In this guide
For professionals
Crypto estates: a professional's guide
For lawyers, notaries, tax advisers and fiduciaries: the evidence, the questions to ask, valuation and the specialist handoff a crypto estate requires.
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 is the professional’s checklist: what to ask, what to require as evidence, and how to handle the technical handoff.
PDF: Download the evidence checklist for professionals.
The framework that decides everything
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 comes from the will, succession law and the local document that proves 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.
The evidence you need
- Proof of authority, probate, letters of administration, a certificate of inheritance or the local equivalent.
- 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 (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.
Never ask for, and never accept, seed phrases, private keys, wallet files or passwords. No official process needs them; receiving them creates an evidence and liability problem.
Working with a technical specialist
When access is genuinely blocked, the handoff works only in this order:
- Authority is established first. The specialist works under instruction from the authorised representative.
- The specialist defines what they need and why, in writing, never “send everything to check”.
- Scope, cost and the absence of guarantees are documented before any work.
- 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 is found, the PIN is not. If the recovery phrase exists, the wallet can be restored on compatible hardware; without it, the device alone is not enough (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. Missing or inaccessible assets are not a reason to skip a filing, they are a reason to document what could and could not be established, and to discuss the position with the relevant authority or a local adviser.
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.