The document that actually decides whether your crypto is inherited is not your will. It is a short, plain-language set of instructions written for someone who does not know what a wallet is, will read it while grieving, and cannot ask you a single question.
Almost nobody writes one. Of those who do, most write it for a version of their heir who already understands crypto — which is the same as not writing it.
Two documents, deliberately separated
Split by secrecy, because the two halves need completely different handling:
- The map — what exists, where it is, who to contact, what to do. Contains no secrets. Should be easy to find: with your will, your household papers, your executor.
- The keys — the recovery phrase, any passphrase, device PINs. Contains everything. Should be hard to reach until it is needed: a sealed envelope with a solicitor, a bank box, or split shares.
The map can be read by a stranger without costing you anything. That is what makes it safe to store somewhere findable, and being findable is the entire point.
Never put the second inside your will. In many places a will becomes a public record at probate.
What the map should say
1. WHAT THIS IS
I own cryptocurrency. It is real property with real value and it is
NOT automatically included in the rest of my estate - it needs the
steps below or it is permanently lost. Approximate value: .........
Last updated: .........
2. WHAT EXISTS
[ ] Exchange account(s) at ............ in my name, email ............
[ ] Self-custody wallet on a device kept at ............
[ ] Backup of that wallet stored at ............ (and ............)
3. WHO TO ASK
............ understands this and has agreed to help. Contact: ............
If they are unavailable, a solicitor or a reputable firm can assist -
but see the warning in section 6.
4. WHAT TO DO FIRST
Do NOT rush and do NOT move anything until you have read all of this.
Nothing is time-critical. Nobody can take it while it sits still.
5. HOW TO ACCESS IT
The recovery information is held ............ and released on
production of a death certificate.
IMPORTANT: a passphrase is also required - YES / NO
If yes, it is held separately at ............
6. WARNINGS
- Anyone asking for the recovery words is stealing, without exception.
No company, exchange, support agent or "recovery service" needs them.
- Never type the words into any website.
- Never photograph them or put them in cloud storage or email.
- If someone contacts you offering to help recover this, they are
a thief. They monitor for exactly this situation.
Sections 4 and 6 do more work than they look like they should. The most common way inherited crypto is lost is not the heirs failing to find it — it is the heirs finding it, panicking, and handing the words to the first person who offers to help.
Write it for the person who will actually read it
- No jargon. Not “seed”, “cold storage”, “derivation path” or “self-custody” without explaining them in the same sentence.
- Name the physical objects. “A small grey metal plate in a brown envelope in the filing cabinet” beats “the backup”.
- Say what it is worth. People discard things whose value they cannot estimate.
- Number the steps, in order, with nothing assumed between them.
- Say what is normal. “The device will ask for a PIN. This is expected.” Fear of doing damage stops people cold.
- Date it, and re-date it whenever anything changes.
The dry run
The only way to know the document works is to watch someone use it.
Create a wallet holding a trivial amount, write instructions for that wallet, hand them to the person who will one day do this for real, and leave the room. Do not help. Do not answer questions. Note every point at which they stop.
They will get stuck, and the sticking points are always mundane: a word nobody can read, a step that assumed knowledge, a device nobody could turn on, an app that had changed its name. Every one of those would have been fatal in the real event, and each takes ten minutes to fix now.
Keeping it alive
An inheritance plan describing a setup you abandoned two years ago fails as completely as no plan. Review it whenever you add a wallet, change devices, add a passphrase, move a backup, or when a named person’s circumstances change. An annual look at the date on the document is enough for most people.
And tell someone it exists. A perfectly written, perfectly stored, perfectly current set of instructions that nobody knows about protects nothing at all.