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Show HN: LastShelf – an emergency map of your family's documents bills& contacts

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Show HN: LastShelf – an emergency map of your family's documents bills& contacts

#1

Post by sbrown12 »

After my father was diagnosed with Stage 3 kidney cancer, my family was thrown into a tailspin. Getting second opinions, planning surgery, ensuring insurance coverage, coping with the fear. It was a lot to process.

In the middle of dealing with all the medical logistics, I realized none of our family could answer if he: - Had a medical directive? - How to trigger his life insurance policy? - Where is his will and who is the executor? - What bank accounts and credit cards existed? - What bills are not on auto-pay? - When these bills due and how are they paid?

That wasn’t solved by password managers or budgeting apps. So I built it.

LastShelf: automatically discovers, documents and distributes a map of critical life documents, expenses & contacts in the event of an emergency. Register here: https://www.lastshelf.ai/

If you’ve lived through a similar crisis, I really want to hear what would have made the process easier.

Anyone who shares their feedback with me will get the first year free. Send a note to support [at] lastshelf.ai

Show HN: LastShelf – an emergency map of your family's documents bills& contacts
lastshelf.ai

Re: Show HN: LastShelf – an emergency map of your family's documents bills& contacts

#2

Post by lwhsiao »

One thing that I couldn't understand from the website: how is this triggered?

This sounds useful, but I also want an automated way to distribute the information when needed. Maybe a dead man's switch of sorts?

For example, suppose I'm a single adult, and I set this all up. Then I go for a hike and disappear forever. How can the trigger of distribution happen?

Re: Show HN: LastShelf – an emergency map of your family's documents bills& contacts

#4

Post by sbrown12 »

lwhsiao wrote: post #2

One thing that I couldn't understand from the website: how is this triggered? This sounds useful, but I also want an automated way to distribute the information when needed. Maybe a dead man's switch of sorts? For example, suppose I'm a single adult, and I set this all up. Then I go for a hike and disappear forever. How can the trigger of distribution happen?

In our earliest versions we experimented with a dead mans switch, but feedback was that folks would forget to reply to the monthly keep alive and we'd risk triggering too many false alarms. So we opted for picking trusted family members who you grant ongoing read only access. That way in an emergency, they already have the access they need to act.

We're 100% open to the idea of a dead man's switch, just want to find a way to avoid triggering too many false alarms. Any ideas on how to do that?

Re: Show HN: LastShelf – an emergency map of your family's documents bills& contacts

#5

Post by Calazon »

sbrown12 wrote: post #4
lwhsiao wrote: post #2

One thing that I couldn't understand from the website: how is this triggered? This sounds useful, but I also want an automated way to distribute the information when needed. Maybe a dead man's switch of sorts? For example, suppose I'm a single adult, and I set this all up. Then I go for a hike and disappear forever. How can the trigger of distribution happen?

In our earliest versions we experimented with a dead mans switch, but feedback was that folks would forget to reply to the monthly keep alive and we'd risk triggering too many false alarms. So we opted for picking trusted family members who you grant ongoing read only access. That way in an emergency, they already have the access they need to act. We're 100% open to the idea of a dead man's switch, just want to find…

Optional feature, off by default, customizable time interval, and a warning about false alarms?

Even with that you'd likely still trigger false alarms regularly, though they would be the responsibility of the user. Not sure whether it would be a worthwhile tradeoff overall.

Re: Show HN: LastShelf – an emergency map of your family's documents bills& contacts

#7

Post by graerg »

sbrown12 wrote: post #4
lwhsiao wrote: post #2

One thing that I couldn't understand from the website: how is this triggered? This sounds useful, but I also want an automated way to distribute the information when needed. Maybe a dead man's switch of sorts? For example, suppose I'm a single adult, and I set this all up. Then I go for a hike and disappear forever. How can the trigger of distribution happen?

In our earliest versions we experimented with a dead mans switch, but feedback was that folks would forget to reply to the monthly keep alive and we'd risk triggering too many false alarms. So we opted for picking trusted family members who you grant ongoing read only access. That way in an emergency, they already have the access they need to act. We're 100% open to the idea of a dead man's switch, just want to find…

I built if-i-go-missing.com along these lines. Weird, I’m also a Brown!

Re: Show HN: LastShelf – an emergency map of your family's documents bills& contacts

#9

Post by sbrown12 »

Calazon wrote: post #5
sbrown12 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In our earliest versions we experimented with a dead mans switch, but feedback was that folks would forget to reply to the monthly keep alive and we'd risk triggering too many false alarms. So we opted for picking trusted family members who you grant ongoing read only access. That way in an emergency, they already have the access they need to act. We're 100% open to the idea of a dead man's switch, just want to find…

Optional feature, off by default, customizable time interval, and a warning about false alarms? Even with that you'd likely still trigger false alarms regularly, though they would be the responsibility of the user. Not sure whether it would be a worthwhile tradeoff overall.

Those are good suggestions. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Show HN: LastShelf – an emergency map of your family's documents bills& contacts

#10

Post by sbrown12 »

graerg wrote: post #7
sbrown12 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In our earliest versions we experimented with a dead mans switch, but feedback was that folks would forget to reply to the monthly keep alive and we'd risk triggering too many false alarms. So we opted for picking trusted family members who you grant ongoing read only access. That way in an emergency, they already have the access they need to act. We're 100% open to the idea of a dead man's switch, just want to find…

I built if-i-go-missing.com along these lines. Weird, I’m also a Brown!

Hahah, great minds think alike :)
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