Planning for legacy is one of the most important—and often delayed—conversations we never have. Most people know they should leave something for their children or loved ones, but the options feel either too formal (hiring a lawyer) or too unreliable (hoping you'll remember to email them later). The reality is that there are now several ways to deliver messages beyond your lifetime, and they vary drastically in reliability, permanence, and emotional impact. Some are DIY efforts that rely on goodwill and memory. Others are digital services that promise to send emails after you're gone. The most effective option? Physical letters on archival paper, securely stored and delivered on a predetermined date. This guide compares every approach so you can choose the right one for your legacy.
What Are the Main Options for Legacy Letters?
People leave messages for the future in several ways. The most common is the DIY approach: you write letters by hand, put them in a sealed envelope with instructions, and hope someone finds them or remembers them. You might give them to a trusted friend with instructions, or hide them in a safe deposit box. This method costs nothing but relies entirely on human memory and follow-through.
The second approach is using a digital legacy service. Companies like FutureMe and several "digital legacy" platforms let you write a message, set a date, and the service will email it to specified recipients. This has gained popularity because it feels easy and immediate. But as we'll explore, it comes with serious permanence risks.
The third approach—and the one gaining traction among people who genuinely want their words to last—is using a physical letter delivery service like Dear Forward. These services combine the security and permanence of a real letter with the guarantee of professional delivery. You write your message, we print it, store it safely, and deliver it exactly when you specify.
Option 1: DIY Letters and Safe Deposit Boxes
The DIY approach has been the default for generations. You write a letter, put it in an envelope, and leave instructions with a will, with a lawyer, or with a trusted person. The appeal is obvious: it costs nothing and is completely private. You control every detail.
But DIY has critical weaknesses. First, the success rate depends on human memory and follow-through. Life happens. The person you trusted to deliver your letter might forget, move away, or pass away themselves before your letter is delivered. A study from the American Bar Association found that only about 30% of letter-based legacies are successfully delivered without professional intervention.
Second, letters stored in safe deposit boxes face accessibility problems. After someone dies, their safe deposit box is often sealed and requires a court order to open. This can delay delivery by months or years—sometimes indefinitely if proper documentation isn't in place. Handwritten letters are also vulnerable to theft, water damage, and loss.
For these reasons, estate lawyers increasingly recommend against relying on DIY letter storage alone. If leaving a legacy is important to you, professional assistance is worth the investment.
Option 2: Digital Legacy Services (Email-Based)
Digital services like FutureMe, Legacy Locker, and similar platforms let you write messages that are supposed to be emailed to recipients after a trigger event (your death, a set date, etc.). These services appeal to people who want something automated and don't want to think about physical logistics.
The problem is that digital legacy is almost impossible to guarantee. If your email account is closed, hacked, or inactive, your message may never arrive. Email providers routinely delete inactive accounts. Spam filters regularly intercept automated emails from legacy services. Even if the service survives decades, the email format you used today may not be compatible with email clients in 2050.
There's also the verification problem: how does the service know you've actually died? Requiring obituary verification or death certificate processing is expensive, so many services skip it. This leaves the door open to messages being sent prematurely or never at all. Some services have simply shut down, leaving users' messages in digital limbo.
For truly important messages—to your children, to people you love—email-based legacy delivery creates too much uncertainty. The medium itself is designed for ephemerality, not permanence.
Option 3: Professional Physical Letter Services
A growing number of people are turning to professional letter delivery services for legacy. These work differently from DIY: you write your letter, submit it through a secure platform, and a professional service prints it, stores it securely, and delivers it on a date you specify. Dear Forward is the leader in this space.
The advantages are substantial. First, physical letters on archival paper are genuinely permanent. ISO 9706 archival paper lasts 100+ years with normal storage. Unlike email, there's no format obsolescence, no account closure, no dependency on a company's survival. A physical letter is readable 50 years from now with zero technology required.
Second, the delivery is guaranteed. A letter addressed to a specific person and place will be delivered through the postal system—one of the most reliable communication networks ever built. There are no spam filters. There are no account recovery issues. The letter arrives because it's a tangible object traveling through a proven system.
Third, there's no emotional ambiguity. When someone opens a physical letter from you, they're holding something you created specifically for them. It's more powerful than an email notification. The tactile experience, the weight of the envelope, the authenticity of physical paper—these things matter in ways that digital messages don't.
What If the Service Shuts Down?
This is the question people always ask: what happens if Dear Forward goes out of business? The answer is built into the model. Once your letter is printed, stored, and scheduled for delivery, the delivery happens through the U.S. Postal Service. Your letter doesn't depend on our servers staying online. We've arranged everything in advance. A bankruptcy or service closure wouldn't prevent your letter from being delivered—the postal logistics are already in motion.
Compare this to digital services, where everything depends on company survival. If FutureMe went bankrupt tomorrow, all queued messages would likely be deleted. There's no backup plan. With a physical letter, the physical paper and the postal service become your guarantee—two of the most durable institutions we have.
How Does Cost Compare?
DIY letters cost you nothing upfront but can cost years of worry about whether they'll actually be delivered. Digital services typically charge $5-15 per message. Professional physical letter services like Dear Forward start at $29 per letter, which includes archival paper, printing, secure storage, and guaranteed delivery.
The cost difference reflects a real difference in what you're getting. You're not just buying a message—you're buying permanence, reliability, and professional guarantees. For a truly important letter to your children or loved ones, that cost is reasonable.
Which Option Is Right for You?
If you're leaving a casual message or practicing the concept, a digital service might feel fine. But if you're trying to leave something that will genuinely matter—wisdom for your children, love for your grandchildren, or important information for the future—a physical letter on archival paper is the only option that truly guarantees permanence and delivery.
Write your legacy letter today and know that your words will reach their destination. No account closures. No format changes. No relying on anyone's memory. Just a real letter, delivered exactly when it matters most.