Death and self-custody: How to pass on your crypto when you die
The average crypto investor probably isn’t planning on dying of old age anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have a plan in place to pass on their crypto in the event they meet an unlikely demise, lawyers warn.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Dubai-based crypto lawyer Irina Heaver believes that “billions” worth of Bitcoin (BTC) has been lost due to a lack of proper death-related planning by hodlers.
She noted that many families have been unable to access their loved one’s crypto assets due to private keys being taken to the grave, and emphasized the importance of discussing crypto assets with family and including them in their will.
Heaver said that the typical crypto investor is a “male millennial” between the ages of 27 to 42, which is the age range where arranging one’s financial affairs in case of death is the “last thing” to come up in conversation.
However, the lawyer believes it is “essential” to confirm that the administrator of one’s will is proficient in using cold and hot wallets in order to properly distribute one’s holdings.
Digital asset lawyer Liam Hennessy, partner at Australian law firm Gadens, believes that crypto investors should know that the “vanilla first step” to safeguarding their families’ future is to prepare a will — but they should also be mindful that crypto is a complicated asset and that the will needs to include really specific instructions on where the crypto is and how the keys are accessed.
Heaver has observed “huge problems” in the process of inheriting crypto, including a case where a family approached her asking for help in accessing a deceased loved one’s crypto assets.
Digital asset lawyer Krish Gosai, managing partner of Gosai law, believes that it is especially important to
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