What Happens To My Cryptocurrency When I Die?

What happens to your cryptocurrency when you die? It’s a valuable asset that you don’t want to be lost and It may seem obvious, but you have to actually itemise your cryptocurrency in your will.

Like any other asset you own, if it isn’t listed in your will, it falls into the residue or remainder of your estate. This remainder is a collection of everything you own that wasn’t accounted for in your will, such as personal property, clothing and miscellaneous accounts.

This isn’t an issue when tangible property falls into an estate’s remainder. 

However, cryptocurrency doesn’t leave much of a paper trail, if any at all, and if you’re not familiar with cryptocurrency and don’t know where to look, it’s almost impossible to discover. If your beneficiaries are unaware of your cryptocurrency, they might never find it if it falls into your estate’s remainder.

Here are our tips for clearly listing your cryptocurrency in your will:

List your digital wallets including,

• the type of digital wallet(s) you have
•  any computer, smartphone, or device on which you’ve stored your cryptocurrency
•  website links for any needed online exchanges or password managers, and
•  any login and password information needed for each of these wallets, accounts, and websites.

Make a cryptocurrency access guide for your beneficiaries and executor

Something to consider, some people may never be comfortable with cryptocurrency. Even with your explicit instructions, your beneficiaries could still have a difficult time navigating this process. 

Instead of leaving your beneficiaries cryptocurrency, it may be easier if your beneficiaries simply received the value of that investment. Alternatively, it may be left in a trust.