Crypto in a will

If you are weighing a will against a trust, the comparison is on a separate page: crypto in a will vs a trust.

A will can regulate who inherits, within the limits of the applicable law; have its validity and effect confirmed by the professional handling your estate. A will does not give technical access to a wallet. These are two different jobs, and the most common planning mistake is mixing them up.

What a will does

• Can name the heirs and appoint an executor; how that works in your jurisdiction, have the notary confirm.
• Can govern how the estate is distributed; the technical transfer of crypto is arranged around that.
• Can be inspected after death by those entitled to do so; in many countries the existence of a will is registered, but its contents are not public.
• Can record that an inventory exists and where authorised people may find it.

What it does not do

• It does not transfer technical access. A will cannot create a seed phrase, and it does not change what the exchange requires.
• It does not make the heirs able to reach self-custody assets without the access material. Heirs can receive a right they cannot exercise.
• A will does not automatically give technical access to a wallet, and it cannot create a private key or seed phrase. Who is legally authorised to deal with the assets must be established separately under the applicable estate rules. Access and ownership are separate questions.

Keep the layers separate

A working structure separates three layers:

1. Inventory, what may exist and where it can be found. Contains no secrets.
2. Access instructions, how a wallet is approached within the lawful framework.
3. Secrets, seed phrases, private keys, passwords, passphrases. Stored separately and secured, with agreed rules about who may use them and when.

A notary or lawyer does not need to receive secret access information. The legal plan should still align with how access, management and continuity are arranged technically; the lawyer advises on and helps draft the legal structure, and the technical side is arranged around it, not inside it.

Why secrets do not belong in a will

A will that contains a seed phrase places access material into a document that is copied, filed and read by several people after death, and access is not the same as ownership. Whoever holds the phrase may be able to use the crypto before the estate is settled, which can have serious consequences for the heirs. The same applies to emails, cloud documents and forms: preferably do not put a full seed phrase, private key or password into a document that is copied, filed or read by others; professional or specialised custody arrangements can be an exception.

The professional boundary

Estate lawyers and notaries advise on and help draft the legal structure; they are not the source for the technical inventory. Technical specialists document the access structure; they are not the source for who inherits. Both, working together, close the estate.

If you are planning ahead

Discuss the legal structure with a qualified local professional, then arrange a secret-free inventory that states which wallet categories exist and where an authorised person can find it. Review it periodically, every year or on major changes. The goal is that a competent person could act on the plan without you present.

Who to look for in your area

When you are ready to plan, ask a qualified local professional in your area who drafts wills and handles inheritance matters in your jurisdiction (such as a notary or an estate lawyer where that role applies). Ask them directly how they approach digital assets; this is now part of standard estate planning. Bring a secret-free inventory; never a seed phrase.

Rules and deadlines can change, and this page may not yet reflect the latest position, have the current rules confirmed by a local lawyer, notary or tax adviser before acting. Spotted something that no longer matches? Contact us and we will correct it.