> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://cjay-1.gitbook.io/cjay-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://cjay-1.gitbook.io/cjay-docs/introduction.md). # Introduction Heirloom is a digital legacy platform on Stellar. It lets a person set aside assets, documents, and personal messages now, and have them reach the right people later — without a company in the middle deciding when "later" is. The decision to release is enforced by a Soroban smart contract, not by Heirloom. A small circle of the owner's own **guardians** confirm that the owner is gone; once enough of them agree, release is **permissionless** and each **beneficiary** claims their share directly from the contract. ## Why this needs to exist * An estimated **67% of American adults have no will or estate plan** (Caring.com, *2024 Wills and Estate Planning Study*). The share is higher among younger adults. * Digital assets and accounts routinely die with the person who held them. Password managers, exchange accounts, cloud archives, and self-custodied crypto are frequently unrecoverable by the family. * Traditional estate processes are slow and expensive. US probate commonly runs **6–9 months or longer** and consumes **3–7% of estate value** in fees. * Custodial "inheritance" products ask families to trust a company to hold funds and to act correctly at the worst possible moment. Heirloom's answer: the money and the release rules live on-chain, in a contract whose behaviour anyone can read. The company can go away and the plan still works. ## What you can do with it | Feature | What it is | | ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Protected Assets | Stellar assets (XLM, USDC, …) committed to a plan and deposited into the contract. | | Beneficiaries | The people and causes you name, each with an allocation percentage. | | Guardians | A small set of trusted people who confirm — never control. An M-of-N threshold. | | Digital Archive | An encrypted vault for deeds, passports, insurance documents, and more. | | Messages | Letters, voice notes, videos, and photos, released at the right moment. | | Life Check-In | An "I'm Here" button. Miss it for long enough and the guardian process begins. | | Legacy Journey | The dashboard timeline of what is set to be released, and when. | | Legacy Capsule | The beneficiary's side: a guided, respectful reveal at `/claim/`. | ## How to read these docs * **Non-technical:** start with [The problem](/cjay-docs/overview/problem.md), [How it works](/cjay-docs/overview/how-it-works.md), then the guide for your role — [owner](/cjay-docs/guides/owner.md), [guardian](/cjay-docs/guides/guardian.md), or [beneficiary](/cjay-docs/guides/beneficiary.md). * **Technical / reviewer:** [System architecture](/cjay-docs/overview/architecture.md), [Plan lifecycle](/cjay-docs/protocol/lifecycle.md), the [contract reference](/cjay-docs/contracts/legacy-reference.md), and the [developer guide](/cjay-docs/developers/local-setup.md). ## The repositories | Repo | Purpose | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`heirloom-contracts`](https://github.com/heirloomss/heirloom-contracts) | The Soroban `legacy` contract (Rust). | | [`heirloom-api`](https://github.com/heirloomss/heirloom-api) | Off-chain service: accounts, archive, messages, reminders, unsigned-XDR builder (NestJS). | | [`heirloom-web`](https://github.com/heirloomss/heirloom-web) | The app people use (Next.js). These docs live in its `docs/` folder. | ## Status Unaudited. Deployed on Stellar **testnet** only. | | | | ----------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Contract ID | `CAA55GCID6DTTQNUFMNT2PNKSBIDMMMKEPP6GKUKL3WJ3SH6QRRSXUNE` | | Wasm hash | `d52d35a5cb25c249dfcbdb8602435bdaee43bde07254f44198c2793ba4bfad80` | | Explorer | [stellar.expert](https://stellar.expert/explorer/testnet/contract/CAA55GCID6DTTQNUFMNT2PNKSBIDMMMKEPP6GKUKL3WJ3SH6QRRSXUNE) | --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. 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