A serious concern: people die, accounts are lost — is there any way to “inherit”

[drgomez89]

Hi everyone,
I’d like to raise a serious and often overlooked issue.
People pass away, and when that happens, accounts, wallets, and digital assets can be permanently lost. Unlike traditional banking systems, in crypto there is often no clear mechanism for inheritance.
This makes me wonder:
Is there any app, service, or protocol designed to securely handle crypto inheritance?
Are there practical solutions people are currently using (multi-sig, trusted third parties, legal setups, smart contracts)?
How do you balance security while alive with access for heirs in case something happens?
I’m not asking for private details or instructions — just looking for general ideas, tools, or experiences that people are comfortable sharing.
This feels like a real problem as adoption grows, and I’m curious how the community is approaching it.
Looking forward to your thoughts.

[Stalker22]

Personally, I like practical solutions.  For instance, a solution that uses a metal plate backup of your seedphrase with instructions on how to recover the wallet stored at the same location or with a memory that is stored somewhere safe, such as in a bank safe deposit box.  Finally, the last thing I would want to add is to let anyone know in your testament that you hold one or more crypto assets, but you should not include any information that may expose yourself to a potential data breach or loss of your private key(s).

[havok1998]

You've identified a critical gap in crypto infrastructure. Unlike traditional banking, there's no standardized way to pass digital assets to heirs, and this becomes increasingly important as adoption grows.

Several practical approaches exist. Multi signature wallets distribute access among trusted people, though balancing security and accessibility is tricky. Seed phrase backups in safe deposit boxes work, but require explicit instructions most people never document. Smart contracts on Ethereum enable time locked transactions where heirs can claim assets after inactivity periods. Services like Casa offer institutional custody with inheritance mechanisms built in.

The honest truth is most solutions remain primitive. People still rely on telling a trusted family member their seed phrase or hoping centralized exchanges handle inheritance claims.

As crypto matures from speculation to genuine wealth storage, inheritance solutions will become a major competitive advantage. Your question reflects that maturation perfectly.