First steps after a death

When someone passes away and cryptocurrency may exist, the first steps decide much of what remains possible later. The core advice is short: preserve everything, change nothing, and establish who is authorised before doing anything else. These steps apply to all crypto, bitcoin, ether and every other coin and token.

PDF: The first 48 hours, download the one-page preservation checklist.

For the full process in one printable checklist, use the complete crypto inheritance checklist. For how long each stage realistically takes, see the crypto estate timeline.

The correct order

1. Preserve. Leave devices, paper notes, wallets (the software or device that holds crypto), documents and packaging exactly as they are. Do not charge or update devices, do not guess PINs, do not “check” anything.
2. Record. Note the date, the location and who found or handled each item. This record can matter later.
3. Establish authority (the legal right to act on the estate). The executor or personal representative named in the will, or the heirs under local succession law, are the people who may act. Possession of a device or a sheet of words is not authority; a notary, probate registry or the local equivalent confirms it.
4. Identify what was found. A hardware wallet, an exchange account, a list of words, a wallet file, a QR code, each has different rules. See what did you find.
5. Classify: exchange or self-custody (a company holds the crypto for you, or you hold it yourself). An account with a company follows the exchange’s official procedure. Self-custody depends on the keys, devices and files that exist.
6. Only then act. Official procedures, valuation and division come after the first five steps.

What never to do

• Do not enter, photograph or send any recovery words, keys or passwords anywhere, not by email, message or form. The only legitimate place it is entered is the official device or wallet software from the official channel that you are certain is genuine, after authority is confirmed.
• Do not reset, wipe or reinstall any device, however tempting with a locked one.
• Do not log into accounts of the person who passed away without authority.
• Do not scan secrets into a cloud service or photograph them with an online phone.
• Do not throw away or sell old devices.
• Do not move any crypto before the authority situation is assessed.
• Never respond to unsolicited offers of help, and never pay an upfront “unlock” fee.

Why this caution

Access to crypto usually consists of several components: a device, a password, a seed phrase (the list of words that restores the wallet), possibly a passphrase, the right software version. A single action can destroy components irreversibly, an update that old wallet software can no longer open, a reset that wipes the PIN and the device together. Careless handling can also create evidence problems for the settlement later.

Who is authorised

Crypto generally falls into the estate. Who is legally entitled depends on succession law: who the heirs are, whether an executor was appointed, and which document proves it (probate, letters of administration or the local equivalent). Holding a device is not enough to act on behalf of the estate.

If there is no will, the intestacy rules decide, see who inherits crypto without a will.

What is fact and what is an assumption

Keep two lists: what you know for certain (a hardware wallet is in the safe) and what you suspect (an exchange account may exist). A visible balance or a screenshot proves nothing about ownership, access or legal title. A will that mentions crypto is a fact that crypto was considered; a will that does not mention it is not proof that no crypto exists.

When professional help is needed

Most estates can be handled through official exchange procedures and normal restoration. Specialist technical help is relevant only for a defined, unresolved access problem, and only after the steps above have been worked through. It starts with an inventory, not with guessing passwords.