Bitcoin passes to no one unless your heirs know exactly where the keys are. Here's how to structure custody and succession planning so your Bitcoin reaches the next generation.
You've secured your Bitcoin. Your hardware wallet is set up, your seed phrase is backed up on steel plates, and your passphrase is memorized. But what happens when you die or become incapacitated? If the answer is "my family gets nothing because they can't find my seed phrase," you have a custody problem.
Bitcoin succession planning — combining the right custody structure with a documented recovery plan — is how you ensure your Bitcoin reaches your heirs. Here's how the institutional approach applies to individual holders.
Bitcoin is the first asset where the holder controls the keys entirely. This is a feature — no bank can freeze your funds. But it creates a succession problem that doesn't exist for traditional assets:
Stories of lost Bitcoin are common: a hard drive with early Bitcoin, a seed phrase nobody knew existed, a passphrase that died with its owner. The numbers suggest millions of Bitcoin are permanently inaccessible due to poor succession planning.
The simplest approach: a standard 24-word seed phrase on a hardware wallet, with a documented letter of instruction telling heirs exactly how to access it.
Strengths: Simple to set up, no ongoing maintenance Weakness: A single point of failure — if the seed phrase is found before your death, you lose everything. If heirs can't find it, they inherit nothing.
A 2-of-3 multisig arrangement is the gold standard for succession:
Your heirs need any 2 of 3 keys. Unchained or Casa provides recovery services as part of their service, and can help heirs claim funds even if they don't know how Bitcoin works.
Strengths: No single point of failure, institutional recovery support Weakness: More complex, ongoing fees, requires multisig-compatible wallets
Unchained Capital, Casa, and Gemini Custody offer inheritance planning as a feature of their custody products.
Unchained's "Concierge Onboarding" explicitly includes inheritance planning. Their collaborative custody model means your family can work with Unchained's team to access funds after your death, even with limited Bitcoin knowledge.
Casa's "Recovery" feature allows a designated heir to request recovery from Casa's team, who hold one key in a 2-of-3 or 3-of-5 multisig setup.
Strengths: Professional inheritance support, Bitcoin-knowledgeable team on standby Weakness: Counterparty dependency on the custodian continuing to exist
Every Bitcoin holder needs a Bitcoin-specific letter of instruction — separate from your will, and separate from the seed phrase itself. This document tells your heirs:
Critical: The letter of instruction should NOT contain the seed phrase itself. It tells heirs where to find it — the seed phrase should be stored securely and separately.
Several services specialize in Bitcoin inheritance:
See our full Bitcoin Inheritance Guide for detailed comparisons.
If your company holds Bitcoin, succession planning becomes more complex:
Institutional custodians like BitGo, Coinbase Prime, and Fidelity Digital Assets provide custody structures that don't depend on individual employees — making them suitable for corporate Bitcoin treasuries where personnel continuity matters.
Step 1: Choose a custody structure appropriate to your stack size (see above)
Step 2: Set up hardware wallet(s) with secure seed phrase backup on metal
Step 3: Write a letter of instruction — document everything an heir would need to know
Step 4: Store the letter separately from the seed phrase
Step 5: Test recovery — can you (or a trusted person) actually execute the recovery steps?
Step 6: Tell at least one person that you hold Bitcoin and where to find the letter of instruction
Step 7: Review and update annually
No. Wills become public record after probate. Including your seed phrase in a will is essentially publishing it. Instead, reference the location of your seed phrase in your will, and store the actual phrase securely.
This is why institutional custodians with inheritance services (Casa, Unchained) are valuable. They can walk non-technical heirs through the recovery process. Alternatively, designate a Bitcoin-knowledgeable trusted contact as an executor.
Yes. Bitcoin can be placed in a trust with a trustee who has fiduciary responsibility. This is increasingly common for large Bitcoin holdings. An attorney familiar with digital assets should draft the trust documents.
Liana uses Bitcoin Script to create a spending path that becomes available to a designated heir after a certain time period (e.g., if you don't move funds for 12 months, the heir can access them). This is trustless but requires technical setup.
See our Bitcoin Custody Directory for institutional options. See also: Bitcoin Inheritance Planning Guide and Casa Bitcoin Review.
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