Without a plan, your Bitcoin dies with you. This 10-step checklist covers seed phrase storage, letters of instructions, multisig, wills, and how to test your inheritance plan.
Most Bitcoiners have a plan for accumulating. Far fewer have a plan for what happens to their Bitcoin when they die.
Unlike a bank account, there is no customer service line to call, no account recovery process, no institution that will recognize a death certificate and transfer funds. Bitcoin requires active planning — without it, your Bitcoin may be permanently inaccessible after you're gone.
This is the practical checklist. Complete these 10 steps and your heirs will be able to access your Bitcoin. Skip them and they probably won't.
A traditional investment account has a clear inheritance path: name a beneficiary, they contact the brokerage, present a death certificate, and receive the assets. The institution holds the assets and knows how to transfer them.
Self-custodied Bitcoin has none of this. The Bitcoin lives on the blockchain, accessible only through private keys. The private keys live in a hardware wallet, protected by a seed phrase that only you know. If you die without passing this information on:
This has already happened many times. The Chainalysis estimate puts the amount of permanently inaccessible (likely lost/dead owner) Bitcoin at over 3 million BTC.
Before you can plan inheritance, you need a complete picture of where your Bitcoin is.
Create a Bitcoin inventory that includes:
Store this inventory securely — it should not include private keys or seed phrases (those come later), just enough information that an executor can identify what exists and where.
Do not store this inventory digitally in a way that's easily accessible — it's a roadmap to your Bitcoin. A sealed envelope in a fireproof safe or with an attorney is appropriate.
A Letter of Instructions is a plain-language document that tells your heirs what to do, step by step. This is not a legal document — it's a practical guide.
Include:
Write this assuming your heirs have never seen a hardware wallet. Do not assume any Bitcoin knowledge.
Store it: With your will, with your attorney, or in a sealed envelope alongside your seed phrase backup.
The seed phrase is the master key to your Bitcoin. Your heirs need access to it after you die but must not be able to access it prematurely (before your death).
Best practices for inheritance-ready seed phrase storage:
Never: Store seed phrases digitally. Never email them, take photos, or store in a password manager that heirs might access while you're alive.
If you use a BIP39 passphrase (an extra word beyond your 12 or 24-word seed), your heirs need it too — but you don't want it stored alongside the seed phrase (that would defeat the security purpose).
The approach:
A locked hardware wallet with no passphrase is accessible if someone finds the seed phrase. A passphrase without the seed is useless. Keep them separate — but ensure both are ultimately recoverable.
For substantial Bitcoin holdings (roughly $100k+), a multisig wallet offers a cleaner inheritance path than a single-sig wallet.
A 2-of-3 multisig designed for inheritance:
Upon death, the heir and attorney combine their keys (2-of-3) and move the Bitcoin. You never needed to give a single person complete access.
Services like Unchained and Casa offer inheritance-ready multisig setups with dedicated protocols for key recovery after death. This is the professional standard for serious Bitcoin estates.
For setup instructions, see our multisig guide.
Your legal will should reference your Bitcoin holdings, even if it doesn't list seed phrases (which shouldn't be in public legal documents).
What your will should include:
What your will should NOT include:
Get legal help: An estate attorney familiar with digital assets can draft appropriate language. Several Bitcoin-focused attorneys specialize in crypto estate planning. The cost is modest relative to the asset value at stake.
The person executing your estate needs to understand (or be able to learn) how Bitcoin works. A general estate attorney or family member with no Bitcoin experience may be unable to navigate the process even with good instructions.
Options:
Consider a trust: For large estates, a trust structure can hold Bitcoin assets and distribute them according to your terms without going through probate. A Bitcoin-specific trustee (some law firms specialize in this) can manage the technical side.
Bitcoin on exchanges (Coinbase, Kraken, Swan, River) follows standard exchange inheritance processes, but you need to facilitate this:
For Bitcoin ETF or IRA holdings, standard brokerage beneficiary designations apply — the simplest Bitcoin inheritance path.
Don't assume your instructions are clear — test them.
A plan that exists only in theory is not a plan. Test it.
Bitcoin inheritance planning is not a one-time task. You need to update it when:
Set a calendar reminder to review your Bitcoin inheritance plan annually.
If the DIY approach feels daunting, professional services can help:
Casa — Offers inheritance-ready multisig with a dedicated inheritance protocol. Heirs work directly with Casa to recover Bitcoin after death verification.
Unchained — Collaborative multisig with estate planning services. Unchained can serve as one key holder in an inheritance-ready setup.
Liana Wallet — Open-source wallet that uses Bitcoin timelocks for inheritance. After a defined period of inactivity (e.g., 1 year), a designated recovery key becomes active. No third party required.
For a full comparison of inheritance methods, see our Bitcoin inheritance planning guide.
What happens to Bitcoin when someone dies with no plan? If no seed phrase is accessible, the Bitcoin is permanently inaccessible. There is no recovery process. It remains on the blockchain but can never be moved. This is true regardless of the value involved.
Should I give my seed phrase to my spouse right now? This depends on your threat model. The safest approach is a structured access method (sealed envelope with attorney, multisig, or time-locked wallet) rather than direct sharing, which creates a single point of failure and potential security risk if the relationship changes or the other person is targeted.
Can I leave Bitcoin in a will? Yes — your will can direct that Bitcoin assets pass to a specific beneficiary. The will should reference your Letter of Instructions for access details rather than containing seed phrases directly (wills can become public in probate).
What is a Bitcoin inheritance attorney? An estate attorney who specializes in or has experience with digital asset inheritance. They can draft appropriate will language, advise on trust structures, and understand the technical requirements. Several Bitcoin-focused law firms have developed estate planning practices specifically for Bitcoin holders.
Is a Bitcoin IRA easier to inherit? Yes. A Bitcoin IRA follows standard IRA beneficiary designations — name a beneficiary, they contact the IRA custodian with a death certificate, and the account transfers. This is the simplest Bitcoin inheritance path and one reason to consider a Bitcoin IRA even if you primarily self-custody.
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Vault12 uses Shamir Secret Sharing and trusted Guardians to create a mobile-first Bitcoin inheritance system. This 2026 review covers pricing ($99/year), security model, how the inheritance event actually works, and comparison to Casa and Cipherwill.
A Bitcoin letter of instruction tells your heirs how to access your Bitcoin — without including the seed phrase itself. This 2026 guide covers exactly what to write, what to omit, where to store it, and includes a template you can use today.
Don't let your Bitcoin die with you. From sealed letters to multisig inheritance with Casa and Unchained, to legal trusts and BitGo institutional services — every approach explained.