A trustee is someone you authorize to receive specific secrets when the time comes. Choosing them well is the most important decision you will make in Testamently.
Who to choose
Pick people you genuinely trust and who are likely to outlast the accounts you are protecting:
- A spouse or partner — for personal messages and shared finances
- An adult child or sibling — for long-term reliability
- A lawyer or executor — for legal documents
- A very close, tech-comfortable friend — as a backup
Waiting vs. confirmed
When you assign a trustee, they get an email invitation. Until they accept, the secret shows as "waiting". Once they confirm, it turns "confirmed" — so you always know, at a glance, which of your secrets will actually reach someone.
Stay in control
You can assign more than one trustee to a secret as a safety net, pause a trustee, or change assignments anytime. Trustees only ever get read access, and only to the specific secrets you chose for them.
Our advice
Start with one or two people you trust completely, confirm they have accepted, then expand from there. An unconfirmed trustee protects nothing — so follow up until you see "confirmed".