Bitcoin Forum

what can i do to make sure, that after my death my loved ones can inherit my bitcoin?
and only after my death and not before. so giving them my privatkey now is not an option.

Make a will with clues on how to obtain instructions to uncover the private keys. Leave instructions teaching how to spend them and/or pointing to them... I guess that's pretty much it.

Rent a deposit box in your bank and in will of bank write name of your loved one so that he can claim all money you have in your bank and also deposit box there in which you can put bitcoin paper wallet as well as instructions on how to get that bitcoin in form of cash in hand because many are still new on using bitcoin.

Better to give those passwords of your wallet to your family first before you die. . or always give those gift and make a note to your table one you die they can read the note for your bitcoins to use from your inherit after you die..

Well, if your loved ones are not very tech-savvy then I would just safely print your private keys and put them on a safe place like a trezor or a lock box. You can put it to an other place which only they could know and give them a hint in your last will. And more important, but a tutorial to the keys about how to access the Bitcoins by importing it to a wallet client.

i am not a big fan of being dependent on banks, so i would prefer a method without the involvement of a bank.
also i do not want to put it in plain in my will, but making clues and hoping they will guess it right is kind of not what i am looking for.
i am sure there is a cool and easy solution to this problem.

i think just give them your private keys and then show them how to use it and when you will die they will be able to use those bitcoins

I think better to inform them earlier so that they know about it because if they are not know about that your bitcoin will be die too in that wallet..

you can appoint a trustee, and give him half of key and other half give your loved ones.
Or better way, buy a safe and lock down your private keys there, and use safe key as a necklace. so they can open the safe only when you die! 

All of these require trust...


This isn't a bad idea, indeed :)

Yeah, this is exactly what I was thinking.  OP, make up a will, that's like the first step.  I've been thinking of much the same thing lately, not just for the little bitcoin I own, but stocks and everything else.  It's definitely a good thing to do, whatever your age is.  You never know when you're going to get hit by a truck and served up as road pizza, and then your relatives have to duke it out in probate court and whatnot.  It could get ugly.

I think wills only cost a few hundred dollars to be drawn up.  It's not a bad deal.

Your bitcoins are actually your private key/s. Now how do you decide to share that with your loved ones is upto you. You can share that before your death or after death, you can share the paper keys (keys printed on a paper) - for generating paper keys go to bitcoinaddress.org, generate paper wallet and take a print of that. Send your bitcoin to the public key/ bitcoin address given in the wallet and share the private key with your loved ones.

If he does that, his family will be aware of his funds and they will spend it.

Anyone with your private key can spend your coins.

This is my point exactly! I will not give them my private key as long as i am alive. i do trust them and it is not much (so far), but this is out of the question.
I also do not want to write the key plainly in the will. You can call me crazy, but things happen and i do not think this is a safe way to handle this situation.

I am sure there are some smart people out here who have the perfect answer to my question.

You can set up a server that requires an email sent to it every month before it will email your family members with instructions and the private key.

Possibly could make it a smart contract maybe?

You could talk to a good probate attorney and set up a will. Put your bitcoin in a hardware wallet like Trezor and give the seed to the attorney for secure storage, along with instructions on how to recover the seed to a new Trezor in case of death. The seed itself would not be in the will but held separately by the attorney in trust. No attorney I have ever worked with would risk disbarment and jail time by stealing your funds.

I haven't thought about this situation but I would probably write down the account details for the web wallet, the 2FA how it works and how to use it, the hardware wallet how to a video in my HDD or hosted on google drive, and if it is a paper wallet just the private key. If they could not know even after this explanation I would suggest them to ask a friend or someone who knows to use bitcoin.

Pity that you don't like my previously suggestions)
You can make easy. Right down an e-mail with everything and put timer 1 week (1 month .etc) on it. And if you are dont die in this 1 week (......) you just put a new date of sending.      

I do not want to give them to many instructions on how to use the bitcoin or my private key. if they can not figure this out on their own, then they do not deserve the bitcoin.
also i am not using a web wallet for this.


the safe and key necklace is one of the better choices but i prefer e-mail or smart contract one so far.
the problem i see with a will and the attorney as a trusty is that i still want to use the bitcoins and so my private key changes from time to time and i would need to adjust my will.
no attorney will want to change it almost daily for free and i will not pay for every change.   

It is consider wealth so their must be a way to create a will regarding how the ones you are leaving it too can obtain them once you pass on.

I only know of USA law:
1st you create a will (attorney's hold that will until you die, your will will be filed in Probate Court as well (unless you do it privately then the court portion doesn't apply) if atty is no longer in business or living, then whomever they appoint to guard their papers will have your will until you die.

You do not need to list the private keys in your will, only you wish to leave XXXX with your Bitcoins XXXX.  As for changing your private keys from time to time-those should be stored from time to time by you (to easily be found in the event of your death) these do not have to be updated constantly on a will.

If you think someone is going to go into your personal paper files at home, looking for your BTC keys, then you should reconsider the company you keep  :-\

First make sure your family know about bitcoin and teach them how to use offline wallet.Now secure your bitcoin with any offline wallet with proper backup.Write down private key or password on a paper with all instructions and put it in a bank locker.Your nominee will get access to it after your death

Store a paper with the private keys somewhere safe or for safety reasons, make clues and steps how to get your private key. And if you want to pass your Bitcoins to someone who does not know about it, write instructuons on how to use it, transfer to fiat and how to set up a wallet and of course, how to import the private key.

The only way I can think is to make a letter with your bit account and password and a brief explanation of what you left. Hide it somewhere, uhh safe.

Hmmm, this is a serious issue that everyone should actually b thinking of because no one knows. I will want to learn from here and see if its applicable to my situation then apply it accordingly...

If you don't trust your family, you could consider using time locks.
I am not familiar with the concept, but you can transfer coins to your loved ones after a period of time.

not a bad idea, but i would need to have the possibility of an instant excess to my funds while i am still alive. maybe with some kind of master password. i should look further into this.

Perhaps making a will with a password to a zip file or something encrypted with your family, and storing the key or password away with your lawyer and the wallet with your loved ones.

After reading opening post I am under the impression that Op doesn't trust his family at all.
If that was the case the why he would just tell them: "that this is my private key, when I am gone use it as you like"

It is good thing that you can write down your private keys and include it as appendix to your last will.

You do have to make sure that your will is sealed and secure.
Plus once you die, those who execute the will have to be absolutely trustworthy.

i do not know my time of death, so i will use my coin and change my private key an a regular basis. it is not practical to change my sealed and secured will every time. this is a problem.

Its not a good thing that you always change your private key for me better to make a permanent private key and put it them in notes hide it or give them to your trusted family and say that dont open it if i still alive.. open it when i died..
Or you can set your computer with automated program that will pop up in front of the laptop that can see from anyone about telling the story and put the private key and how they can redeem it..

Wrote down your private keys,online wallets, username,password where you putted all your Bitcoins, if you want to store it in paper wallet or online wallet and put it into a safe and don't forget to put instructions precisely and easy to understand on how to use and how to get those Bitcoins in their respective storage because for sure they would be confuse especially if they're not tech savvy so that in the moment you die the you can tell them about the safe where you put all your Bitcoin holdings.

and if they are not around in the moment i die? or when i die so fast and unexpected like in a car crash? if i tell them before how can i prevent them to clear the safe before i die?

I would save the keys, and detailed instructions on a USB drive.
Put a step by step guide so that someone who has no idea how to use a computer could do it. Don't assume anything. They may need screenshots with arrows pointing to the button they need to press etc.

Then put that USB drive in a fireproof safe, or rent a safe deposit box.
You should leave the USB in your will with instructions who it goes to, but you may want to have a discussion with that person before, so they know what to do with the information when they get it.
Remember how confusing everything was when you were first learning.
Think of the things that you had trouble with when you started.

Aren't there attorneys who execute wills like in this case ? I am sure you should be able to put in all that info inside a letter and give it to your attorney. They will be legally binded to give your family the will on your death.

This topic put a smile on my face.  Uhm.. I think you must give it to the beneficiary of yours when you feel like dying.  It would be hard for them to understand about bitcoins if they are not aware of it.  Worse thing is that they might think that it is not really something valueable.  But if you insist on doing this you could write it on your last will and testament and then told your lawyer about it.  Meanwhile, train or introduce that person who will inherit your bitcoins to bitcoins.  Make him or her familiar with it.

The question is how to transfer your bitcoins securely to your heirs.
Putting it in your will and telling your lawyer won't solve the problem. How will your heirs actually access your bitcoins?

If you are low tech style and keep a copy of your keys written down then write a letter to your loved ones with step by step instructions and keys, and keep it in the same place. No greater risk that you are already taking. Of course if the place will not be found when you die, thats a problem ;-)

A more flexible approach could be to give them the password to an encrypted drive which will be found when you die. This has instructions/keys but you dont need to tell them that its BTC related now if you dont want to. They have to steal the drive to rob you of the coins....and if thats a consideration then why leave them anything! Help the BTC community with a little extra price inflation!

I also wouldnt be surprised if some of the secure BTC storage providers like Xapo or the like have a related service? If you have registered the account with ID etc then it should transfer to the heir and you can leave instructions in the will without mentioning too many details or keys etc? Just say I have an account with xxxx and all funds pass to xxxxx?

I agree with everyone else - talk to your attorney and make sure to clearly indicate this in your will.  You are going to have to give the keys to someone so they can properly access it if god forbid something should happen to you.

Makes me think also to give bitcoin as inheritance.  I think you could just write it on a journal about your email address, password for your bitcoin wallet.  And then wrap it up with the tag "Do not open until I die" then the name of the person who will inherit your bitcoins. :D  But if you want it to be more legal, you could ask some attorney and have your last will and testament. 

Thank you very much OP for giving such a good ideas,

I think it is better to keep all the wallets records in a pendrive with full details in a notepad, apart from that you can create a book with full details about how to use the bitcoin wallets and procedures of using bitcoin online and how to convert it to fiat currency. Like this you can keep all records in any safe place or in bank lockers and give instructions to bank  or your lawyers about the will of the bank locker details like this they will get all details about your bitcoin and they will take benefit of your hardwork after you are died

so i was thinking a bit about different solutions and there i one question that i would like your opinion on.
what time span should it take to redeem the coins once i am dead or go missing (i know that there are laws on that, but forget about that)?

Since you dont want to consider laws related to inheritance then your coins could be immediately accessed,used,redeemed or can be put to whatever use your heirs want to put them at.There's no maximum or minimum time limit

As opposed to renting a safe deposit box at the bank to store your wallet information, many banks offer a 'secure document' or 'secure packet' service where they only store an a4 envelope of documents for you at a much cheaper cost. You can use this service to store details of your wallet information, but also copies of your Will, any power of attorney documents, your passport and your insurance policies as well.
You could then leave this packet to your heir in the event of death, or alternatively you can arrange for your heir to be able to sign the packet in and out of the bank by themselves - this might not always be the best option, but if you've got unconditional trust with the heir (for example, my wife can sign out my packet, but we also have joint bank accounts and live together so it's not like she wouldn't have access to my information or assets anyway!).

yes, i want to put the laws aside for this question. and that is why there is no minimum or maximum time limit. for me this begs the question if there should be a time limit.
here is why. my hires fake the death certificate, take the coin and off to mexico. maybe i get imprisoned or kidnapped and the do not hear from me for maybe a month. they assume i am dead and want to cash out and when i am back the money is gone. on the other hand i might want them to have access to money in case i am imprisoned or kidnapped and need help.
so i was wandering what is a good amount of time where the coins are frozen.

i think leaving clues and telling your loved ones or love one the tricks and educating them about bitcoins will help you in more than one ways and you can simply tell them about bitcoins and how to use them after you die and good luck for your future

So you want your loved ones to be Sherlock before they have the bitcoins they have inherited? ;D  I agree with educating them about bitcoins because they will not just have the bitcoins but they will learn and know how to grow it more.  Through that they will be able to make a living out of the inherited bitcoins.

i think you should writhe your wallet key and keep it will your well and should also write the instruction about your bitcoin that how to distribute or use it after your death, i think it is not such a difficult thing to do.

yes i am also agree with you  that if you want to pass on your bitcoins in case you die, you should keep it with your well and your bitcoin can be use by any other person after your death.

pretty easy. let them know the details, as long as you trust them, and away they go. personally I'm not gonna make it official in any will. screw paying any possible inheritance tax. my final bitcoin act is gonna be to use it for what it's intended for - controlling my own money.

Regarding the concern about using the coins but not updating a private key with a lawyer or safe deposit box, this is not a problem if you have a deterministic wallet.  I believe the latest version of bitcoin core will create a deterministic wallet if you don't already have a non-deterministic wallet.  Several other wallet softwares will as well, and I believe all hardware wallets are deterministic.  To be clear, a deterministic wallet is a wallet where each subsequent change (and/or receiving) address can be unlocked from the same root key/password.  In other words, you only need to store the information once, and anytime a wallet is re-generated from it, the remaining coins will be spendable.

Regarding the concern about involving a bank or lawyer in general, it has been a few years, and I have not had any luck finding the service even though I want to, but I once read about a service that stores whatever information you want (I say information, not data, because I believe they store the data in a secured database vs storing individual files, and the service is really meant for passwords and account information) in an electronically secure manner (supposed to be secure from hackers and disasters) for release to designated persons upon your death.  Obviously this would not be a zero-knowledge service, so there would be some third party risk, but in order to do the same thing with a zero-knowledge service and not still involve a third party to protect a password (something you know in 2FA terminology), it would be necessary to secure that service with something you have instead or as well.  Unfortunately, I don't think I've ever seen anything secured with zero-knowledge using something you have for security.

Just tell them about your bitcoin account, your password and other important information that is connected to your bitcoin account simple as that. And it's better if you'll tell them about bitcoin as well in this case they will be familiar with it and they won't have any hard time for them if the time comes that they are the one who are gonna use your bitcoin account.

The only thing that i can suggest to you is to inform one of you family member just choose trusted one so that your bitcoin is safe while you are collecting bitcoin and saving it for a long time. one you have die just make sure you make already automated note in your pc welcome note or sign that the one who trusted members in your family can remember what you have said to him or her.

I have heard of someone stealing lots of bitcoins and distributing them, the thief created a transaction that sends all the coins to 1BitcoinEaterAddressDontSendf59kuE after a certain block number. You could have your hair create a wallet, set up a similar transaction for your coins (set to a couple of months) that sends them to your hair, if the block is approaching and you are still alive, send all your coins to a new address and set up a similar transaction. Unless your hair is tech-savvy, it is unlikely he/she will even know about it until the coins show up.

Try to select for a trusted person in your home and tell him about the details of your bitcoins so after you he will be able to get your bitcoins and will be able to take benefit of that otherwise your bitcoins will die with you.

I think this answer is repeat many times here and i think its  a common way but how about if you dont have a  family how you can save your bitcoins and give them for your family in the future? it will save for a long time.. thats why i think the price of bitcoin will not go down because of this if there is a investors died when they are invest a lot in bitcoin they can not get those money back.

yes, every other answer is useless and/or mentioned already, but this is simply how this forum works. all in all there seems to be not one perfect solution but many. depending on your exact situation one solution might be better then the other. 

I guess you should leave all your credentials and your private key details of your  cold wallet if you have.
perhaps a smart contract ethereum there are many possibilities but the easiest thing to my mind is your private key.
besides having a safe place to prevent the person you don't want steal your funds

and for that he also have to give the complete details of access to the wallet of his to the person which he will want to distribute his bitcoins after his death but you believe it is hard for to give our info to someone.

you can write the access key to your account and mention the person to whom you like to transfer your bitcoin wallet key and keep it with your well and when you  will pass away your account will be transfer to the person who declare that he si the best person.

If you leave your private keys lying around, your bitcoins will reach those who find them first. You can't be sure that nobody except the rightful heir will access your will.

The only answer I can think of to this Op's curiosity is to show them how to go about it I mean your closest person, I am sure that person will also want to get involved because I don't see anyone who doesn't want to make extra income in apassive way and Bitcoin surely provides that. But if you don't want that another way to go is to to a pre-recorded video of a step by step approach to gain access toyour coins  kept in your safe location which can only be found after your demise.

but i think you have no other option, you must leaver your access key to some one and that is the only way, if you have trust on the person to whom you like to give your account access after your death then you can also give him in advance.

i think you should write a well and should provide your wallet information  in that well, through this way you can really transfer your bitcoins information to the person who you consider more suitable for your account after your death.

yes that is right but i thin through this way there always a chance for other to get that key after your death if the person is away and he need some time to reach to get the well, but it is also a fact that you do not have any other option you have to take the risk.

Can I share someone my information about bitcoin wallet and how can I do it? Is it permited that two people use the same bitcoin wallet or not?

Or maybe just write a code to send all the bitcoins when you get die to your friend/brother/cousin anyone to whom you want to send your bitcoins. Like in the code write that if you don't login your wallet from 5 days or so (Or you set limit) after that time the code will get activated and sends the bitcoins to your relatives? Sounds good but you need some really hard work. 8) ;D

but how can you know that when will  you die and perhaps you remain busy in so other activities for a long time and your money transfer to the person then what will you do, and the other point that is there any option available in bitcoin to transfer your bitcoin to some one else using a code system and i personally even do not know about such kind of system.

he can keep his private key in his private cupboard and have to mention about that to his descendants to open there about his bitcoin after his death so if he keep locked the cupboard then no one will access to it and after his death they will be able to get the keys to cupboard and so on.

i think very simple you can pass on the secret key to the person to whom you want to give your bitcoins after you die.

i think you can give the secret code to the person tho whom you want to transfer your bitcoin and hope that it will not be so much difficult job.

you can pass your bitcoins to the person in case you die, through making a well in which you can mention the name of the person to whom you want to transfer you bitcoin after your death.

You can to with your wallet absolutely whatever you want. I am talking about standard software wallets - not online wallets - as they might have some ridiculous ToS.
Bitcoin has not such limitation as for example bank account, where in some cases you are the owner and no one else can use it.

If you want to share a wallet with someone just send him/her a copy of your private keys.

Hm, that an interesting question. I still think about private key as the best option. You can just write in down in your will and hide the will somewhere till you feel like it's close to dying or you may say where your will is to one of your beloved ones but not say that there is a private key there.

According to me, the best way to pass your bitcoin in case you die is to write down your private key in your testament. I know using private key is not your option but i think this is the most effective way up to now. Think about that. No one can even touch your bitcoin until you die. 

Others have mentioned a will and that is a good idea. But consider putting the private key and detailed instructions in a safe deposit box and then reference that safe deposit box in the will rather than giving the private key or clues to the private key in the will.

Yes, it's a good idea. Just write all your passwords, keys detailed on a notebook and keep it safe in a place where just who will get your heritage can have access. Maybe a bank or a safe box. Or give it to your family members, so they can use your BTCs if you unfortunelly die.  :(

making a will and store your coins in a paper wallet or something like that  and lock it in a bank locker and make your trusted member you are willing to share your bitcoin in case of your untimely death as your nominee ,this is the best option i could come up with  :)

First of all when you write or do something like this that your bitcoins will be sent to someone after a time period you should be aware and careful to login your wallet once in a week if you have set the time limit to a week, however you just simply increase the time limit. +It will be an automatic procedure when you don't login the code will get activated and sends the money to the desired address which you putted in the code. It take a few minutes to login your wallet so why not?

yes that is right to say, but if you are giving it to some one in advance then there is a chance that he may use his private key in advance. i think the best option will be to write the key on a paper and then keep it in a safe place and write a well in which he will give some clue to a person whom he want to use his key after his death, so this way his key will be safe.

Thats a good question.
Well, for me i would hire an attorney and instruct him/her how to open and transfer my bitcoins in case of accident. I will give my private keys to the attorney and let him/her distribute my bitcoins to my family and loved ones.

OP here.
five pages later i have heard maybe 1 or 2 good answers. and quite often the same ones that i do not want. i do not want to give private keys to my loved ones yet. also i do not want to give private keys to an attorney. even if i would trust them, i would have to change it from time to time as i change my wallet from time to time.

I think making a will is a good option. Alternatively you can transfer your all bitcoins to secure paper wallet and keep that wallet in bank lockers and then you will be able to appoint or nominate your legal nominee to transfer your property in case of your death. Your bank will take care of your paper wallet (make sure you are choosing a right bank) and will transfer your paper wallet to your nominee after your death.

I think, to write a will and put Everything about rights of access to the digital currencies in a secure deposit box will be the right choice.

Maybe you should give your bitcoin wallet password to families who want to give you heritage. That's the only thing you can do because you can access the bitcoin is you yourself who has the password bitcoin wallet. I think it's just nothing you can do if you want to give to your family heritage bitcoin and nothing could be done.

yes i have heard this a lot in this thread and as i mentioned many times this is not the way i want to do it.
i got a few good ideas, but since nothing new is coming i am going to close this one. thanks for the advice.