How MemWall's Will Service Works
A will is two things at once: a legal document, and the last message you give your family.
The paper handles the first part. The second part — that the document is actually found, understood, and received without conflict — is something paper rarely manages on its own.
That gap is what MemWall's will service is built around. Here's what you get, and how the pieces fit together.
First: the legal part is always the signed document
Every jurisdiction sets its own formal requirements for a valid will. The details differ considerably — who may witness, how many witnesses are needed, whether anything must be registered, whether a notary is involved. MemWall's tool applies the requirements for the jurisdiction you select, and shows you what your signing must satisfy.
What holds everywhere is this: a video recording is not a will. Everything MemWall adds comes alongside the correctly signed document — never instead of it.
If you want to understand the rules that apply where you live, start with the legal guidance for wills and the requirements that apply where you live.
Level 1: Do it yourself — the right document, properly drafted
The most affordable option solves what most people actually struggle with: producing a will that holds up.
- You answer questions in a guided process.
- The tool assembles a complete will adapted to your jurisdiction's requirements, including the attestation wording your signing needs.
- You download the PDF, print it, and sign it according to the requirements shown.
That's it. For many people, that is the entire need.
Level 2: Secured — the will that actually reaches someone
This level adds four things paper cannot do on its own.
1. You decide who gets access, and when
You choose the recipients yourself. On death, they are notified by email or SMS and given access to the will through MemWall's portal.
No searching through drawers. No document that quietly disappears in a house move — which is one of the most common ways a perfectly valid will fails to do its job.
2. You can record a personal video message
You record it directly in the tool, or upload something you've filmed yourself. Your recipients then receive both the written document and you — your voice, your face, your words.
The message is personal, not legal. It is a farewell, an explanation, or a kindness to the people you leave behind. It is not part of the will, and it is not evidence of anything. The same idea powers our memory capsules.
For that reason, don't read the will aloud or repeat who gets what in the recording. If the video and the document ever differ — including after you update the will — it creates confusion for the people you were trying to help. Talk about the reasons instead.
And the reasons are what matter here. When people hear you explain why you decided as you did, it removes most of the interpretive space where family conflict usually grows. That's the part no document can do.
3. Tamper-evident sealing
When you seal the document, a cryptographic fingerprint of its contents — a SHA-256 hash — is calculated and anchored on the Polygon blockchain.
The document itself never leaves MemWall. Only the mathematical fingerprint is placed on the chain, and it cannot be reversed back into the document or into any personal information.
What this gives you is an independent, public record of exactly when the contents were locked. If so much as a single character changes afterwards, the document no longer matches the fingerprint — and anyone can verify that against the blockchain without involving us.
To be precise about what this does and doesn't do: the fingerprint on the chain is fixed and cannot be altered. The document itself can still be edited — what anchoring provides is that any change becomes detectable. It has no bearing on whether your will is legally valid; that comes from signing it correctly.
4. You upload the signed original — and record where it is
Once you've signed, you upload a scan of the signed document. It's stored alongside the video message and the sealed PDF, so the whole matter lives in one place.
You also record where the physical original is kept — the safe, the deposit box, the storage arrangement, the drawer, whatever it is. That information is released to your recipients along with everything else.
This solves a problem that sounds trivial and isn't. Families regularly know a will exists and cannot find it. Wills turn up months after an estate has been settled, or never turn up at all, because the only person who knew where the paper was is the person who died. A single line saying where to look removes that entirely.
Level 3: Full assurance — with professional review
The top level adds a professional review of your document with feedback, on top of everything above.
Where to keep the physical original
MemWall stores the digital copy. The signed original is yours to keep, and it should be somewhere safe and findable.
Arrangements differ by country. Many jurisdictions offer some form of official or court-administered storage for wills, and where such an arrangement exists it is usually the most secure option — it's designed so the document surfaces when it's needed rather than depending on someone knowing where to look. Some people use a bank deposit box, a lawyer, or a home safe instead.
Two things matter more than which option you choose:
That it's protected from fire, water, loss and a house move.
That someone can find it. This is where the record you make in MemWall does its work: whatever you choose, note it there, and your recipients will know exactly where to go.
Check what's available where you live — the legal guidance for wills covers the local options.
How we recommend doing it
- Create the will in MemWall.
- Record a personal video message to your recipients, if you'd like one.
- Seal it — this is when the timestamp is placed on the blockchain.
- Print the document.
- Sign it correctly, following the requirements the tool shows for your jurisdiction.
- Upload the signed document to MemWall, and record where the original will be kept.
- Store the original somewhere safe — including any official arrangement available where you live.
Seven steps, one evening. The result is a will that is correctly signed, digitally available to the people who should have it, accompanied by a personal message from you, timestamped so the integrity of its contents can be verified independently — and findable, because you wrote down where it is.
Common questions
Does the video message replace the written will? No. The message is a personal communication to your recipients. The correctly signed document is the will.
Can the video be used as legal evidence? We don't present it as evidence, and you shouldn't read out or display the will in the recording. Legal validity rests entirely on the correctly signed document.
Who sees the video? Only the people you've given access to, and only when the will is released.
What exactly goes on the blockchain? Only a cryptographic fingerprint of the document — never the contents, never personal information. The fingerprint cannot be reversed back into the document.
Does anchoring make my will more valid? No. It proves when the contents were sealed and makes later changes detectable. Validity comes from correct signing, nothing else.
Does MemWall store my physical document? No. We store the digital copy and your note of where the original is kept. The original stays wherever you choose to put it.
What if I want to change my will later? You create a new version in the tool, then seal and sign it again. The new version replaces the previous one — remember to destroy or clearly mark old printed copies, and update your note of where the current original is kept.
Do I have to record a video to use MemWall? No. The video message is optional, and available from the Secured level upwards.
This article describes MemWall's service and provides general information. It does not replace legal advice in individual cases. Requirements for a valid will vary by country — the tool applies the rules for the jurisdiction you select.