File at app.getfamilyfile.com: as the owner of a file, as an executor, or as someone opening a view-only link. By using The Family File, you agree to them.

If you're in the Founders' Circle beta, our Beta Tester Agreement also applies, and it wins where the two differ. Our Privacy Notice explains how we handle your information.

What The Family File is

A private, guided record of where things are kept and who to call, so your family never has to guess. You fill it in, share view-only copies, name executors, and print a copy for your safe.

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 it, from us or from SI, is legal, tax, medical or financial advice.

Who can use it

You must be 18 or older and live in the United States. During the beta, only people we invite can start a file. Executors and people with a view-only link can use The Family File for that purpose only.

Your account

Keep your email account, your phone and your sign-in codes secure. Don't share them.
Keep your email address up to date. Important warnings, such as an executor's request, go there.
Tell us at once at hello@getfamilyfile.com if you think someone else got in.
If you lose your phone, we'll reset your second lock only after we've phoned you on a number we already know.

Location, never the number

Record 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 what you enter is your responsibility.

Please don't

Try to get into a file, link or account that isn't yours, or help anyone else do so.
Pretend to be someone else, or make a false executor request.
Use The Family File to break the law or to harm, harass or control another person.
Try to break, overload, copy or get around the app's security or limits.
Put viruses or other harmful code in it, or use automated tools to pull information out of it.

We may pause or end access for anyone who does these things.

Your file is yours

What you write 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.

The app itself, its name, design, wording, worksheets and recordings belong to us. You may print and use them for your own family. Please don't copy or sell them.

SI, our automated helper

SI is a computer program, not a person. It can be wrong or leave things out. Check what it suggests. Nothing it suggests is saved until you approve it. There's a monthly limit on how much you can use it.

Anyone with a view-only link you make can see your file until you turn the link off or it expires.
An executor can ask to open your file by telling us you have died or can no longer manage your affairs. We email you, and a 7-day wait starts once we've confirmed that email was sent. You can cancel at any time. After the wait, the executor can read and print your file.
We don't check proof of death or incapacity during the beta. Choose people you trust.
What an executor or anyone you share with does with what they see is their responsibility. To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not responsible for it.
If you are an executor: ask to open a file only when what you tell us is true. Use what you see only to help the owner and their family, and keep it private.

Prices

The beta is free. If we offer something paid later, we'll show you the price and terms, including whether it renews by itself and how to cancel, before you agree. We will never charge you without your clear OK.

Changes, pauses and ending

The Family File may change over time. It may sometimes be unavailable, for example for upkeep.

You can stop using it at any time, and ask us to delete your file by emailing hello@getfamilyfile.com.

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

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. Please keep your own printed copy.
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 is limited to the greater of $100 or what you paid us in the 12 months before the claim.

Some states don't allow some of these limits, so some may not apply to you. Nothing in these terms 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.

These terms are 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 these terms. You keep any rights you have under the consumer protection laws of the state you live in.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. If we do, we'll update the date at the top, and for important changes we'll tell you in the app or by email before they take effect.

The rest

These terms, the Beta Tester Agreement (if you're in the beta) and our Privacy Notice are the whole agreement between us.
If a court finds part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies.
If we don't enforce part of them right away, we can still enforce it later.
You can't transfer these terms to someone else. We may transfer them to a company that takes over The Family File, but only if it keeps the promises in them.

Contact us

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