HUSBAND-AND-WIFE TEAM TURN TRAGEDY INTO INNOVATIVE NEW BUSINESS
Added: (Tue Jul 19 2022)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
A Gloucestershire-based couple have turned their personal experiences with grief and loss into a revolutionary new app. LOCKET, a digital letter of wishes, seeks to disrupt the traditional Wills and Probate market by offering consumers an easy way to crystallise their intentions before they pass away.
Developed by MoonFire Ltd, LOCKET has been designed with a very clear purpose: to reduce the suffering caused by people passing away without their intentions being known. But behind the app is a very personal – and heart-breaking – story.
‘When my mother died in 2011, I was devastated,’ Peter Miller, co-founder of MoonFire Ltd (which he runs with his wife, Julia), commented. ‘And the pain of her passing was only exacerbated by the lack of clarity around her wishes. She was very much a "Why do I care? I won't be here, so just sort it out amongst yourselves!" type,’ Peter added, with a smile. ‘However, this led to a great deal of confusion for her heartbroken family. Which one was her “25th anniversary ring”, for example? And who could we, her children, ask?’
The situation reached a painful conclusion when Peter’s daughters were personally affected. ‘Both were promised a keepsake,’ Peter explained. ‘But because we couldn’t reconcile my mother’s intentions with the items she’d left, one of them had to go without. It caused so much distress and confusion, and could have been avoided if there’d been an easier way for Mum to make her wishes known.’
With over 30 years’ experience in data architecture, Peter’s work kept him occupied until more recently, as did wife Julia’s career in medical research. But when the pandemic hit, the couple found themselves with a bit more time – and the same question kept cropping up. Could what happened to Peter’s family be avoided?
‘We knew there had to be a better way,’ Julia stated. ‘A Will is ideal for larger assets or sums of money, but what about sentimental items or cherished keepsakes? The solution had to be something people could do ‘on the go’, though; something easy to use, and quick to amend. Something that could be a work-in-progress, rather than an onerous task you’d keep putting off.’ In addition, LOCKET, also enables you to record personal heart-warming video messages for your loved ones to treasure for ever. Priceless.
And so LOCKET was born. More than just a traditional ‘Letter of Wishes’, LOCKET is a digital inventory of one’s items and intentions – and can be amended and expanded easily without further cost. Users enter items into their ‘Vault’ (cataloguing by photo, or video, to make things crystal clear), allocate ‘Beneficiaries’ to receive said items in future, and choose ‘Guardians’, who will be responsible for ‘unlocking’ the Vault and ensuring the owner’s wishes are adhered to following their passing. Easy to use, the app has been designed with ease of understanding in mind, too – ensuring a person’s wishes are recorded with specificity, and pre-empting any painful questions that may arise.
‘We’re so delighted to have finally launched LOCKET after years of hard work, and we’re thrilled with the feedback we’ve received so far,’ Peter said. ‘Most of all, we hope it will bring great peace of mind to all our users, and help reduce the chances of conflict or confusion in future.’
[ENDS]
Notes to editors:
LOCKET is available as an iPhone/iPad App, with a portal viewer. Pricing starts at £2.42 per month (£28.99 per year) for an annual subscription.
Contacts: peter@moonfire.ltd.co.uk
Website: https://www.mylocket.uk/