Before you start
Use Trusted Contacts to decide who should receive your Legacy Delivery package and who should help if the primary recipient does not respond. This is part of continuity planning. It does not give someone immediate access, legal authority or live account permissions.
Detailed steps
Open Legacy Plan > Trusted Contacts
Open Legacy Plan from the left navigation and choose Trusted Contacts. Check the two cards before adding anything. Beneficiary is the primary recipient if delayed verification completes. Continuity Guardian is the backup person contacted if the beneficiary does not respond or needs help.
Open Add beneficiary or guardian
Choose Add beneficiary or guardian. The form opens inline on the same page. Start with the beneficiary because Capitelist uses the beneficiary as the primary release path and then asks for the Continuity Guardian as the backup path.
Enter the beneficiary details and confirm adult status
Enter a recognizable name, an email the person actually uses and a phone number that can receive a real emergency or verification contact. Keep Receives package selected for the beneficiary. Confirm the beneficiary is 18 or older before saving.
Save and check the Beneficiary card
After saving, confirm the Beneficiary card shows the right name, email, phone and release level. If the contact details are wrong, fix them immediately. A continuity workflow can fail if the email or phone is stale.
Open the form again for the Continuity Guardian
Choose Add beneficiary or guardian again. Once the beneficiary exists, the form switches to Continuity Guardian and uses Assists recovery by default. This person is not the primary recipient; they are the backup helper if the beneficiary cannot complete the process alone.
Enter the guardian details and keep Assists recovery selected
Add the guardian's name, email and phone. Use someone who can act calmly, communicate with family or advisors and understand why continuity matters. Keep Assists recovery selected unless you have a clear reason to reduce the person to notify-only.
Save and confirm Required contacts added
After saving the guardian, the button changes to Required contacts added. This means the minimum contact path exists: one adult beneficiary and one backup Continuity Guardian. It does not mean your whole Legacy Plan is complete; documents, instructions, check-in settings and protected records still need review.
Use Edit when contact details or responsibilities change
Open Edit when an email, phone, role or release level changes. Review these contacts after major life events, advisor changes, family disputes, divorce, death, relocation or a change in who should understand your private records.
Use Remove only when the person should no longer be included
Choose Remove when the person should no longer be part of Legacy Delivery. The confirmation explains that removing a contact does not delete documents, instructions, Safebox entries or encrypted Legacy records. Review the remaining release path after removing anyone.
Field guide
The primary person who should receive the Legacy Delivery package if the delayed verification process completes.
Use an adult who should actually receive the prepared information.The backup person contacted if the beneficiary does not respond or needs help.
Choose someone practical, reachable and trusted under stress.The release level for the primary beneficiary.
Use it only for the person who should receive the prepared package.The release level for a backup helper who supports the continuity process.
Use it for a guardian, advisor or family helper who should help rather than be the primary recipient.A lower release level for a person who should be contacted but not receive the package.
Use it only when notification is useful but access should stay limited.The address Capitelist can use for contact and delivery workflows.
Avoid old work emails, disposable inboxes or accounts the person may lose.A backup contact channel for urgent coordination or verification.
Use an international format when possible and keep it updated.Your confirmation that the beneficiary is 18 or older.
Do not add a minor as the primary adult beneficiary in this form.Decision rules
What it adds
- Turns informal recovery assumptions into explicit contact records.
- Separates the person who receives the package from the person who helps if the beneficiary does not respond.
- Reduces failure risk from missing or outdated emails and phone numbers.
What it does not do
- Adding a contact is not the same as granting legal authority.
- Contacts do not automatically receive private data immediately.
- A wrong email or phone number can block the workflow.
Common mistakes
What to check
- Do not add people who should not know that a private asset exists.
- Use release levels deliberately, especially for documents, Safebox context and encrypted Legacy records.
- Review contacts after divorce, death, advisor changes or family disputes.
- Avoid role names that hide what the person is actually expected to do.
Choosing someone because they are close to you, without asking whether they can handle the responsibility.
Using an email or phone number that may not work during an emergency.
Confusing the Continuity Guardian with the primary beneficiary.
Adding someone who should not know private assets, Safebox entries or Legacy instructions exist.
Treating the contact record as legal authority or a replacement for a will, trust or estate document.
Forgetting to review contacts after divorce, death, family conflict, advisor changes or relocation.
Removing a contact without checking whether the remaining release path still makes sense.
After you save
- Tell the beneficiary what Capitelist is and what they may receive if Legacy Delivery activates.
- Tell the Continuity Guardian what kind of help you expect from them.
- Review Legacy Instructions so the contacts receive useful context, not just names and records.
- Review Documents and Safebox entries before relying on the release path.
- Create or confirm your Recovery Key if protected Legacy records depend on it.
- Review the contact list periodically and after major life changes.