Question 1

What file types can I upload to my document hub?

Accepted Answer

PDFs, Word documents, images (JPG, PNG, HEIC), and plain text — the formats wills, policies, deeds and statements actually arrive in. Photos go into the photo vault, where you can organize them into folders and attach the story behind each one. If you have something in an unusual format, upload it anyway: Tether stores the file as-is and your recipients download the original.

Question 2

Can I download all of my content from Tether at any time?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Everything you put into Tether stays yours and can be exported at any point from your account settings — documents, photos, message recordings and transcripts, and your memoir. You are never locked in, and you never need our permission to get your own material back.

Question 3

What if I upload a document and later find out it’s outdated — like an old version of my will?

Accepted Answer

Replace it. Upload the new version and delete the old one, and your recipients only ever see what is in your vault at the moment of delivery — not a history of earlier drafts. Nothing is released while you are alive, so there is no window in which an outdated document could already have reached someone.

Question 4

Can I record a video message directly in Tether or do I need to upload a file?

Accepted Answer

Record it directly in your browser — no app, no installation, no file wrangling. Tether asks for camera and microphone permission, you record, and it is saved to your vault. If you would rather use a file you already have, you can upload that instead.

Question 5

Can I delete a message after I’ve recorded it?

Accepted Answer

Yes, at any time before delivery. Re-record it, reassign it to different people, or delete it outright. Nothing you create is final until a Release Plan has actually delivered it.

Question 6

Can I schedule a message to be delivered on a specific date — like a birthday — rather than after I pass away?

Accepted Answer

Not yet. Today every message is delivered together, when your Release Manager initiates the Release Plan. What you can do now is write the occasion into the message itself — “for your wedding day”, “for your 30th birthday” — so your recipient knows when it was meant for them and can come back to it then. Their portal stays open permanently, so it will be there.

Question 7

Can I record video messages for specific milestones and have them delivered only at those moments?

Accepted Answer

You can record as many milestone messages as you like, and each one can be assigned to a specific person. They are delivered as a set when the Release Plan runs, rather than released individually on future dates. Recipients keep lifetime access to their portal, so a message written for a wedding ten years away is waiting there when the day arrives.

Question 8

Can my recipients see my documents before I pass away?

Accepted Answer

No. Nothing is visible to any recipient until a Release Plan has been initiated and its waiting period has elapsed. Before that, a recipient can see only that they have been designated by you — never what you have assigned to them.

Question 9

What happens if my executor passes away before me?

Accepted Answer

This is exactly what Guardians are for. You can designate up to two Guardians as backup to your Release Manager. If your Release Manager dies, becomes unreachable, or is unable to act, a Guardian can step in and initiate the release in their place. You can also replace your Release Manager at any time.

Question 10

Does my executor get notified right away when I designate them?

Accepted Answer

Yes. They receive an invitation by email explaining that you have designated them as your Release Manager and what that role involves. The invitation is explicit that they have no access to your content unless and until they initiate a release — so nobody is left wondering what they can see.

Question 11

What exactly does my executor have to do when I pass away?

Accepted Answer

Sign in to their portal, confirm that the time has come, and start the Release Plan. That is the whole job — a few clicks. They do not sort your files, decide who receives what, or contact anyone; you already did all of that. Tether handles the notifications and the delivery.

Question 12

Can my executor change who gets access to my content or modify anything after I’m gone?

Accepted Answer

No. A Release Manager can start the delivery and nothing else. They cannot add or remove recipients, reassign content, read your documents, or alter what you left. The assignments you made are the assignments that are delivered.

Question 13

What if my executor doesn’t know my Tether password or how to log in?

Accepted Answer

They never need your password — and you should never give it to them. Your Release Manager has their own Tether account with their own credentials, and the release is initiated from their portal, not yours.

Question 14

What if my executor refuses to act or becomes unreachable after I pass away?

Accepted Answer

Your Guardians are the answer. When a Release Manager cannot or will not act, a Guardian can be escalated to and can initiate the release themselves. Designating at least one Guardian is the single best thing you can do to make sure your Tether is never stranded.

Question 15

Can I have more than one executor on Tether?

Accepted Answer

One Release Manager at a time, plus up to two Guardians standing behind them. One person holds the responsibility so that it is never unclear whose job it is — and two backups means it never falls through.

Question 16

What is the difference between an executor and a recipient on Tether?

Accepted Answer

An executor — what Tether calls a Release Manager — starts the delivery and receives none of your content by virtue of the role. A recipient receives content and has no part in starting anything. They are deliberately separate jobs. The same person can be both, if you assign content to them as well.

Question 17

What is a Release Manager and what do they actually have to do?

Accepted Answer

Your Release Manager is the person you trust to say “it is time”. Their entire duty is to sign in and initiate your Release Plan. They have no access to your vault before that, no ability to change anything after it, and no paperwork to file.

Question 18

What is a Guardian and how are they different from a Release Manager?

Accepted Answer

A Guardian is backup. You can have up to two. If your Release Manager is unavailable, unwilling or unreachable, a Guardian can be escalated to and can then initiate the release in their place. Day to day a Guardian does nothing at all — they exist so that a single point of failure never becomes the reason your family receives nothing.

Question 19

I am a Release Manager for two different people who both use Tether. Do I need two separate accounts?

Accepted Answer

No. One Tether login carries every role you hold. If you are a Release Manager for two people — or a Release Manager for one and a recipient on another account, and an account owner yourself — you sign in once and switch between them from the account picker.

Question 20

I am a recipient on two different Tether accounts. How do I access both?

Accepted Answer

With the same login. Both appear in your account picker and you switch between them without signing out. Each one stays entirely separate — what you received from one person is never visible from the other.

Question 21

How does Tether deliver content to a minor recipient?

Accepted Answer

Through an adult you nominate. Give the invitation email of a parent or guardian you trust and note in the assignment who the content is really for. The adult holds the portal until the child is old enough for it, and the content is waiting there unchanged — portals do not expire.

Question 22

Can I use Tether on my phone?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Tether runs in your phone’s browser, including recording video and audio messages — there is no app to download. Most people set up on a laptop and record from their phone, which is usually where the better camera is.

Question 23

Can two people in the same family each have their own Tether account?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and they should. Each account is one person’s voice, one person’s documents, one person’s wishes. Spouses commonly hold accounts of their own and name each other as Release Manager.

Question 24

I’m not sure I’m ready to fill everything out. Can I start slowly and come back?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and most people do. Nothing has to be finished. Record one message, upload one document, name one person — then close the tab. Your Tether is saved as you go and will be there when you come back. An incomplete Tether is worth enormously more to your family than an unstarted one.

Question 25

What happens to my Tether account after the Release Plan delivers everything?

Accepted Answer

The account is marked delivered and your recipients’ portals stay open permanently, at no further cost to anyone. There is no expiry on receiving a message from someone you loved.

Question 26

How many documents can I upload?

Accepted Answer

Enough that in normal use you will not meet the ceiling. There is a generous storage allowance on every account, shown in your settings as you use it, and documents are small. Video is what consumes space — if you are planning a very large number of long recordings, tell us and we will sort it out.

Question 27

Can I try Tether before committing to a paid plan?

Accepted Answer

Yes — 14 days, with everything unlocked. Record messages, upload documents, build your memoir and designate your team. Nothing is watermarked or withheld. The $97 activates the Release Plan, the part that delivers it all, so you build your entire Tether before deciding to pay for it.

Question 28

Can I gift a Tether subscription to a family member?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A $97 gift card arrives by email immediately — to you to pass on, or straight to the person you are giving it to. They redeem it at signup, which activates their account outright. Gift cards never expire.

Question 29

What happens to my referral credits if I downgrade my plan?

Accepted Answer

There is nothing to downgrade from — Tether is one plan, bought once, for $97. There are no tiers to move between and no renewal at which a credit could be lost.

Question 30

What if my family doesn’t know Tether exists after I pass away?

Accepted Answer

They do not need to. Your Release Manager and your Guardians were told at the moment you designated them, and your recipients were told that someone has set something aside for them. The people who need to know already know — that is why designating them is part of setup rather than an optional extra.

Question 31

Does Tether require any proof that the account owner has died before a Release Plan can be initiated?

Accepted Answer

No death certificate, no court order, no verification. Delivery is a human decision made by the person you chose. What protects against an error is the waiting period: once a release is initiated, you and every party are notified immediately and a five-calendar-day window runs before anything is delivered. If the release was premature, it can be cancelled during that window.

Question 32

Is Tether a replacement for a will?

Accepted Answer

No, and we would not want to be. A will is a legal instrument that transfers assets. Tether holds everything a will cannot: your voice, your messages, your photos, your memoir, and the instructions that tell your family where things are. The two do different jobs and work best together.

Question 33

What happens to my Tether account if Tether shuts down?

Accepted Answer

You can export everything you have put in at any time, which is the honest protection against this and the reason we built it in from the start. If we ever wound down, we would give customers notice and time to export rather than switch the lights off.

Question 34

Does Tether integrate with my lawyer or financial advisor?

Accepted Answer

Not as a software integration, but you can make them a recipient. Assign them the documents they need and they will receive exactly those and nothing else when the Release Plan runs.

Question 35

I already have a will. Do I still need Tether?

Accepted Answer

A will tells your family who gets what. It does not tell them where the policy is, what your passwords are, what you wanted for them, or what your voice sounded like. If you have a will, you are ahead of most people — and Tether is where you put everything the will leaves out, including where to find the will itself.

Question 36

What is the difference between Tether and a standard will or estate plan?

Accepted Answer

An estate plan is legal and financial: assets, taxes, guardianship, probate. Tether is personal and practical: the documents your family must find quickly, the instructions nobody wrote down, and the messages you meant to leave. An estate plan needs an attorney. Tether does not.

Question 37

What is a Release Plan and how is it different from a digital vault?

Accepted Answer

A vault stores things. A Release Plan delivers them. It is the mechanism that decides who gets what, who may start it, how long the cancellation window runs, and who is notified at each stage — and it is the reason Tether works at the moment it has to, rather than being one more account nobody can get into.

Question 38

How does Tether protect my information if there’s a data breach?

Accepted Answer

Your content is encrypted in transit and at rest, and every file request is checked against the specific person asking for it rather than served from a public link. Access to anything in your vault requires an authenticated session tied to an account you designated. We would also tell you: notifying affected customers promptly is a commitment, not a judgment call we make at the time.

Question 39

Can I give someone access to only one specific document, not everything?

Accepted Answer

Yes — that is the default way Tether works. Content is assigned per recipient, item by item. Your daughter can receive a video and nothing else; your attorney can receive one policy and nothing else. Recipients cannot see each other or what each other received.

Question 40

How do I know Tether is actually secure and not just saying it is?

Accepted Answer

Three things you can check rather than take on faith: nothing in your vault is reachable without an authenticated session belonging to someone you designated; no recipient can see anything before a Release Plan completes its waiting period; and every release action is written to an append-only activity log that you and your Release Manager can both read. We are a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation, which legally binds us to more than shareholder return.

Question 41

Does Tether report anything to the government or share my information with any agencies?

Accepted Answer

No. We do not report your content to anyone, and we do not sell or share it. We would only ever disclose anything in response to a valid legal order, which is the same position every custodian of your data is in — and we hold nothing beyond what you put in.

Question 42

What language is Tether available in?

Accepted Answer

English today. Your own content is unaffected by this — record and write in whatever language you like, and your recipients receive exactly what you recorded.

Question 43

Can someone from Tether help me set up my account personally?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We are a small team and we will walk you through it — reach out from the Get Support page in your portal and we will help you get set up, including sitting with you while you record the first message, which is the part people find hardest.

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