What Happens to One's Bitcoin if Death Occurs?

[romero121]

My wife and Eldest Son already has the share for my private keys so in case of unexpected death then they can share the keys and will take all my funds for their uses when I'm gone.

Does that mean you've shared the private keys with your wife and kid or you've shared part of the key with your wife and part of the key with your kid. So that in case of unexpected death one cannot take control of the entire holdings. Both needs to mutually agree and only then the wallet will be accessible. I don't know in what aspect you mentioned the word "share". However this gave me think of a better way to keep the private key safe in case there are two kids person to share ones holding.

[Rikafip]

And I feel sorry that there are people who have nobody in their lives they can trust with access to their money.

While I understand that there are people who don't have anyone they trust enough to share something like seed phrase/private key due life circumstances (no parents, wife, kids, siblings etc), the thing that baffles me is when I hear that people don't even trust their own wives when it comes to that. If you can't trust your wife with something like that, why would you even stay married with that person in the first place? Yeah I know that many people got rekt by their spouses, but more often than not it's a matter of a bad character judgement.

Also my problem is that no one in my family is involved into crypto but only me.

Why is that a problem? Inserting seed phrase is not a rocket science and anyone can do it provided that you left them instructions how to do it. My wife & parents know nothing about how crypto works so they have clear instructions what to do in case something happens.

[virasog]

Several threads have been raised on the forum regarding this topic already, always make use of the search engine for relevant posts.

What happens to my bitcoin if i die today?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5284708.0

We make a plan bit heaven has it own
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5386921.0

What happens to the coins after your death?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5346148.0

What happens to my crypto when I die?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3080695.0

While in my own opinion, i will advise for adequate plan which start now, no one knows tomorrow but we all plan for good ahead, take control measures to ensure a proper pick up of your crypto keys by your immediate family anytime death occurs, make something worth traceable to locate having access to your wallet by your wife, child or family.

Even though this has been discussed many times before but there is no perfect solution to this. You may share your private key to someone you trust. It could be your best friend, any relative or your wife, children or siblings. But there is a risk that comes with this. If your relationship gets wrong with any one of the above, they could misuse your coins and spend it or transfer it to themselves.

[Uang_kartal]

indeed we always hope for long life, it's true what you said when fate said otherwise, one of the examples you mentioned, this is like turning a situation around giving space to think in the form of anticipation. especially if almost all of the investment is in cryptocurrencies. Don't let things be possible It's natural to happen but it's too hard to say. I think that step by step is a good enough preparation for personal use, but if an institution or legal representative has to intervene, especially since this is an asset in inheritance that must be distributed according to the rights of the heirs, this becomes a new experience when friends above mentioned that there are institutions that facilitate and regulate this outpouring of funds, it is very good like other exchanges and management. Indeed, this seems ridiculous but must be prepared for those who fully invest in cryptocurrencies.
Indeed, there is no safe system, but when we feel a gap, it is so safe to open it

[Issa56]

1) Let at least one trusted individual know your password. It's difficult to get such person but it is better than loosing your investment's.

I know lot's of people have been looking for ways to make their family members benefit from their crypto investments after their death but am not in support with your first idea, I think that's completely wrong, you don't have to trust anybody with your private key, maybe is the person that you trust will be the one that will steal from you even before you die.

[lovesmayfamilis]

If you are worried that your bitcoins may one day be lost if death will overtake you, then everything is very simple. Tell about them. Do you have close people? People you could trust and show how to handle your wallet. If you do not trust anyone now, and there are no people around you, then why worry about what will happen after your death?
If you do not trust anyone right now, nothing should bother you, since you are a very lonely person.

[qwertyup23]

Private key is access to your Bitcoin. So make sure you do have back up for private key of your wallet. Depends on wallet you use, it can be either private key or mnemonic seed. You must back it up and have a few backups for recovery later.

Recovery can be done by you or your family members (in case you pass away unfortunately). Of course if you prepare for sudden accidents and have clear idea on who will inherit your Bitcoin, you should let them know about what they should do in case you die.

This should actually conclude what OP is asking on his question.

Generally speaking, your wallet contains your private keys in which only you shall have access. In the event of an unfortunate death, the wallet can be accessed but the BTCs inside cannot be transferred from one wallet to another without providing your private keys/passwords. In order to remedy this problem, the only way could be by providing your wallet information to your most trusted friend and/or family member so they could keep it in trust or as an extra measure of security.

There are tons of wallets with a few number of BTCs inside. Unfortunately, there is no way for it to be recovered or to be transferred if the owner of such wallet did not disclose its private key to another fellow member.

[Eternad]

I know lot's of people have been looking for ways to make their family members benefit from their crypto investments after their death but am not in support with your first idea, I think that's completely wrong, you don't have to trust anybody with your private key, maybe is the person that you trust will be the one that will steal from you even before you die.

Your wife or husband can definitely save and secure it, we need to trust someone or an entity to secure our investment. Some rich people might put it in their will or in their safe that can only be access when the family member is already dead. There are more ways now to know bow to access an account, if you don’t trust yet anyone then having a safe that is registered only in your name can be an option like how insurance works too. But it’s better to tell it to someone you trust to guide them how since there’s no really point in investing for the future more if we don’t share or save it for the family.

[AakZaki]

I find threads like this very often. Bitcoin becomes an inherited asset that will be transferred to someone else when the owner dies. There are many ways to do this other than what you mentioned.
The most important thing is to choose who will be the legal heirs and really trusted and where to store the private key safely and can be accessed by the inheritors. Some banks have also provided Safe Deposit Boxes which will be useful for storing documents containing private keys, but with a storage fee that must be borne every year. the most important thing is to keep it safe and accessible.

[Leviathan.007]

That's an old topic that has been discussed many times even here on the forum, I think as the OP said you may have many options to chose for your coins after death, however even after all these options I guess many people prefer to do not share anything from their wallet for the inheritance, that would be a reason to say why some bitcoins maybe lose during years, there will be maybe thousands of bitcoins belong to people who passed out and their children do not have access to their assets yet.

[Alisha-k]

Nobody wants to die, but death is inevitable and sometimes unpredictable. I had a friend that was robbed and killed. His family couldn't have access to his Bitcoin account because nobody knew his password or even his email. It became extremely difficult because the armed robbers stole his laptop and phone. Currently his wife and son are suffering because he invested heavily on cryptocurrencies.

Data analyst believe that only one in four people share thier password with others. They also say that between 2.3 million and 3.7 million bitcoins amouting to over $15 to $24 billion have been lost due to disappearance of owners mainly caused by death.

Financial Analyst has advised the following:

1) Let at least one trusted individual know your password. It's difficult to get such person but it is better than loosing your investment's.

2) Write it and keep it in a vault. Although it's risky but at least it's more preferable.

3) Include your crypto investments in a will.

4) Use wallets that have inheritance plans.

5) Seek advice from cryto inheritance firms.

The conclusion is keep your Bitcoin secure, but accessible.


https://www.death.io/what-happens-to-your-cryptocurrency-after-you-die/

no one plans his death either, we know not what would become of us in the next second.
They're trusted persons everywhere it may be difficult to handpick them but it's easier if we can discern.

Most of the times, we find it difficult not because good and trusted persons aren't around us, but because we do not trust ourselves, and if we do not have trust in our selves, there's no tendency that they'll be trust for the people around us.

For persons with trust issues though, it's best to include your private keys in your wallet.

[Dunamisx]

letting your children know the number of shares needed to recover the seed phrase, and give each children one share and you will have one too.

Using shamir secret sharing Is a good option but sharing the access to the recovery phrase to each of the children isn't advisible as for me, consider having 4 children and given all of them a single share to the recovery phrase knowing fully how children can be careless in handling things, secondly one of the children might develop a serious misunderstandings among themselves and decided to hurt each other at their disposition and knowing fully that they all have the secret share to access their father's wallet, things might definitely go wrong here.

I will suggest the father having one share with him and another with the eldest son and thirdly another set to his diary which is only accessible to him except when he dies then the family can access it.

[Charles-Tim]

Using shamir secret sharing Is a good option but sharing the access to the recovery phrase to each of the children isn't advisible as for me

Nothing like giving a single seed phrase to all the children, if given all the children, anyone among them that is fast enough can spend the coins controlled by the keys of the seed phrase, so that is not making any sense at all. Sharmir secret sharing is an encryption method that encrypt the seed phrase into M-of-N secrets for example. The M (shares needed for decryption) is needed to decrypt the seed phrase while the N is the total number of the secrets. Assuming you have 4 children and including you, making 5. You can make the secrets to be 5, which is N, while only 4 among the 5 secrets is enough to decrypt the seed phrase which is M, which means 4-of-5 secrets. Assuming, if anything happens to two people among the 5, you can get a means 3 of the children will be able to access your own share of the secrets to reconstruct the seed phrase. And to make the recovery easier, you can go for 3-of-5, which means 3 shares from 5 secretsnwill be needed to decrypt the seed phrase.

[stomachgrowls]

Private key is access to your Bitcoin. So make sure you do have back up for private key of your wallet. Depends on wallet you use, it can be either private key or mnemonic seed. You must back it up and have a few backups for recovery later.

Recovery can be done by you or your family members (in case you pass away unfortunately). Of course if you prepare for sudden accidents and have clear idea on who will inherit your Bitcoin, you should let them know about what they should do in case you die.

Whenever we do talk about passing away and talking about inheritance then this one would be most suggested imho.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5180850.0

Using Locktime for inheritance planning, backups or gifts

This one is much more better rather than setting up some will or letting family members completely of privatekey or seed.

[TribalBob]

no one knows exactly when we will die, as much as possible if we have assets in the form of crypto at least make a will for the family in the form of a letter that is deposited with our attorney, without having to open the contents of the letter

that's all my advice and i applied it already

[yazher]

The best thing to do is not to tell anyone about it directly in straightway rather you just need to give them some clue before passing away, it's up to them whether they can solve it or not. after all, this is your own money and you are the one who works for it. telling them right now will result in some kind of treacherous behavior that you don't want to see when you are still alive. That's the reality when they heard about bitcoins, they will assume you have a huge amount of it and will try to get it from you in any way they know. Only a rare case is exempted with this and they are the ones who loved you unconditionally and willing to take care of you.

[romero121]

My wife and Eldest Son already has the share for my private keys so in case of unexpected death then they can share the keys and will take all my funds for their uses when I'm gone.

Does that mean you've shared the private keys with your wife and kid or you've shared part of the key with your wife and part of the key with your kid. So that in case of unexpected death one cannot take control of the entire holdings. Both needs to mutually agree and only then the wallet will be accessible. I don't know in what aspect you mentioned the word "share". However this gave me think of a better way to keep the private key safe in case there are two kids person to share ones holding.

Are you thinking of splitting the private key into 2 or 3 parts and then giving them to people you trust?. I mean each one will keep a small part of your private key. and only when those two sit together can access the inheritance you leave. This will be avoided if anyone with greed cannot access and take that part of the inheritance for themselves.

Yes, doing so the owner can easily divide the holdings between number of people who he wish to give. Even without accessing the wallet it is possible to know the holdings within the wallet. Inherits can view the holdings, divide it between them and use the private key for transaction purpose. This is simple and it is also easier way to safeguard the private key, being short none thinks it as private key.

[Wexnident]

Yes, doing so the owner can easily divide the holdings between number of people who he wish to give. Even without accessing the wallet it is possible to know the holdings within the wallet. Inherits can view the holdings, divide it between them and use the private key for transaction purpose. This is simple and it is also easier way to safeguard the private key, being short none thinks it as private key.

But, let's just say, for instance, one of the key holders was to be met with an accident, won't the key be permanently lost then? Maybe create a method where the key would be given completely when one of the two (or more) holders were to die? Or is there a better way to circumvent that? In that case wouldn't it be better to let a third party manage an encoded key, and leave maybe a program that could decode the key to the owners. When the time comes, the third party would split the code to how many people there are so that even if one (or more) are gone, they'd still get the full key to access the wallet.

[worle1bm]

As it is said your lost coins only make the other's more expensive because the supply automatically get reduced from 21 million with these lost coins and the demand for it will increase the prices automatically.But i would say let some trusted person know you hold bitcoin and give them access to your seed phrases or wallets storing your bitcoins so that they can use it as financial help after you are gone.There are some individuals who have not done this but according to me our family should inherit it if we have not used it.What's the fun if you simply waste them? So make some wise moves with sharing the details with only trusted person.

[adzino]

The only way your bitcoin won't be lost after your death is to share the seed or the key with someone you really. But once you do that, you no longer are the only owner of the coins. You both own the coins. You have to either give up your keys or you have to take your bitcoin with you to the grave.

-snipe-
3) Include your crypto investments in a will.

4) Use wallets that have inheritance plans.
-snipe-

3. How does that work? You mean share with more people your seed or keys?

4. Never heard of any such "decentralized" wallet.