Bitcoin and Heritage

[bitbunnny]

If no one knows that this person has Bitcoins then is the problem, there will be forgotten. If people know but they don't have access to wallet then is problem again. If there is some kind of issue with this person legacy and heritage I don't know how lawyers would manage to handle this since Bitcoin is not regulated in many countries. This is the good question since Bitcoin is not like other property.

[Mometaskers]

Yeah that is definitely a tough situation. I guess at that point the total pool of Bitcoin that will ever be in existence shrank. Bitcoin causes so many interesting questions like this. It is definitely nice to have a third party that can handle fringe cases like this but that is what happens. Total control over your money is a double edged sword!

Just as we are condemned to be free dear, sigh.

Just like what everyone here has said, make proper estate planning. That's much more important in bitcoin than in other traditional assets where it's easy for them to be traced back to the owner (with the government more than happy to help )  So leave whatever necessary information there is for your family to be able to get your bits. On the plus side, unless they cash out, the government would probably have no idea the money changed hands (especially in countries with weak law implementation).

There can be many ways to solve this situation. You could entrust your bitcoins to your lawyer so he will release them to your family in case of your death or illness. You could also build some dead man's switch that will give your private key to your relatives. For example you could build a smart contract that would require you to enter some password once per month or per week, and if you will fail, your private keys would be released to your family.

Now that's interesting. I've always thought that it would be nice for things to be released after death but I had no idea it's already being used.
How is it done? Do you like sign-up for a service, enter a password at regular intervals and if you don't they show up outside your house?

[LeGaulois]

The ideal is to hide your keys and toencrypt in the way that only your family members can find and decode them (to do with accuracy and without spending months), and this only after your death.

[wh04m1]

There can be many ways to solve this situation. You could entrust your bitcoins to your lawyer so he will release them to your family in case of your death or illness. You could also build some dead man's switch that will give your private key to your relatives. For example you could build a smart contract that would require you to enter some password once per month or per week, and if you will fail, your private keys would be released to your family.

This is a wise method. Such a system can be installed instead of storing private keys in the bank. If a person does not have enough knowledge to set up such a system, he can keep it in private strongbox of banks.

It can also store private keys on software or hardware that it will create. Relatives can access this equipment. And, as you said, special keys are accessible if you do not enter the password for 1 week.

This and similar applications can be done. Bitcoin is also creating different business opportunities at the same time

[countryfree]

It's very easy. It happens all the time. You leave a will in a sealed envelope at a lawyer, with instructions regarding your BTC in it.
You may also rent a safety box in a Swiss bank to store (to hide) an USB key.

[cryptoblazter]

Normally, after the person is kill, the wealth remains with the family. It is easy to share assets such as houses and cars. But what if the property of the person is bitcoin? What if the deceased person is not saying the seed words?

What solution can be applied to this?

This might gonna be a big problem if you saved lot of bitcoin in your storage wallet then all of a sudden you die in unexpected moment in time. I think You can save all the information about the password in whatever wallet do you use just keep the seed words, or the private key, instruction how to do it, from withdrawing it going to transfer into a real currency/money.

[xuan87]

Normally, after the person is kill, the wealth remains with the family. It is easy to share assets such as houses and cars. But what if the property of the person is bitcoin? What if the deceased person is not saying the seed words?

What solution can be applied to this?

No solution can be applied, when you don't know the private key for the account, it will remained sealed forever, for now, it is still to difficult to brute force to crack the account, and I doubt there will be a way for crack the account, so in this case you better forget that you got heritage

[calkob]

Normally, after the person is kill, the wealth remains with the family. It is easy to share assets such as houses and cars. But what if the property of the person is bitcoin? What if the deceased person is not saying the seed words?

What solution can be applied to this?

This is a really good point which i thought about myself awhile back.  this is why i told my son where my paper wallets are and how he can you a mobile app to move the bitcoin.  everynow and again i test him on what he should do if he needed to get to the bitcoin and he remembers, so at least someone can get them,  i would say in the future this will be a problem.