How a guarantee agreement works

Every state, start to finish

Nothing happens by default and nothing activates by silence. Each state below says what moves the agreement forward and how it can end from there.

1. 1

   Draft

   The first party writes the terms: contributions per person, maturity period, and the mutual, unilateral and emergency distributions. Only the author sees it.

   Moves on when Send the draft to the partner — this records the author's approval and creates the invitation.

   • The author can cancel the draft at any time; nothing was ever committed.
2. 2

   Invitation sent

   The invited email address is reserved for 14 days. Both people are blocked from starting another agreement while the invitation is live.

   Moves on when The invited person signs in with that email address and accepts.

   • Declined — the agreement closes immediately as “cancelled”, and both people are free again.
   • Expired — after 14 days the invitation can no longer be accepted, the exclusivity hold is released, and either person can close it out. The first party can instead resend it (optionally correcting the email), which restarts the 14 days.
   • Withdrawn — the first party cancels before anyone joins.
3. 3

   Partner joined

   Two accounts are now linked through this one agreement, and only through it. The invitation deadline no longer applies.

   Moves on when The second party reviews the proposed version.

   • Either party can cancel while the agreement is not yet active.
4. 4

   Negotiating

   Each version is reviewed by the party who did not write it. Requesting changes always carries a written message and starts the next version as that party's draft. Every version, approval and message is kept in the history.

   Moves on when Both parties approve the same version.

   • Request changes — the version is rejected and a new draft begins.
   • Withdraw approval — an approval given earlier can be taken back while the agreement is not active; the version returns to draft.
   • Cancel — either party can end the negotiation. No money has moved, so nothing is distributed.
   • Abandoned — if nobody acts for 30 days the agreement is flagged as stalled and either party can cancel it.
5. 5

   Final approval

   One approval is on record and the terms are frozen while the second is pending. The version cannot be edited in this state.

   Moves on when The second approval activates the agreement immediately.

   • The waiting party can still request changes.
   • The approving party can withdraw their approval, which reopens the terms as a draft.
   • Either party can cancel.
6. 6

   Active

   Contributions run from the activation date and each one matures over the agreed maturity period. The agreement is open-ended: there is no end date and no expiry.

   Moves on when It continues until one of the three exits is used.

   • Mutual exit — both agree; the eligible pool is split by the agreed distribution with no penalty.
   • Unilateral exit — one party requests it, a cooling-off period runs, and the agreed penalty shifts part of the initiator's share.
   • Emergency exit — immediate close with the higher penalty and no cooling-off period.
7. 7

   Exit requested

   The terms stay fully in force during an exit. Nothing about the agreement can be edited while an exit is open, and only one exit can be open at a time.

   Moves on when Settlement: a mutual exit needs the other party's agreement; a unilateral exit completes once cooling-off ends.

   • The initiator can cancel their own request before it settles, and the agreement simply continues.
   • The other party can decline a mutual exit; the agreement continues.
   • An emergency exit skips this state entirely and settles at once.
8. 8

   Settled

   The settlement is calculated by the backend at the moment of closing: immature contributions return to whoever paid them, and the matured pool is distributed by the applicable rule. Amounts are recorded permanently.

   Moves on when Nothing further happens — the agreement is read-only history.

   • Both people are released from the one-agreement-per-person rule and can enter a new agreement.

What if something goes wrong

The invitation expires

An invitation is valid for 14 days. After that it can no longer be accepted, the reservation on both people is released, and either person can close the agreement out as “Invitation expired”. The first party can also resend a fresh invitation, correcting the email address if it was wrong.

The partner rejects the agreement

Declining an invitation closes the agreement straight away and notifies the sender. Rejecting the terms after joining is different: that is a change request with a message, and the negotiation continues with a new version.

Someone leaves during negotiation

Either party can cancel a not-yet-active agreement, with an optional reason. It closes as “Cancelled”, the other party is notified, no contributions exist, and no penalty applies — penalties only exist for active agreements.

Someone withdraws approval

While the agreement is not active, a party can withdraw an approval they already gave. The version drops back to draft under that party's name, both approvals reset to pending, and the other party is notified. Once both approvals land the agreement is active and approval can no longer be withdrawn — only the exit strategies apply.

One partner abandons the process

If nothing happens for 30 days before activation, the agreement is flagged as stalled and either party can cancel it. Nothing activates by silence: activation always needs both explicit approvals.

The agreement expires or gets cancelled

An active agreement never expires — it is open-ended by design and ends only through a mutual, unilateral or emergency exit, each with its own predefined distribution. Cancellation only exists before activation. Whatever the ending, the agreement records why it closed and stays visible as history.