Can my executor get my bitcoin from the blockchain or from a company?

Not if you hold the keys yourself. No company holds a copy, and nothing on the blockchain identifies the owner. Without the seed phrase, any passphrase and the wallet details, the coins cannot be moved by anyone.

Is it safe to put my seed phrase in my will?

Usually not. A will can become a public court record during probate, and many people may read it before the estate is settled. Put a pointer in the will, and keep the backup itself elsewhere.

Does RUFADAA give my executor access to my bitcoin?

It governs what a custodian, such as an exchange or email provider, must disclose to a fiduciary. It cannot make a self-custodied wallet accessible, because there is no custodian to ask.

How to leave bitcoin to your family without handing over keys today

Q: What tax basis do my heirs get for inherited bitcoin in the US?

IRS Publication 551 says inherited property generally takes a basis equal to its fair market value at the date of death, or on the alternate valuation date if the estate's personal representative elects it. Heirs should get the date-of-death value from the executor.

An exchange account can be handed over by the exchange: an executor sends a death certificate and letters of appointment, and the company releases the funds. Self-custodied bitcoin has no such route. The coins move only with the keys, and the keys exist only where you put them. A plan for heirs is therefore a plan for how a few secrets will reach the right people at the right time, without reaching anyone else sooner.

What exactly do heirs need?

At minimum, someone recovering a self-custodied wallet needs:

The seed phrase, or enough Shamir shares to rebuild it.
The passphrase, if one was set. Under BIP39, a missing or wrong passphrase opens a different, empty wallet without any error message.
The wallet’s configuration: which software, which address type, and for multisig, the full set of extended public keys and the signing policy. BIP380 output descriptors are the standard way to write this down in one line.
Instructions a non-expert can follow, including what not to do: never type the words into a website, never trust anyone who contacts them offering help.

Most failed inheritances are missing one of these, not all of them.

What are the options?

Approach	Who holds what	Heirs can recover if…	Main risk
Letter of instruction + single backup	You hold the backup; a sealed letter says where it is and how to use it	They find the letter and the backup	Whoever finds both early can take the coins
Backup with a professional (lawyer, safe deposit)	A trusted third party holds the backup or the passphrase	The holder releases it on the agreed conditions	The holder’s own security and honesty
Shamir split (SLIP-39)	Shares with family members or advisers; a set number rebuilds the secret	Enough shareholders cooperate	Too many shares lost; shareholders collude early
Multisig, for example 2-of-3	Keys in different places or with different people	They can reach the threshold of keys	Lost wallet configuration; too many keys lost
Collaborative custody service	A company holds one key of a multisig	The service’s inheritance process works	Dependence on a company staying in business

There is no option without a trade-off. What separates a workable plan from a failed one is usually not the option chosen, but whether it was written down, tested and explained to the people who will use it.

How does a letter of instruction work?

A letter of instruction is a plain document, separate from the will, that tells the reader what you own, where the backups are and what to do. It should not contain the seed phrase itself.

A useful letter covers:

What exists: which wallets, roughly how much, and in which coins.
Where the pieces are: the location of each backup, each passphrase, each hardware wallet and any multisig configuration.
How to recover: the wallet software to use, the address type, and a pointer to a step-by-step guide such as how to test a seed phrase backup.
Who can help and who cannot: names of people you trust with technical questions, and a clear warning that no legitimate company will ever ask for the seed phrase.
When it was last checked: a date, so readers know whether it is current.

Keep the letter and the backups apart, so that finding one does not reveal everything.

When does a Shamir split make sense?

SLIP-39 splits a master secret into shares of 20 or 33 words, with a threshold: for example, any 2 of 3 shares rebuild the secret, and any single share reveals nothing useful. It also allows groups, so a plan can require, say, one share from family and one from a lawyer.

It suits families where no single person should hold the whole secret, and where shareholders can be trusted to cooperate when the time comes. Its limits: the standard is not compatible with BIP39, so it needs a wallet that supports SLIP-39, and every share must be stored carefully and tested. Losing too many shares has the same result as losing the seed.

When does multisig make sense?

A multisig wallet needs signatures from several keys to move coins. A 2-of-3 setup, with one key at home, one with a relative and one with a professional or a service, means:

one lost key does not lose the coins;
one stolen key does not lose the coins;
heirs who can reach two of the three keys can recover.

The cost is complexity. Each key is backed up separately, and the wallet configuration (the extended public keys and the policy) must also be preserved. Without it, finding the keys is not enough to rebuild the wallet. Writing the configuration as a descriptor, and storing copies with each key, is the standard defence. See what an xpub reveals before handing configuration copies to others: they show the whole wallet’s balance and history, though they cannot move coins.

What does US law say about access?

Many US states have adopted versions of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA). Oregon’s enactment, chapter 119 of its statutes, is typical. It sets an order of priority for a user’s wishes about digital accounts: a direction given in a custodian’s online tool comes first; without one, a direction in a will, trust, power of attorney or other record applies; and a user’s direction overrides terms of service the user did not separately agree to. By default, a personal representative can get a catalogue of electronic communications but not their content, unless the user consented or a court orders it.

All of this governs custodians: email providers, exchanges, cloud storage. It can help an executor reach an exchange account, or an email that says where a backup is. It cannot unlock a self-custodied wallet, because there is no custodian to ask. That is why the plan has to be built by you, in advance.

What about taxes in the US?

IRS Publication 551 says that the basis of inherited property is generally its fair market value at the date of death, or on the alternate valuation date if the personal representative elects it. The 2025 edition adds that, under section 1014(f) of the Internal Revenue Code, the basis of certain inherited property must be consistent with its value as finally determined for estate tax purposes, and that an accuracy-related penalty may apply if an heir reports a higher basis. The rule does not apply to appreciated property the heir or the heir’s spouse gave to the decedent within one year before death.

For self-custodied bitcoin this means the executor, not the heir, establishes the date-of-death value. Keeping a record of the date and the price source used avoids disputes later. For individual advice, a tax professional who knows the estate’s facts is the right person; this page explains the general rule only.

What should heirs do first?

The first days after a death are the most dangerous for an estate that includes crypto, because heirs are distracted and scammers watch for exactly that moment. A short list for the letter itself:

Do nothing quickly. The coins are not going anywhere if the backups are secure.
Secure the backups and devices where they are; do not carry them around or show them to anyone.
Ignore anyone who makes contact offering help, including people claiming to be from a wallet maker, an exchange or a government agency.
Contact the executor and the named technical helper, and follow the written recovery steps together.
Recover on a new or freshly reset hardware wallet, compare the first address with the one noted in the letter, and only then decide whether to move or sell anything.

What should never be in the plan?

Do not	Why
Write the seed phrase into the will	Wills can be read by many people and can become public during probate
Store the seed phrase and passphrase together	One discovery reveals both, which defeats the passphrase
Email or photograph the words “for the family”	Copies on online services are exposed to anyone who gets into the account
Rely on one person’s memory for any part	Memory fails, and the person may not outlive you
Leave instructions only in technical shorthand	The reader may be grieving and unfamiliar with wallets
Name a person as the only one who can help	Heirs need a fallback if that person is unavailable or untrustworthy

How do I keep the plan working?

Test it. Recover from the backups at least once, exactly as an heir would, using only what the letter says.
Update it when wallets, devices, passphrases or the people involved change.
Tell people it exists. A plan nobody knows about has the same result as no plan.
Keep it simple enough to be followed under stress. An heir who is grieving and not technical should be able to follow the steps, or know whom to ask.

The best inheritance plan is the one your family can actually execute. Complexity that protects you today can lock them out later, so every added layer should earn its place.