How estate planners can include bitcoin in a will
Bitcoin and digital assets are new for all of us, and they are especially new to most estate planners. As these assets become mainstream, however, it’s important to begin cultivating a process for including these assets in estate preparations.
At Casa, we specialize in helping investors safely hold their bitcoin and other assets as generational wealth. Here is an overview of how to include bitcoin in an overall estate plan.
Bitcoin is generational wealth. Take a generational approach.
Over the last 15 years, bitcoin has proven to have staying power in the hearts and minds of investors around the world.
Today, crypto ownership skews younger. About 23% of Americans ages 30-49 have traded, owned, or used a cryptocurrency, according to the Pew Research Center. Significant adoption has been reported in Europe and other places around the world.
As many attorneys and estate planners know, people are typically prompted to create an estate plan by an important event in their life, such as the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, or the purchase of a home. Because these events tend to occur in early adulthood, it’s reasonable to expect young people who hold crypto to increasingly accumulate wealth and find themselves in need of an estate plan.
Attorneys and estate professionals will increasingly need to find a way to incorporate digital assets into their practice. Bitcoin is the future and so is bitcoin inheritance.
What does it mean to own bitcoin?
Over the last 15 years, bitcoin has grown into a mature asset class. Family offices and publicly traded companies hold it on their balance sheets, and recently, spot bitcoin ETFs were approved for trading in the U.S. These types of traditional investment vehicles, though common in investment portfolios, are not the typical way investors hold bitcoin.
Bitcoin is different from other assets — it only exists in cyberspace. The same goes for ether, stablecoins, and any other token that moves on a blockchain.
The only way to secure provable ownership of these digital assets is to hold your private keys yourself. Private keys give you the ability to send and receive assets through the generation of digital signatures. In other words, they make “crypto” crypto. Keys are the linchpin in the cryptography behind all digital assets.
Not your keys, not your bitcoin.
Avoid ambiguity at all costs
Estate planning and execution can be difficult on families. Not only is there the grief that accompanies losing a loved one — executing a last will and testament can be fraught with tension and controversy.
Miscommunication is all too common in estate planning. More than half of adults (52%) don’t know where their parents’ estate documents are kept, according to Cambridge Trust. Frequently, documents are out of date. Assets can be stolen or unaccounted for. Any ambiguity in an estate plan can prove devastating when tied to a precious heirloom or windfall.
It is far easier to manage an estate when ownership is documented and can be verified at any moment. And this is possible for bitcoin, where you can verify balances held at an address. With the right tools, you can provide this level of clarity for an estate.
Where bitcoin inheritance plans fail
Bitcoin exists on a decentralized network, which means there is no customer service line to call if you lose your keys. If a will designates someone as the rightful owner of 1 bitcoin but they don’t have the keys, they can’t access the bitcoin, which defeats the purpose of ownership.
This can be a major adjustment for families and estate planners who are used to dealing with wills and trusts and relying on deeds, titles, and financial statements. Legal documents can be enforced in court. Even a judge can’t break math.
There have been several cases where families have been stranded on the wrong side of the math. One investor lost nearly $200 million in assets upon his unexpected passing. He had no inheritance plan, and his family did not know how to access his keys. These devastating situations can be avoided with proper preparation and tools.
Where bitcoin inheritance plans succeed
An estate plan needs to be documented and actionable to succeed. For bitcoin, that comes down to key management.
That’s where Casa can help. Casa Inheritance provides estate planners with a secure framework for holding and sharing keys to assets held in cold storage. Our vaults help investors hold assets with multiple keys, which minimizes the risk of lost or stolen keys. And inheritance access can be granted to a Recipient of their choice.
Nick Neuman
Casa doesn’t replace a trust or will — it allows these documents to be executed. By incorporating Casa within an overall estate plan, you can have peace of mind that an estate plan be followed through when the time comes.
Ultimately, the perfect estate plan comes down to execution. With Casa, you can create an ironclad estate plan that works from start to finish. Learn more about Casa Inheritance here.
Final thoughts
The adoption of bitcoin and other assets has been astounding in recent years, and there’s reason to believe these assets will increasingly play a role in estate plans around the world.
Today, there are tools that can bring clarity and peace of mind to investors, families, and estate planners wondering how to leave bitcoin in a will. With the right preparation, you can keep bitcoin in safe hands for the next generation.
Hold bitcoin for a lifetime and beyond
Casa helps families around the world secure billions worth of bitcoin, ether, and other digital assets. Our vaults help you take self-custody with inheritance for long–term protection. There’s no better way to have peace of mind for your holdings.
Learn more about bitcoin inheritance here.