Cairn

Why Cairn exists

The paperwork after a death shouldn’t be the hardest part of losing someone.

Cairn is an AI guide that walks a family through what has to be done after someone dies: the death certificate, the funeral homes to compare, the agency, bank, and insurance calls, so grief gets the time it’s actually owed.

Cairn: After a Death, Step by Step.

What Cairn is, and isn’t

Cairn is

  • A step-by-step guide through the first weeks: the death certificate, funeral research, and notifying agencies, banks, insurers, and employers
  • An impartial second opinion when a bank, insurer, or funeral home says “that’s just how it’s done”
  • A voice you choose: steady and direct, or warm and patient, matched to how you want to be spoken to right now
  • A running record of what’s done, what’s pending, and what’s next, so no one has to hold it all in their head

Cairn is not

  • A person. Cairn is an AI guide, not a grief counselor, a death doula, or a substitute for hospice or therapy
  • A law firm or a funeral home. It doesn’t file, book, or arrange anything, or contact anyone for you. You stay the one who reaches out
  • Selling you anything: no funeral packages, no upsells, no referral fees baked into its advice
  • Another login your family has to explain to each other after you’re the one who needed help

Why not just ChatGPT?

Cairn runs on the same kind of AI behind ChatGPT, so it’s a fair question to ask. The difference is everything a single chat window was never built to hold onto: one specific death, one specific state’s paperwork, and numbers no one should be pasting into a general-purpose assistant.

A general AI chat Cairn
Memory of your case Lives in one thread you keep re-opening and re-explaining One case that holds every step, status, and deadline for this specific death
Local procedure Answers in generalities, hedges with “check your state” Covers every state, DC, and US territory, with each step linked to that place’s own office, not a guess
Sensitive numbers Will take a Social Security number or account number pasted into the chat Never asks for them in the chat and doesn’t store them. It tells you what to have ready and where to take it
Family coordination One person, one login, one chat, nothing to hand off One login for now, plus a hand-off summary and a download of your case you can share with family
Where it draws the line Answers a legal or tax question with total confidence, right or not Flags precisely where a real attorney or accountant has to take over
What it’s built for A general-purpose product with its own roadmap and priorities One outcome: getting a family through this, nothing else competing for the room

How it works

  1. Tell Cairn what happened

    In your own words, at your own pace. Type or talk, whichever is easier. When you talk, Cairn turns your voice into text and the recording is not kept. No forms to fill out first.

  2. Cairn maps the paperwork trail

    Death certificate copies, what to secure now, funeral research, Social Security and other agencies, banks, insurers, and employers, whichever apply to this specific situation.

  3. Cairn explains each step in plain language

    What to do, what to have ready, who can do it, and where a real attorney is worth calling. You make the calls, and Cairn keeps the list straight.

  4. Cairn tracks it to completion

    Every step stays visible until it’s done. Cairn reminds you only in the way, and as often, as you choose.

A voice that meets you where you are

Grief doesn’t arrive the same way twice. Cairn offers a small set of agent personalities so the tone of help matches the person receiving it, not the other way around.

  • Steady & Direct Just the next step, clearly stated
  • Warm & Patient Room to process before moving on
  • Brisk & Businesslike Treat it like a project to close out
  • Plain & Practical No euphemisms, just what’s true and what’s next

Taking a break and getting support

Grief comes first. Every screen has a one-tap Take a break button, and Cairn offers rest after about 45 minutes or after a hard task. If things become too much, Cairn stops asking questions, and a rest it suggests pauses your free days. If you mention thoughts of harming yourself or someone else, Cairn sets the tasks aside and shares the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline first, and the Veterans Crisis Line for veterans and their families. Cairn behaves the same way in every voice.

Read the support and crisis plan

Let Cairn hold the paperwork. You hold the grief.