Showing your seed phrase or wallet password to your next of kin while your alive

[ColdLava40]

It is not safe to let your next of kin know your seed phrase, but you can give him clue about bitcoin, seed phrase, passphrase and other important things, and also let him know where the important information is so that when anything happen, the next of kin can know what to do and where to go. You do not even need to let the person know that it is about bitcoin, when it happens, he will find out himself. I prefer multisig, shamir or time/height lock.

This is something that comes to my mind anytime I hear people talking about time lock in these kind of threads.. What matters the most isn't even passing on the coins to your next of kin but passing on your knowledge of bitcoin to them.

That's because even if you have successfully planned everything while you are alive and it seems all is fine, if they don't have sound knowledge on what to do with the locked coins, they might end up losing it to scammers or don't even bother much about it since it seems impossible to get the coins out..

But yet again knowledge of bitcoin has to be the first thing to cross your mind so we don't waste efforts while trying to pass on these coins to our loved ones..

[Antona]

This is maturity in action, the market is learning to price in the noise a trump or Elon headline might cause a blip, but it rarely changes the weekly trend anymore the base is too broad and too stubborn to be swayed by one person

[1Heno]

1. That's fine as long as the person is trustworthy and truly reliable. The problem is, we don't know what the future holds. People change, and so do their minds. They might still be good and trustworthy now, but who knows what the future holds?

2. My first answer already represents it.

[MusaPk]

I was thinking about all those ideas and I came up with a thought that leads to questions.
1. Is it good to give our seed phrase or wallet password to our next of kin while we are alive since death is inevitable?

2. If the answer to the first question is Yes, what then happens to us if the next of kin defraud us of our hard earn wealth while we're alive?

I would say Yes to first question.

If we want our next of kin to use our hard earned Bitcoins after we die then we have to take that step. Not only we have to share our seed but if your next of kin is not familiar with Bitcoin then we have to educate her/him on how to access our Bitcoins. We also need to tell our next of kin about security of our seed.

Those who don't have any person in their life that they can trust, then they must give No to first question. I have people in my life that I can trust that's why I opted for yes.  

[Mallampue]

snip
I was thinking about all those ideas and I came up with a thought that leads to questions.
1. Is it good to give our seed phrase or wallet password to our next of kin while we are alive since death is inevitable?

2. If the answer to the first question is Yes, what then happens to us if the next of kin defraud us of our hard earn wealth while we're alive?

The risk is quite high if you tell them, especially if you're still very healthy. This is indeed a dilemma because talking about money makes it difficult to trust someone because they can be greedy for money. Anyone with this potential has this potential. But you can make a personal note and keep it as a guide for your trusted family members, whether it's your mother, wife, or children. You should know the person's character and assess it so you can trust them when you die.

Secret relationships with people certainly have risks, no matter how small. So you must understand how to assess someone's character in your family because the fact is that people have many brains and feelings, and their natures can vary.

[catnine1]

First of all I use this medium to acknowledge the organisers and programmers of this forum/site, indeed they have done immensely great job by uniting individuals of various countries in the globe to share their respective ideas.

I have been reading a lot of post and replies where people debates on the safest way to store up Bitcoin seed phrase, some folks said writing it on paper and storing the paper in a secret places is the safest means there by preventing Cyber attacks while other folks said storing the seed phrase in a special hard ware device is the best way.

I was thinking about all those ideas and I came up with a thought that leads to questions.
1. Is it good to give our seed phrase or wallet password to our next of kin while we are alive since death is inevitable?

2. If the answer to the first question is Yes, what then happens to us if the next of kin defraud us of our hard earn wealth while we're alive?

Gotta plan for the worst dont just hand em the keys while youre alive thats asking for it

set up a dead mans switch or a multisig they cant touch til youre gone otherwise your coins get lost forever its part of the responsibility

[Agbe]

If the next of kin is not trustworthy, please don't show him or her your seed phrase but if you trust the person and you know that the person will not defraud you. It is good to show him because as you said dead can come at anytime and if nobody knows your seed. Your coins are gone forever. I saw a comment in the first page that you should only teach the person bitcoin, it is good to teach the person how to use Bitcoin but when you died and nobody can access your wallet, your coins are gone. The next of kin might be your child, wife or trusted sister or brother.

[Cookdata]

First of all I use this medium to acknowledge the organisers and programmers of this forum/site, indeed they have done immensely great job by uniting individuals of various countries in the globe to share their respective ideas.

I have been reading a lot of post and replies where people debates on the safest way to store up Bitcoin seed phrase, some folks said writing it on paper and storing the paper in a secret places is the safest means there by preventing Cyber attacks while other folks said storing the seed phrase in a special hard ware device is the best way.

I was thinking about all those ideas and I came up with a thought that leads to questions.
1. Is it good to give our seed phrase or wallet password to our next of kin while we are alive since death is inevitable?

Let's clear somethings first, Seed/recovery phrase to Bitcoin is correct but wallet to password can mean different thing. Wallet password are just encryption to protect your wallet , it doesn't help recover Bitcoin if you lose access to the seed phrase or recovery phrase or even the main wallet.

With seed phrase, you don't need any password as you can use that to recover Bitcoin; this is why it's recommended to backup seed phrase immediately you create a wallet, a password to Bitcoin can't recover the bitcoin if you lose access to the wallet(could be hardware or software wallet). Seed phrase >>> Wallet password.

To answer your question:

Don't give your seed phrase to anyone, even if you trust them don't do it. Humans can change their altitude tomorrow when you least expect.

2. If the answer to the first question is Yes, what then happens to us if the next of kin defraud us of our hard earn wealth while we're alive?

My answer remain the same as No and that saves you from number 2 encounter. If you don't give your seed phrase to anyone, you don't have to worry if they will defraud you tomorrow.

[FirmWars]

Even if you show your seed phrase to your next of kin while you are alive, they will still have to secure the seed phrase of that address with the same method which have been suggested, so there's no need to release it to your next of kin if you don't want to, just continue to secure the wallet and your seed phrase but keep a trace for easy accessibility, so that if death comes unannounced, they can find it. Second opinion, if you want to hand of the phrase to them, put a time lock on the address.

[moneystery]

2. If the answer to the first question is Yes, what then happens to us if the next of kin defraud us of our hard earn wealth while we're alive?

If you decide to trust other people, then you also need to be prepared for their betrayal... that is at your own risk because you trust other people with your seed phrases and hope that they do not betray that trust, but we will never know someone's intentions and heart, especially as humans are dynamic, if today they look good in front of you, then tomorrow they could change because of circumstances or personal interests that arise. So if in the end that person betrays you and sells all your assets, then blame yourself for trusting them in the first place.

[coinlary]

1. Is it good to give our seed phrase or wallet password to our next of kin while we are alive since death is inevitable?

Yes  && No depending  on the level of trust but you can't be too careful right ?

2. If the answer to the first question is Yes, what then happens to us if the next of kin defraud us of our hard earn wealth while we're alive?

Reason  for the first statement which is "depending on the level of trust" but even with that you shouldn't  just believe  they would use it rightly, they might just use it wrongly even at the wrong time.
There're alternative ways to this , I think you get your  recommendations already and among should  be "Locktime".
You can go through this my [Guide] thread as well : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5566222

[Findingnemo]

Create a time-locked address using http://coinb.in/ so the funds moved into that address will be locked until specific block is mined so you can use this to lock the funds for certain period and then the person or whoever you want to inherit the funds can access the funds using the redeem script. Explained in step by step here

You can use Coinbin to do that. I had one a few months ago and it's quite easy to create/spend your coins after the chosen period.

To create the Time Locked Address:
1. Go to Coinb.in;
2. New -> Time Locked Address.
3. Enter your address public key (the one you require to sign the transaction and be able to spend the coins);
4. Enter the date-time or blockheight you want to release the coins.
5. Submit and save the Redeem Script (don't lose that or you won't be able to spend your coins in the future);
6. Send the coins you want to keep locked to the Address generated.

After the chosen period, you will be able to spend your coins.
1. Go to Coinb.in;
2. New -> Transaction;
3. Paste your Redeem Script and click Load (it's going to show every input available to be spent);
4. Paste the address you want to send the coins to at the "Address" field and the amount in the "Amount" field. The remaining funds will be used as fee. E.g: If your address has 0.015BTC, you can put 0.014BTC in the "Amount" field and the fee will be 0.001BTC (0.015 - 0.014);
5. Submit and copy the raw transaction;
6. Go to the "Sign" tab (at Coinb.in);
7. Paste the private key from the address you choose when creating the Time Locked Address.
8. Paste the raw transaction you just created.
9. Submit, copy the signed transaction and push it to the network (you can do it in the Broadcast tab).
10. Transaction sent!

[Obim34]

I was thinking about all those ideas and I came up with a thought that leads to questions.
1. Is it good to give our seed phrase or wallet password to our next of kin while we are alive since death is inevitable?

2. If the answer to the first question is Yes, what then happens to us if the next of kin defraud us of our hard earn wealth while we're alive?

Whether you should or not depends on the level of trust between such person and the next of kin. I can boldly claim that there are next of kin who wouldn't tamper with the wallet seed phrase or password, while it is hard to believe, better to take preventive measures.

You can create a 2 of 3 multisignature wallet, one of the seed phrases goes to the next of kin, while the other goes to a vault wherever you want to store it, with strict permission to gain access only when you approve or after your demise.

[serjent05]

I was thinking about all those ideas and I came up with a thought that leads to questions.
1. Is it good to give our seed phrase or wallet password to our next of kin while we are alive since death is inevitable?

Yes if you trust your family enough.  For me, I would not have a second thought of showing my password to my family. I would limit the trust to immediate family.

2. If the answer to the first question is Yes, what then happens to us if the next of kin defraud us of our hard earn wealth while we're alive?

Well, we would lose those funds if they defraud us, which is less likely to happen to a family that is not blinded by money.  You can sue them if you want since they committed a crime.

[Fiasem20]

This is a very tough question but can still be addressed in a simple way.The bitter truth is that we must learn to build trust in our family,speaking from the perspective of the next of kin,your next of kin should be someone you trust even more than you trust yourself,but before we do that we must learn to observe their behavior in regards to revealing your seed phrase and password,personally I have a next of kin I’ve revealed my login credentials and seed phrase to,you aren’t expected to tell every member of the family just find out one you’ve noticed quite well to be trustworthy.Even if your next of kin defrauded you while you’re still alive,I think it can be resolved.

[Ziskinberg]

Do you trust that person? If yes, then you are right when you let him know about your seed phrase.

But if you have seen some negative factors in him that may cause to doubt you telling him, then never open to him about your seed phrase. You are only putting your investment into danger. When he sees opportunity to harm you, he will do it definitely because he has that negative behavior that you neglect to see.

The reason why you have to know the person well before entrusting your seed phrase to him. Your next of kin will still betray if they are negatively bad people in nature.

[Alpha Marine]

1. Is it good to give our seed phrase or wallet password to our next of kin while we are alive since death is inevitable?

You can always keep the seed phrase where it will be accessible to the next of kin in case of your death. It could be through a legal solicitor or some other means that is preferable. Obviously,, it would be a huge amount that can be included in a will of some sort.

Aside from the fact that the next of kin can defraud the owner, there is also the risk that he may not keep the secret phrase as securely as you would. Through him, the seed phrase can be exposed.
Your seed phrase should be seen by you and you alone, except in extreme cases.

[Yamifoud]

Of course you really need to do that while you have the time, but be cautious on choosing the right person, because once you shared it to the wrong person, say good bye to your bitcoin immediately.

The question is not on sharing it or not, but who is the right person you'll ever leave your bitcoin investment. This may take a longer process, but you have to do it by knowing the person well so that once you pass on your bitcoin, you can assure yourself that your bitcoin will not go wasted, that your bitcoin is already in the safe hands.

[GiftedMAN]

If the next of kin is not trustworthy, please don't show him or her your seed phrase but if you trust the person and you know that the person will not defraud you. It is good to show him because as you said dead can come at anytime and if nobody knows your seed. Your coins are gone forever. I saw a comment in the first page that you should only teach the person bitcoin, it is good to teach the person how to use Bitcoin but when you died and nobody can access your wallet, your coins are gone. The next of kin might be your child, wife or trusted sister or brother.

Trust worthy or not, people change in ways you least expect, which is why I even wouldn’t advice giving out your seed phrases to your next of kin, because you’ll be giving out your life’s worth to them, now imagine if they’re not even mentally prepared to handle claim custody of such an amount? Just what if, having such a privilege could plant some silly ideas in their head. Which is why I’d advice to split the phrase into two, give one half to your next of kin and the other half to maybe the family lawyer so none of them can be able to individually access the wallet, except the time is right, this is a lot more preferable than handing them access to the wallet in a platter.

[Findingnemo]

Do you trust that person? If yes, then you are right when you let him know about your seed phrase.

But if you have seen some negative factors in him that may cause to doubt you telling him, then never open to him about your seed phrase. You are only putting your investment into danger. When he sees opportunity to harm you, he will do it definitely because he has that negative behavior that you neglect to see.

The reason why you have to know the person well before entrusting your seed phrase to him. Your next of kin will still betray if they are negatively bad people in nature.

If we have to do that based only on the trust then it's not aligning with the nature of bitcoin itself, don't trust and bitcoin uses a trustless system so we should also try to find a trustless solution for such kind of scenario. As I said timelock feature can be a useful way but let's explore do we have any other choice than locking the funds until the specific timestamp?