Domain Architecture

People, Roles & Designations

Rempla is a remembrance planning platform — pre-funded, recurring gift deliveries to the people you love, fulfilled after you’re gone.

Core Insight

Person is the universal node

Every connection in the system flows through Person. Account is the login wrapper. Three independent edges define how people relate, participate, and are designated.

Person UNIVERSAL NODE ACCOUNT RELATIONSHIP Structural · How connected Spouse · Child · Friend Grandchild · Sibling WIFE Margaret SON Robert PLAN ROLE Functional · Gift plan participation GiftRecipient · PlanProtector DigitalLegacyBeneficiary RECIP. PROT. ESTATE DESIGNATION Legal · Fiduciary position Executor · Trustee TrustBeneficiary · BequestRecipient Fiduciary EXEC. TRUST. All three edges are independent & composable
Relationship — structural
PlanRole — functional
EstateDesignation — legal
Account — auth wrapper
Account Lifecycle

How people arrive — and grow

Every account starts with a single entry point. Over time, users accumulate new types as they engage with the platform. The experience adapts; the person doesn’t change.

Benefactor
Self-registered — building their legacy
Gift Recipient
Received a gift — invited to the platform
Plan Protector
Invited to protect someone’s plan
Beneficiary
Named in digital legacy or estate plan
ACCUMULATES
Example: Sarah’s journey
Gift Recipient Mar 2026 Benefactor Jun 2026 Plan Protector Sep 2026
Sarah arrived when grandma sent flowers. Six months later, she started building her own legacy. Her uncle later asked her to protect his plan.
Admin roles are separate. Support, Ops, and Admin are access control for the admin site only — not user experience types.
Concrete Example

Margaret’s world

One person, seen through every lens in the system. Margaret holds relationships, plan roles, estate designations — and has her own plan too.

M
Margaret
Account holder since 2026
Benefactor Gift Recipient Beneficiary
Relationship
Mom’s wife
Structural — how they’re connected
Plan Role — in Mom’s plan
Gift Recipient (2 scheduled gifts) + Digital Legacy Beneficiary (Facebook, Chase Bank)
Functional — what she receives from Mom’s gift & digital legacy plan
Estate Designation — in Mom’s estate
Trust Beneficiary — family home + investments
Legal — her position in Mom’s estate plan
Her own plan
Margaret is also a Benefactor building her own legacy. She designated Robert as her Plan Protector and Executor.
She arrived as a Gift Recipient, now building her own plan
Architecture Summary

Three edges, one person

Each edge type serves a distinct purpose. They’re never conflated, never dependent on each other.

Edge Purpose Values Scope
Relationship
How people are connected. Structural only.
Spouse Child Friend Grandchild Sibling
Person → Person
Independent
PlanRole
What role they play in your gift & remembrance plan.
GiftRecipient PlanProtector DigitalLegacyBeneficiary
Person → Person
Per plan owner
EstateDesignation
Their legal or fiduciary position in your estate.
Executor Trustee TrustBeneficiary BequestRecipient Fiduciary
Person → Person
Per estate owner
Design Decisions

Why it works this way

Six decisions that shape the architecture.

Person is the universal node. Account is just the authentication wrapper. A person can exist in the system long before they ever log in.
Relationships are purely structural. Being someone’s daughter doesn’t automatically make you a gift recipient or executor. Those are separate, intentional decisions.
Three independent edges. Plan roles and estate designations are not properties of relationships. They’re first-class connections with their own lifecycle.
User types accumulate with timestamps. Origin is derived from the earliest record. No separate field — the history tells the story.
Admin roles are completely separate. Support, Ops, and Admin control access to the admin portal. They have nothing to do with the user experience.
Recipients become benefactors. The platform gently guides gift recipients toward building their own legacy — without ever forcing the transition.