Heritage Vault

Project Story – Heritage

Too often, when someone dies, what they leave behind becomes a puzzle, or worse, a battlefield. In many parts of the world, families are left scrambling, sweating through paperwork, trying to locate assets, accounts, or even something as simple as a land deed. Loved ones argue. Things get lost. Sometimes, people never even find out what was meant for them. It’s heartbreaking.

But the real loss isn’t just the assets, it’s the silence that follows. No last words. No clear instructions. No goodbye. Just emptiness and confusion.

That’s where Heritage began.

Heritage was born from the idea that inheritance should be more than money. It should be a guided moment, a voice that speaks, a message that lives on, a memory that holds your hand long after someone is gone.

Inspired by the movie Life List, where a mother leaves behind meaningful tasks and messages for her children, we imagined a world where loved ones don’t just unlock assets, they unlock a final act of love. What if your family received your voice? What if they were greeted by an avatar of you, gently asking the questions you always wanted them to think about? What if you could still guide them, not from the grave, but from your heart? With Heritage, even the dead can rest well, because they’ve spoken, shared, and secured what truly mattered. And what’s more beautiful than seeing your legacy live on?

Heritage isn’t just about protecting wealth; it’s about protecting memory, voice, intention, and peace. It’s about making sure your story doesn’t end when your life does.

What it does

Heritage Vault is a secure digital inheritance platform that lets users store their financial, physical, and emotional assets, from bank accounts and property deeds to voice notes and personal instructions and pass them on with intention.

Features

Secure Asset Storage: Store financial, physical, and emotional assets like bank details, property documents, heirlooms, and notes in an encrypted vault.
Next of Kin Assignment: Assign one or more trusted recipients to inherit specific vaults, with optional backup kin and verification before access.
Flash Questions: Set custom memory-based questions that must be answered correctly before vaults can be unlocked, with retry delays if failed.
Voice Notes: Leave heartfelt messages using your real voice or AI-generated audio, triggered during vault unlock to guide or comfort loved ones.
Memory Avatar: Create a digital avatar that represents you, delivering messages or asking questions in an emotionally engaging way.
Unlock Logic & Triggers: Vaults unlock after verified death, prolonged inactivity, or manual release, guiding recipients through an interactive process.
Reminders & Monetization: Get nudges to update vaults, and access flexible pricing—free, subscription, lifetime, with add-ons like avatars, translation, and premium unlock features.

How we built it

We used Bolt.New for the front-end and rapid prototyping, integrating AI capabilities via ElevenLabs for generating personalized voice messages and memory-based interactions. The backend is structured for secure data storage using encrypted vault logic, with a conditional release mechanism tied to trigger events (e.g., user death confirmation or inactivity). Flash questions and unlock logic are dynamically generated, and avatars are customizable to reflect the owner’s likeness and tone. The platform is designed to support both subscription-based plans and pay-per-feature upgrades.

Challenges we ran into

Emotional design: Striking the right balance between empathy and technology. Inheritance is sensitive — we didn’t want the app to feel too transactional or too heavy.

User trust: Communicating digital security and ethical voice generation in a way that feels human and reassuring, especially for older users or less tech-savvy audiences.

Flash question logic: Creating a system that allows personal but secure question-based verification without being easily guessable or too restrictive.

Deciding on blockchain usage: We debated using blockchain for proof-of-ownership and vault authenticity, but opted to delay that integration in the MVP due to complexity and user focus.

Implementation of RevenueCat

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Well, I joined the hackathon a day before the deadline, lol! So yeah, "HELLO WORLD." It is also my first time vibe coding. I also loved that I could turn a complex process into a simple, heartfelt product experience that people can see themselves using not just for death, but for peace of mind.

What we learned

That users want control over how their legacy is remembered, not just what they leave behind. That AI can be deeply human when used to amplify memory and voice rather than replace them. That people are ready for a solution like this, especially in regions where asset tracking is difficult and legal processes are slow or inaccessible.

What's next for Heritage Vault

Introduce blockchain-backed vault signing and timestamping for high-trust families and crypto-native users. Partner with legal and financial advisors to validate vaults and integrate estate planning templates. Expand avatar personalization, allowing people to create video-like goodbye messages using emotion-driven AI. Enable family vaults for multi-person inheritance setup (e.g., spouse, children, guardianship logic). Launch a private beta to collect real user feedback, especially from parents, entrepreneurs, and estate planners.