FileSeal is a UK-hosted secure document sharing service for wealth managers and family offices. You create an encrypted upload link in about 30 seconds, your client uploads source-of-wealth evidence, trust deeds, portfolio statements or ID without creating an account, and you download the files once before they are deleted from FileSeal’s servers. The free trial is 5 secure requests with no time limit and no card. Professional is £29 a month (£25 billed annually) and Teams is £59 a month (£47 billed annually) for up to 5 people including the owner, both plus VAT.
Prices and facts last reviewed: September 2026. Prices exclude UK VAT.
The Reality of HNW Client Onboarding
The Source-of-Wealth Pack Problem
Onboarding a family office client means collecting trust deeds, company structure charts, asset statements, and source-of-funds evidence. Orchestrating that over email is neither professional nor secure.
Multiple Parties, One Mandate
A single HNW mandate can involve the client, a trustee, a lawyer, and an accountant. Coordinating document collection across all of them via forwarded email chains is not the experience they expect.
Discretion Is the Product
Private-client relationships are built on trust. When a client sees their passport and portfolio statement requested over unencrypted email, it signals that their data is not being treated with the care their assets deserve.
The Secure Handoff for Private-Client Documents
Replace the “please email your trust deed” moment with professional, encrypted document collection
1. Create secure link
30 seconds“Please upload your source-of-wealth evidence, identity documents, and entity structure using this secure link”
2. Client uploads securely
AES-256 encryptionDocuments are encrypted on their device before upload. No passwords, no registration. Appropriate for the most sensitive private-client documents.
3. You download once
Then deleted from our serversUploads and downloads logged for your compliance records. Documents deleted automatically after download. One-time access, sealed forever.
Purpose-Built for Wealth Management Document Flows
Source of Wealth and Source of Funds Evidence
Business sale proceeds, inheritance documentation, portfolio histories and asset statements
KYC and AML Identity Packs
Passports, proof of address, certified identity documents for all beneficial owners
Trust and Company Structure Documents
Trust deeds, articles of association, shareholder registers, power of attorney
Beneficial Ownership Details
UBO declarations, corporate structure charts, register of persons with significant control
Portfolio and Estate Statements
Existing investment portfolios, property valuations, pension values, estate inventories
Tax and Estate Planning Documents
Tax returns, IHT planning papers, offshore account disclosures, accountant letters
Logins and Restricted Instructions
Share a portal login or a confidential instruction with a client as a one-time, self-deleting note
Why Wealth Managers Choose FileSeal
See how FileSeal compares to common alternatives
| Method | Encryption | Access Control | Auto-Delete | Audit Trail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
FileSeal | AES-256 | One-time URLs | Automatic | Complete |
Email | Plain text | Forwarded/stored | Permanent | None |
WeTransfer | In transit | Download tracking | 3 days | Limited |
Google Drive | At rest | Link sharing | Permanent | Limited |
Ways a family office can collect a client document, compared
| How you collect it | Who can read the file | After the download | Record you can point to | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Email attachment | Every mail server and mailbox the message passes through | The attachment stays in both mailboxes until somebody deletes it | Nothing beyond your sent folder | Included with your mail account |
| WeTransfer or a similar transfer service | The provider holds the keys, so it can access the files | Kept for a fixed window whether or not anyone downloaded it | None on the free tier | Free tier, or a paid plan |
| A Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive link | The provider holds the keys, plus anyone the link reaches | The file stays in your drive until you remove it | Access logs on business tiers | Bundled with a storage subscription |
| A private client portal | Your firm and the vendor, under their terms | Stored for the life of the matter | Usually, inside the system | Typically quoted per user on request |
| FileSeal | Anyone holding the link, and its key in Most private mode, can open it once. In the default Email them mode FileSeal holds the key too, so it can email a working link | Deleted from FileSeal’s servers after the one download | Uploads, downloads and collections logged against the request | £29 a month plus VAT, after 5 free requests |
See also: FileSeal compared with Tresorit, FileSeal compared with ShareFile.
Frequently asked questions
What family offices ask before switching from email.
How much does FileSeal cost for a family office or wealth manager?
The free trial is 5 secure requests with no time limit and no card. Professional is £29 a month (£25 billed annually) and Teams is £59 a month (£47 billed annually) for up to 5 people including the owner, both plus VAT. Teams suits an office where several people collect documents, and extra seats beyond the included 5 are £10 a month each on request.
Do clients need an account to upload onboarding documents?
No. Clients upload from any device without creating an account or installing anything. They open the link, choose their files and upload. Nothing is installed and no password is set.
Can FileSeal read the documents a client uploads?
It depends on the delivery mode, and FileSeal states both plainly. “Email them” is the default and lets FileSeal keep the key so it can email a working link. “Get a link”, labelled Most private, keeps the key only in the link, so FileSeal stores ciphertext it cannot read. Files are encrypted with AES-GCM-256 on the device before upload in either mode.
Where are the documents stored?
The application, database and encrypted files are hosted in the UK: Vercel in London, Neon PostgreSQL in AWS eu-west-2, and Vercel Blob’s UK store. Supporting services such as email delivery and error monitoring run in the UK or the EEA, listed in the Data Processing Agreement at fileseal.uk/terms/dpa.
Can colleagues in my office see each other’s requests?
By default yes, within a team: the owner and members with the view-all permission see the team’s requests. A request marked Private to me is visible only to the person who created it. FileSeal is not isolated between team members by default, so set the permission deliberately.
Can I collect documents from multiple people on one mandate?
Yes. Create a separate request for each party in an onboarding, whether that is the client, a trustee, a legal representative or a company director, and track them all from the dashboard. Each link is independent, so one party uploading does not expose another party’s documents.
What documents can I collect securely?
Anything your onboarding or AML process calls for, within the accepted types and sizes: passports and photo ID, proof of address, source-of-wealth and source-of-funds evidence, trust deeds, company structure charts, beneficial-ownership declarations, portfolio and bank statements, tax returns and estate documents. Client upload links accept PDF, DOC, DOCX, JPG and PNG at up to 10 MB per file.
Security Guides for Wealth Management
Expert guidance on secure HNW client onboarding, source-of-wealth document handling, and GDPR-compliant document collection.
Secure Document Sharing for Family Offices
How family offices and private-client teams collect sensitive onboarding documents without exposing them over email.
HNW Client Onboarding Document Security
Best practices for collecting source-of-wealth packs, KYC documents, and trust structures from high-net-worth clients.
GDPR Document Collection Compliance Guide
Fix your document collection process in 15 minutes and ensure your client data handling meets UK data protection law.