From Wallets to Wills: Plugging Crypto into Your Legal Documents

You’ve now done the hard, unglamorous work that most crypto owners heroically avoid:

• Day 1: You listed what you own and where it lives.
• Day 2: You figured out how keys and seed phrases are stored so someone can actually get in.

Day 3 is about making it legal.

This is where crypto stops being “that weird tech thing you do” and officially becomes an asset your executor can manage without needing a PhD, a priest, or a Ouija board.

Quick reminder (and your attorney will insist on this anyway):
This is education, not legal advice. The goal is to walk into an estate-planning lawyer’s office sounding calm, prepared, and refreshingly non-confused.

Step 1: Make Sure Your Will Actually Mentions Digital Assets

A lot of wills floating around today were written in an era when “digital assets” meant a Hotmail account and maybe some iTunes songs.

Crypto does not fit neatly into that silence.

Modern estate-planning practice increasingly treats digital assets—crypto, NFTs, online accounts—as a category that should be explicitly named, not implied and left for courts to squint at later.

Ask your attorney about a broad digital-asset clause

Most updated wills now define digital assets to include things like:

• Cryptocurrencies and tokens
• NFTs and digital collectibles
• Digital wallets and exchange accounts
• Online financial accounts and similar property

Then the will clearly says who gets them:

• “All of my digital assets not otherwise specifically given shall pass to…”
• Or “My digital assets shall be treated as part of my residuary estate…”

This avoids the executor wondering whether your Bitcoin is money, property, vibes, or a phase.

What not to put in your will

Do not put:

• Seed phrases
• Private keys
• Passwords
• 2FA backup codes

Wills often become public during probate. You don’t want your crypto security strategy displayed like a museum exhibit.

Instead, best practice is:

• Will: Grants authority and references separate instructions
• Separate documents: Explain what exists and how to access it

A very normal, very modern approach looks like this:

“My executor is authorized to access and manage my digital assets as permitted by law. Instructions and inventories are maintained separately.”

That keeps the keys private and the authority crystal clear.

Step 2: Using a Revocable Trust for Smoother Handling

If your estate plan already includes—or should include—a revocable living trust, crypto can fit into that structure just like brokerage accounts or real estate.

Estate planners increasingly treat meaningful crypto holdings as normal property, not exotic contraband.

Why you might want crypto in a trust

Smoother transitions
Assets titled in a trust often bypass probate, allowing a successor trustee to step in without delays or public court filings.

Clear instructions
A trust can spell out things like:

• Whether crypto should be held, sold, or gradually liquidated
• Whether diversification into traditional assets is allowed or required
• How conservative or aggressive the trustee should be

Coordination for larger amounts
Some plans use combinations like:

• Trust owns an LLC
• LLC holds exchange accounts or works with custodians

This can simplify management and, in some cases, help with tax or asset-protection planning.

You don’t have to move everything immediately. Many plans simply say:
“If crypto is still held personally at death, it pours into the trust.”

Step 3: Powers of Attorney—Because Life Doesn’t Always Wait for Death

Estate planning isn’t just about death. It’s also about the awkward middle ground known as:

“I’m alive, but I should absolutely not be managing this right now.”

A durable financial power of attorney (POA) lets someone you trust handle finances if you’re incapacitated. Many modern POAs now explicitly address digital assets because without that language, institutions may politely refuse to help.

For crypto, your POA should cover:

Explicit authority over digital assets
The POA can:

• Define digital assets clearly
• Grant authority to access, manage, safeguard, and liquidate them if needed

Practical access still matters
Even with a perfect POA, your agent still needs:

• The Day 1 inventory (what and where)
• The Day 2 access plan (how to get in)

Some people handle this by:

• Leaving a sealed packet with instructions
• Storing credentials with an attorney
• Referencing a secure location in the POA itself

State law matters (but your attorney handles that)

Many states follow versions of the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which basically says:

“If you grant authority correctly, your fiduciaries can legally access digital assets.”

Your role is simple:
Tell your attorney, “Yes, I want my agent to manage my crypto if I can’t.”

That way, if something happens, your family can act—without guessing, delaying, or summoning your inner tech ghost.

Step 4: The Plain-English “Crypto Letter” for Normal Humans

Legal documents authorize action.
A simple letter explains reality.

Many estate planners now recommend a short digital-asset letter of instruction that lives alongside the will or trust and translates crypto into English.

What this letter might include

What this stuff is
“I own digital assets such as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. They have real financial value and should be treated like investment accounts.”

Where to start
“Begin with the document titled ‘Digital Assets & Crypto Inventory.’ It lists accounts, wallets, and priorities.”

Where the keys live
“Access instructions and key materials are stored in [safe / safe-deposit box / attorney’s vault].”

Who to call
Names and contact info for:

• Estate-planning attorney
• Financial advisor (if crypto-aware)
• One trusted, tech-savvy human

Basic safety rules

• No legitimate support person will ever ask for seed phrases
• Don’t rush—panic is how scammers win
• If something feels odd, stop and call the attorney

This letter isn’t legally binding. It’s a kindness.
It tells your family, “This matters, and here’s how not to mess it up.”

Step 5: Putting It All Together with Your Attorney

At this point, you have:

• Day 1: A crypto inventory
• Day 2: A realistic key-storage plan
• Day 3: A clear idea of what belongs in your legal documents

Best practice now is to walk into an estate-planning attorney’s office and say:

“I own digital assets, including crypto. I want my plan to explicitly cover them, authorize access under state law, and keep my keys secure but reachable.”

Your post-series to-do list

• Schedule time with an estate-planning attorney familiar with digital assets
• Bring:
  • Your crypto inventory
  • Your key-storage approach
  • Your current will, trust, and POA (if any)

Ask specifically about:

• Digital-asset clauses
• Trust or LLC structures (if appropriate)
• Updated POA language
• Safe storage for your key packet and instruction letter

The Big Picture

You’ve already done what most investors never start.

Your crypto is no longer:

• A mystery
• A scavenger hunt
• A future Reddit cautionary tale

It’s now just another asset—documented, accessible, and legally transferable.

Which is exactly how you want your heirs thinking about it.

Seed Phrases, Safes, and Trusted Humans: Making Sure Someone Can Actually Reach Your Coins

Yesterday, you built your crypto footprint—what you own and where it lives. That alone already puts you ahead of most people with crypto.

Today is where things usually get uncomfortable.

Not confusing.
Not technical.
Just deeply uncomfortable.

Because now we’re talking about seed phrases, private keys, and the awkward reality that someday someone else may need to access your crypto without turning your life into a crime scene or a guessing game.

The Core Problem (Simple to Say, Hard to Do)

Here’s the needle you’re trying to thread:

• Before death or incapacity: nobody unauthorized should be able to touch your crypto.
• After death or incapacity: your executor or heirs must be able to access it without hacking your life.

This is the security equivalent of doing brain surgery while grandkids are climbing on your shoulders.

Get it wrong one way and you get robbed.
Get it wrong the other way and your crypto dies with you—perfectly secure and perfectly useless.

Why Seed Phrases Are Both Your Superpower and Your Achilles’ Heel

Your seed phrase (or private key) is the master key to your self-custodied crypto.

• Anyone who has it can move your funds.
• No one who doesn’t have it—not courts, lawyers, or customer support—can help.

Modern estate-planning guidance now consistently flags this as one of the most common ways crypto is permanently lost in estates.

Which leads to two equally bad outcomes:

• Keeping the seed phrase only in your head = your coins retire when you do
• Storing it where anyone can casually find it = early inheritance for thieves

So the real goal isn’t perfection. It’s balance:

Hidden enough to be safe. Discoverable enough to be usable.

Bad Ways to Store Seed Phrases (Great for Criminals)

Let’s clear these out first. If you’re doing any of the following, stop reading and fix it later today:

• Photos of your seed phrase on your phone
• Plain-text notes on your computer or cloud storage
• Emailing the phrase to yourself
• Writing it on paper labeled “BTC PASSWORD” and putting it in your wallet

Security and estate-planning professionals largely agree: these are non-starters. They’re too easy to copy, hack, or “accidentally” discover—especially when someone is sorting through devices after you’re gone.

Better Patterns: Physical, Offline, and Boring (In a Good Way)

Best practices almost always start offline:

• Paper backups stored in a secure location
• Metal backup plates that survive fire, water, and bad luck
• Very limited access—not “I’ll just leave it in the desk for convenience”

One important but often overlooked point:
Whoever needs access later (executor, trustee, spouse) must be able to legally and practically reach that location. A vault no one can open is just a nicer-looking black hole.

Strategy 1: One Secure Package, Clearly Findable Later

For many retirees, this is the cleanest solution.

Create a “Key Packet”

A physical envelope or folder containing:

• Written seed phrase(s) and any essential wallet PINs
• Plain-English labels like:
  “This phrase unlocks my main hardware wallet.”
• Optional: metal seed backup + paper explaining what it is

Store It Where You Store Serious Things

• A home safe your executor will have access to, or
• A bank safe-deposit box listed in your estate documents

Reference It—But Don’t Expose It

In your will, trust, or letter of instruction, simply say:

“Instructions and credentials necessary to access my digital assets are stored in my home safe / safe-deposit box.”

Modern digital-asset estate planning almost always separates:

• The fact that crypto exists (legal documents, inventory), from
• The means to access it (physical packet, stored privately)

This keeps your keys out of public records while making sure no one is guessing where to look.

Strategy 2: Split Knowledge So No One Person Can Drain You

If you’re uncomfortable with one packet unlocking everything, you can divide access.

Common Variations

Split the seed phrase

• Divide it into two parts
• Store each part in a different secure location

Multiple trusted humans

• One person has Part A
• Another has Part B
• Estate instructions explain how they’re combined

2-of-3 approach

• Create three partial backups
• Any two can reconstruct the phrase
• Distribute across locations or people

Estate-planning commentary increasingly recommends these “split-knowledge” setups for larger holdings. Just don’t over-engineer it.

Rule of thumb:

If future-you can’t explain the system in one paragraph, it’s too clever.

Strategy 3: Decide How Much You Really Want to Self-Custody

Not all crypto has to live under the same rules.

Estate-planning professionals increasingly treat custody as a sliding scale:

Self-Custody

• Maximum control and privacy
• Maximum responsibility
• Requires excellent key storage and instructions

Custodial Platforms

• Exchanges, fintechs, advisor platforms
• They hold the keys
• Your estate plan just needs to list accounts and grant authority

This is often much easier for lawyers and executors to navigate.

Professional Digital-Asset Custodians

• Trust companies or institutional custodians
• Built-in processes for death and incapacity
• Increasingly seen as best practice for sizable holdings

You don’t have to be a crypto purist.

A common, very reasonable approach:

• Keep a modest self-custodied wallet
• Move long-term or larger holdings to structures your heirs can manage without panic

How This All Connects to the Legal Side (Preview of Day 3)

Everything you’ve done today plugs directly into what comes next:

• Wills that include digital assets without exposing passwords
• Trusts that manage crypto cleanly
• Powers of attorney for incapacity—not just death

Estate-planning guidance is clear on this point:

Your legal documents and your key-management plan must work together—or one will quietly break the other.

A beautifully stored seed phrase without legal authority is just a mystery object.
Perfect legal documents without access instructions are just paperwork.

Your Day 2 Homework (Still Manageable, I Promise)

By the end of today, aim to:

1. Choose a key-storage strategy
   • Single secure packet or split-knowledge approach
2. Decide where it physically lives
   • Home safe, safe-deposit box, or approved off-site location
3. Create or update your key packet
   • Seed phrases / essential PINs
   • Clear, human-readable labels
4. Update your Day 1 inventory
   Example: “Instructions and credentials necessary to access my digital assets are stored in my home safe / safe-deposit box. My executor or attorney has or will have access.”
5. Decide your custody mix
   • Roughly how much you want in self-custody vs custodial platforms
   • Make a note to discuss major changes with your advisor or estate-planning attorney

Tomorrow, in Part 3, we connect all of this to wills, trusts, and powers of attorney—so your carefully stored keys come with legal authority and clear instructions, not just a mysterious metal plate someone’s afraid to touch.

You’re doing this the right way.