Crypto inheritance: how to make sure your family can access your crypto

Last updated November 12, 2026

With a bank account, your family can go to the bank with the right paperwork. With self-custody crypto, there’s no bank. If nobody knows where your seed phrase is or how to use it, your crypto is gone forever.

The challenge is making your crypto accessible to your heirs later without making it easy to steal today.

Step 1: Write an inventory

Make a simple list of what you have and where:

Which exchanges you have accounts with
Which wallets you use (app, hardware wallet, brand and model)
Which coins or tokens, roughly
Where each seed phrase backup is stored (the location, not the words)

Never put seed phrases in your will. Wills can become public records during probate, and many people may read them along the way.

Step 2: Write instructions for a non-expert

Your heir may know nothing about crypto. Write plain step-by-step instructions:

Where the device and seed phrase are stored.
That the seed phrase must never be typed into a website or shared with anyone offering “help.”
Which wallet app to use to restore it, and to download it only from the official site.
The name of someone knowledgeable they can trust for help, such as an advisor or tech-savvy friend.
That scammers target grieving families, so they should be suspicious of anyone who contacts them first.

Step 3: Decide how heirs get access

Common approaches, from simplest to most robust:

Sealed instructions with a trusted person or lawyer that point to where the seed phrase is stored, such as a safe deposit box or home safe.
Split the secrets. Keep the seed phrase in one place and the passphrase or PIN in another, held by different people.
Multisignature wallets, which need several keys to move funds. More secure but more complex. Consider professional help.

Step 4: Handle exchange accounts

Exchanges have their own processes for deceased account holders, usually requiring a death certificate and proof of authority. List each exchange and mention them in your estate documents.

Step 5: Keep it up to date

Review your plan once a year, and whenever you open a new account, buy a new device or move funds.

Talk to an estate planning attorney in your area. Crypto rules vary by country and state, and a professional can help you fit crypto into your will or trust correctly.