Halloween inspired poll –would your Bitcoins get passed on if you suddenly died?

[DdmrDdmr]

Recurrently, we discuss on methods to store our Bitcoins/Sats (et al), and how we would pass them on in case we kicked the bucket right now, on-the-spot.

I’m not specifically interested here on discovering the different conceptual plans each one has, but rather to toy around with the scenario of suddenly passing away. Let’s be honest, people make plans in their minds, but many less actually have those contingency plans developed and tested, to the level that one is confident that their heirs will actually be able to access their Bitcoins.

Another completely (yet related) question would be, whether they would not only manage to access them, but to keep them in custody, move them, sell them without messing-up, but I’m merely focusing on being able to access them here, staying in disposition to do whatever with them at a later stage.

So the basic question in the poll is not about what you have in mind, but of what would really happen if you suddenly passed away right now…

Note1: The proximity of Halloween retriggered the question in my mind today, alongside this thread: What happens to my bitcoin if I die today?  

Note2: select the closest percentage value from those available in the poll options.

Results (Poll run for 15 days)

[1715589286]

1715589286

[1715589286]

1715589286

[AB de Royse777]

I would really not know what will happen with my coins if I pass away right now even when I am typing this (hopefully I will be able to post this :-P ).

However, I believe I am 90% certain that with the instruction given to two party (both person will need to meet up or exchange the info between them to get the full details), they will be able to figure out the seed to access the coins I have in my cold storage.
 
The coins those I move for my regular business, maybe they will not able to recover them.

[jackg]

I made a topic on this a while ago and I need to get back to syorying this.

At the moment, they'd manage to get half but I used to have a time locked transaction that could execute to my main wallet they'd have access to so that the coins could be spent after an amount of time (eg 10 years).

[2double0]

To be honest (not talking about past but now), I have already given my heirs all the details of my wallets and accounts (except some where I have only kept some satoshis) and if I suddenly die any moment, I am sure that they will be able to access my coins and do whatever they would like to do. I decided to give it to them because I trust them and I don't think I have too long life remaining, so if I die, I won't be taking anything with me and the coins will remain safe with my loved ones.

[AB de Royse777]

At the moment, they'd manage to get half but I used to have a time locked transaction that could execute to my main wallet they'd have access to so that the coins could be spent after an amount of time (eg 10 years).

I never gave much effort to learn the time lock transaction. Assuming before that certain time one can not spend the coins.  Is it even if they know the private key of the address?

To be honest (not talking about past but now), I have already given my heirs all the details of my wallets and accounts (except some where I have only kept some satoshis) and if I suddenly die any moment, I am sure that they will be able to access my coins and do whatever they would like to do. I decided to give it to them because I trust them and I don't think I have too long life remaining, so if I die, I won't be taking anything with me and the coins will remain safe with my loved ones.

I think with bitcoin we overcomplicate things or maybe not. In a regular banking system the beneficiary normally knows you bank details. So can't they take off your money even when you are alive?

For me the fare is that if my next of kin will be able to securely handle the coins I will left.

[sheenshane]

I didn't know how to start the answer, because honestly, I'm not yet ready to die.  But in God's well, if I'm going to pass on, I will make sure my one trusted family will know my valuable account.  Probably tomorrow I will start to think about the best option where can my coins possible to inherit by my heirs.  It might be good if they already know where your most valuable thing where it is stored including my bank account, state, and digital assets, and put into a safety box or vault much better. Keep it there including my private key and wallets account that where my coins stored.

I'd choose, 90%.  However, I didn't how this works but I will try to make such a plan. I think since digital currency or Bitcoin is a part that can be inherited just like a state, much better if we also consult an attorney to seek help and your estate plans.

[2double0]

I never gave much effort to learn the time lock transaction. Assuming before that certain time one can not spend the coins.  Is it even if they know the private key of the address?

Read this - https://bcoin.io/guides/cltv.html

I think with bitcoin we overcomplicate things or maybe not. In a regular banking system the beneficiary normally knows you bank details. So can't they take off your money even when you are alive?

For me the fare is that if my next of kin will be able to securely handle the coins I will left.

I understand your concerns but if I already spend my coins for my family, I don't think they have any reason left to try to 'steal' them behind my back. It seems I trust too much, but I have only given the details to 2 people I blindly trust. The worst is, if they both die with me, then the btc stays in the wallet forever because nobody except them knows about my savings.

[dkbit98]

Spooky but very realistic question in the same time, because nobody knows how long they will live (except in some rear occasions).

To be honest, people in my circle of close friends and family are not interested in Bitcoin and crypto at all, and for some time I was thinking how to write some instructions for them in case I was gone, in coma or dead, but I never managed to make something simple and easy to understand for everyone.

Looks like mission impossible for me when someone is not interested to learn or listen, and even harder to explain with instructions on paper or video.

To conclude, If I go to 'sleep' today, my coins would go to 'sleep' with me.

[AB de Royse777]

Read this - https://bcoin.io/guides/cltv.html

Too much reading and understanding coding which is very hard for me. I hope some day electrum will have the feature so that regular users can execute it with easy visual interface like they had the cancel tx (double spend) in the latest version.

I understand your concerns but if I already spend my coins for my family, I don't think they have any reason left to try to 'steal' them behind my back. It seems I trust too much, but I have only given the details to 2 people I blindly trust. The worst is, if they both die with me, then the btc stays in the wallet forever because nobody except them knows about my savings.

In my case two person are living in two different city so chances are slim unless the world comes to an end I guess.

[2double0]

In my case two person are living in two different city so chances are slim unless the world comes to an end I guess.

But what if they come to know that you went dead and you have already made them aware of your btc by giving them both half codes but would like them to find each other through your instructions instead of telling them about both straight away?

@Op, all in all, the opinions are looking to be more in favor of highly likely that people are certain enough that their loved ones will get the possession of their btc if they die suddenly, compared to a few who are not certain or highly uncertain about their heirs getting it.

[jackg]

At the moment, they'd manage to get half but I used to have a time locked transaction that could execute to my main wallet they'd have access to so that the coins could be spent after an amount of time (eg 10 years).

I never gave much effort to learn the time lock transaction. Assuming before that certain time one can not spend the coins.  Is it even if they know the private key of the address?

No itd just mean someone wouldn't be able to stumble across the transaction and spend it.

The other way is also possible but wasn't something I really wanted as I still want to be able to move my funds if I need to.

[hatshepsut93]

My relatives know that own some amount of coins, and they know that Bitcoin is worth a lot. They will find my wallet seed when they will go through my stuff, so the big question is whether they will able to claim it safely. Worst case scenario is that they will try to do it on their unsecure computers, that might be full of malware, or that they will download a fake wallet. Since they will be googling about how to use Bitcoin, they would likely to get some phishing or malicious results at the top.

But I don't want to teach my family how to get my bitcoins, because I don't really care what happens after I die, and teaching them now would introduce a point of trust, and trust is always a risk.

[yhiaali3]

In fact, I thought about it before and thought of creating a plan so that my inheritors could access my Bitcoin in the event of my death, but I have not done anything yet, so if the death occurs immediately, I am confident that they will not be able to access my coins and it will remain stuck in the wallet forever. So something must be done now before it is too late.

[DeathAngel]

My significant other knows how to access my stash. I think she’d be a bit dumb with how to sell on exchanges but she knows my walletpassphrase & how to open bitcoin core.

Maybe I need to get her set up on some noob exchange like Coinbase.

[harizen]

That thing is on my head for a long time now so I already made a draft about it, at least, on how my family can access my crypto-funds without my consent. I even teach them but none of them are interested and found even the basic sending and withdrawal of bitcoin as a hassle lol (simply, they are not interested to learn atm even they know and see how crypto changes (improved) our life). Fortunately, I'm in a family wherein being greed is not on our vocabulary.

We don't know what will happen tomorrow. As for me, I always have regular trips (as the only person in our family that knows how to drive) and even how good and safety you are in the road, there are some sh*t that will put you on danger. Even at the moment, if I will now sleep for good (but damn, not now lol) I'm sure they can access my funds later on which is good. As for guidance just in case they are in trouble accessing my funds, they know some of my friends that is crypto-oriented. I will just hope none of my friends will do some sh*t to my family (I doubt there will be).

[Mahanton]

I made a topic on this a while ago and I need to get back to syorying this.

At the moment, they'd manage to get half but I used to have a time locked transaction that could execute to my main wallet they'd have access to so that the coins could be spent after an amount of time (eg 10 years).

Im bit interested with that time locked thing where you can able to have access and spent those coins in the time you had set. Would you mind on where i can see step by step time locking up your
 coins for such purpose?
In the poll where i do answered out on 100% for my heirs to get my coins in case i do kick the bucket as of this moment yet i had tell them on how to access my wallet
in case i do pass or will be dead any minute yet we arent holders of our own lives and it can be taken anytime.So its better to tell them rather than making
it complicated which might really be result into lost coins instead of benefiting to those one you loved.

[jackg]

Im bit interested with that time locked thing where you can able to have access and spent those coins in the time you had set. Would you mind on where i can see step by step time locking up your
 coins for such purpose?
In the poll where i do answered out on 100% for my heirs to get my coins in case i do kick the bucket as of this moment yet i had tell them on how to access my wallet
in case i do pass or will be dead any minute yet we arent holders of our own lives and it can be taken anytime.So its better to tell them rather than making
it complicated which might really be result into lost coins instead of benefiting to those one you loved.

Yeah sure! I'll make a post on it tomorrow as it'll take a while to explain and I'll have to remember how to do it .

From what I remember I used a hex editor to change the number and previewed the transaction in electrum but I'll spend some time on it later to make sure I remember (as it requires some conversions).

[squatter]

Yes. There is one trusted person in my life who knows how to recover my bitcoins (or most of them, at least) if I die. Now, if we both die -- in a car crash or something -- I'm not sure. A few family members know that I own bitcoins and I'd like to think one of them would be smart enough to dig through my belongings and put the pieces together if I died, but that's more of a tossup.

Another completely (yet related) question would be, whether they would not only manage to access them, but to keep them in custody, move them, sell them without messing-up

No, and she doesn't want to learn. Women!

We've agreed that she'll contact a family member we mutually trust to help her secure and/or liquidate them.

[favebook]

Huh, a lot of different stories, of all ages (from what I can guess) with a lot of different answers here.

This question came to my mind recently after I came into realization that my Bitcoin as well as other crypto holdings are no longer small.

My mission this year has been to make my whole family as well as close friends learn about Bitcoin, a mission that I have failed to say the least due to COVID and some other complications. However, during next year, I will finish what I started.

My plan is to give every one of them a hardware wallet with "small amount" of BTC for their birthdays and start from there. Then I'd teach them where to sell it as whole (hardware wallet included) and to check how much is it exactly worth so they do not get low-balled.

After that, I'll probably start teaching them how software wallet works, how to send bitcoin, how to cash them out on exchanges and how to store them securely. Most of them are already aware of Bitcoin as it's been about 5 years since I started blabbering about it (and never stopped).

However, as of right now, if I were to die (which I am already ready for in contrary to many here, even though I might be one of the younger here), all my BTC would be lost and that would be a waste to say, but at least I'd be happy laying in ground, knowing that I influenced a future price of BTC as there will be a bit less left in circulation .

[meanwords]

I made a topic on this a while ago and I need to get back to syorying this.

At the moment, they'd manage to get half but I used to have a time locked transaction that could execute to my main wallet they'd have access to so that the coins could be spent after an amount of time (eg 10 years).

I didn't know this is possible. In fact this thing haven't crossed my mind so I'm very thankful for this thread because as of now, the only way I can find a way is to directly tell them and teach them to use cryptocurrency.

But if I were to suddenly die, I've already prepared something in my computer that will help them inherit my cryptocurrencies (assuming that they know how to use my computer).