Crypto estates: a professional's guide

Lawyers, notaries, tax advisers, fiduciaries and estate administrators increasingly meet cryptocurrency in an estate. The client-facing method lives on the executor’s guide and the estate inventory; this page covers the technical and practical points for the professional: which information can be relevant, which questions to recognize, and how to handle the technical handoff safely. Which documents or evidence are legally or professionally sufficient depends on the concrete situation and the professional’s own judgment.

PDF: Download the evidence checklist for professionals.

Two separate questions

Two questions are separate: who may act (legal authority) and who can reach the assets (technical access). Neither creates the other. A court order does not produce a seed phrase; a seed phrase does not transfer title. Authority can come from the will, succession law and the local document that can demonstrate representation. Access depends on the devices, keys, phrases and files that actually exist. See legal authority vs technical access.

Questions to ask the family

• What did the deceased use? Exchange accounts, self-custody wallets, hardware devices, paper backups, DeFi, NFTs, or no known crypto at all?
• What has been found, and where? A device, a document, a sheet of words, a USB drive. Record only that it exists.
• What has already been done? Devices reset or updated, PINs tried, accounts logged into, anything moved. Every action matters for the later file.
• Which documents exist? Will, certificates, bank and tax records, exchange correspondence.

What evidence is usually needed

Which proof is required in the specific case is established by the professional or institution handling it. Typically, an institution or professional may ask for:

• Proof of authority, probate, letters of administration, a certificate of inheritance or the local equivalent.
• How was the estate accepted? Also check before sale, payment of debts or distribution whether formal winding-up rules apply; with acceptance under benefit of inventory or a formal liquidation, special rules may apply and the allocation of authority may differ. If needed, establish with the notary or estate lawyer who is authorised and which procedure applies.
• A secret-free inventory, what exists and where, never the contents of anything secret (estate inventory).
• A chain-of-custody record (who handled what and when): not a general legal formality for every estate, but an important control and evidence measure in complex, technically sensitive or disputed cases (chain of custody).
• Valuation evidence, dated, with the price source, per jurisdiction (valuation, tax and reporting).
• The document file, what a crypto estate file should contain.

For a legal, tax or standard exchange engagement, a notary, lawyer, tax adviser or platform does not need the contents of seed phrases, private keys or wallet passwords. An executor or other authorised administrator may be responsible for securing access material found in the estate. Do not unnecessarily record, copy or distribute secret content, and limit access to what is necessary for the authorised action. For specialist technical recovery, specific material may be needed; record in advance in writing what is needed, why, and how it will be secured.

Working with a technical specialist

Specialist technical recovery or actual access to a wallet takes place only after it is clear who is authorised for that. A technical assessment aimed solely at safely preserving a vulnerable device or data may be needed earlier, for example with a powered-on or unlocked device. Limit such an early assessment to preserving the existing state and do not perform any substantive wallet access, recovery or movement of crypto.

When access is genuinely blocked, the handoff works only in this order:

1. Authority is established first. The specialist works under instruction from the authorised representative.
2. The specialist defines what they need and why, in writing, never “send everything to check”.
3. Scope, cost and the absence of guarantees are documented before any work.
4. The specialist is verified by the client on its official domain, never the reverse.

For what is and is not technically possible, and how to verify a specialist, see wallet recovery: what is realistically possible and who can help with inherited crypto.

When the family cannot reach the wallet

A blocked wallet is not one problem, it is four, and each has a different route:

• The platform account is locked. The route is the platform’s official procedure for deceased account holders; no technical work is involved (exchange accounts after a death).
• The device has been found, but the PIN or recovery material is missing. Do not reset or update the device. What recovery options remain depends on the exact model, the state of the device and the security version. Have this assessed technically first (how to preserve a hardware wallet).
• The password or passphrase is missing. Wallet files, keystores and passphrase-protected phrases each have their own rules (wallet passwords and passphrases).
• The phrase is missing or incomplete. A partial phrase may sometimes be reconstructed; a completely missing one cannot be invented (what is a seed phrase, wallet recovery: what is realistically possible).

Walk the family through the same route on the client-facing page: access a deceased loved one’s crypto. The more precisely the block is documented, the more useful any later assessment can be.

Valuation and reporting

Crypto is valued at a defined date from a documented source, and reporting obligations differ by jurisdiction. The general method is on valuation, tax and reporting; the country pages of this platform carry the official sources. If a filing has to be made for the estate, missing or inaccessible assets are not in themselves a reason to skip that filing. Record what could and could not be established, and discuss with the competent tax authority or adviser how to handle this in the filing.

Red flags to watch for

• Anyone who guarantees a result before examining the situation.
• Anyone who asks for secrets “to check”.
• Unsolicited offers after a death, urgency, or payment before a written assessment.
• “Recovery” or “tracing” services that promise certainty.

These patterns target bereaved families; the full catalogue is on scams targeting crypto estates.

What this website is

An educational resource with dated primary sources and a public corrections log. It is not legal, tax or technical advice, and it never replaces local professional judgment, it is the reference layer that makes professional work faster and safer.

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.