Does Your Estate Plan Address Your Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency isn’t the only digital asset your estate plan needs to address. However, it may be the one with the most value. If your estate plan doesn’t address digital assets, or if your executor, or trustee, is unfamiliar with digital assets, those investments could disappear or become inaccessible. This blog will explain what you’ll need to do if you want to pass your digital wealth on to your loved ones.

Crypto owners use a variety of tools to ensure that their assets are not easily accessible. Such protection is vital because Bitcoin is a bearer asset, meaning whoever has access to the asset owns it. Strong protection is great while you’re living. However, if your estate plan isn’t ready, these same protective measures can prevent your loved ones from benefitting from the cryptocurrency you’ve worked to accumulate. Think of it as if you were trying to locate the keys to a loved one’s home, versus trying to get past the facial recognition software on their phone after they’ve been buried.

How you own your digital currency will also make a big difference in what must be done to gain control of it. If they are indirectly owned through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or stocks owning cryptocurrency, your executor or trustee will access them in the same way they would any other investment account. If you store coins on cryptocurrency exchanges, your executor or trustee will need to access the account. You can share your private keys with beneficiaries, or if the exchange permits you to name beneficiaries for an account, follow the instructions provided by the exchange. Please note that not all exchanges offer this feature.

For the most part, however, cryptocurrency remains the Wild West, and you must protect your property yourself. Don’t expect your executor or trustee to be able to navigate this new world unless they have all the necessary information. There’s no registry or clearing house and no paper trail to follow.

You’ll need to provide the people you have named as executors or trustees with a list of coin names, the number owned and their location: on an exchange, in a digital wallet, or stored offline in a physical device. They’ll need to know how to access private keys or seed phrases.

If your coins are stored on your mobile phone or laptop, someone will require information to unlock these devices. If you use a biometric lock for your phone, such as facial recognition or fingerprint recognition, you’ll need to create an alternative means of accessing the device. Passwords to access cryptocurrency exchanges, digital wallets and those required to access email accounts and authenticator apps used for multifactor authentication will also be needed.

Managing crypto and digital assets during the probate process can be complex for those unfamiliar with the space. Because of this, you may want to choose an executor or trustee that has experience with cryptocurrency.  If your executor or trustee does not have experience with cryptocurrency or other digital assets, you may want to prepare them for the role.

Finally, don’t include any access information in your written estate planning documents, particularly your will. Once a will is admitted to probate, it becomes a public record. Talk with your estate planning attorney about creating a separate document containing this information to be shared with your fiduciaries. Ensure that your fiduciaries are prepared for this task and be sure to appoint a successor in case they are unable or unwilling to serve when the time comes.

If you want your beneficiaries to reap the benefits of your forward-thinking investments, these resources need to be in place and planned for as part of your estate plan.

Reference: Barron’s (June 14, 2025) “You Struck It Rich With Bitcoin. How to Leave It to Your Heirs”

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Inheriting a House? Navigate Your Options and Responsibilities

Inheriting a house can be a life-changing event with emotional and financial implications. Understanding your options and obligations is critical, whether you sell it, keep it, or rent it out. LendingTree insights show you how to make the most of your inheritance.

What’s the Legal Process of Inheriting a House?

When inheriting a house, you don’t immediately receive the title in your name. The inheritance process may involve probate where a judge reviews the will and appoints an executor to carry out the Testator’s wishes, a trust administration where a trustee controls the property or a non-probate option such as a Lady Bird Deed or transfer on death deed conveying the property to a person like a beneficiary designation.

These processes may involve responsibilities like insurance, identifying debts or liens and paying utilities. They also distribute belongings and manage property taxes.  In some cases, the property needs to be sold to settle the decedent’s debts and may not be inherited at all!!!

What Should You Do when Inheriting a House?

When you’re in line to inherit a house, there are steps to consider and take.

  1. Communicate with the Fiduciary: Establish a clear line of communication with the executor, trustee or other person who is handling the estate. This will help you learn the necessary information and simplify the transfer process.  This will especially help with transfers of utilities, insurance and keys.  You’ll also want to make sure the property is secure so that nothing happens to it while the estate proceeds.
  2. Insurance.  Speaking of insurance, property insurance usually has a clause in which the home won’t be insured if it’s unoccupied, such as during an estate administration.  The fiduciary may pay for insurance during an administration to protect the house, but the beneficiary should coordinate the transfer at the end of the administration to ensure the property is insured.  
  3. Coordinate with Co-Heirs: Work with the others if you are one of several heirs. Avoid costly disputes by deciding whether to sell, keep, or rent the property.
  4. Determine Property Value: An important step in estate administration is valuing the property as of the date of death which may be done by an appraisal or other means.  The new owner needs this information to determine whether to keep, sell, or rent the home while informing you of tax liabilities should you sell the property in the future.
  5. Evaluate Debts: Identify any liens or debts tied to the property and compare them against the house’s value. Understand the financial implications and incorporate that into your decision.  With mortgages, you may be able to continue paying the existing mortgage, and if not, can consider refinancing.
  6. Seek Professional Advice: Consult estate planning attorneys, accountants and financial advisors. These professionals can clarify ownership-related problems, such as debt obligations and inheritance taxes and how to rent the property.
  7. Update your Estate Plan.  Receiving real estate is often a reason to review and maybe update your own estate plan.  Going through the estate process to receive the house is invaluable experience in determining how you want to leave the property to others.

What Should You Do with the House?

Moving Into an Inherited House

Moving into the inherited house can provide a new residence or vacation home. However, this option can be costly due to mortgages, taxes, repairs and insurance.

Renting Out an Inherited Home

Renting out the property can provide passive income, while keeping it in the family. Buy out other heirs or work with them to share costs and rental income.  This is certainly more work, but might help reduce costs while figuring out a long term plan.

Selling Your Newly Inherited Home

Selling the house is a straightforward way to obtain immediate cash. The proceeds can help pay off debts tied to the house, and the remaining proceeds will go to the heirs.  I often encourage people to consider this first because keeping the house is an obligation and ongoing expense that sometimes get’s out of hand.

For more information, see this article on inheriting property.  https://galligan-law.com/inherited-property-what-you-need-to-know/

In all cases, talk to an estate planning attorney if you have questions on inheriting a property and how this impacts you, your loved ones and your estate plan.

Reference: LendingTree (Nov. 16, 2021) “Inheriting a House? Here’s What to Expect”

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6 Things Seniors Should Consider Before Marrying

Seniors in particular think about marrying with an understandable degree of concern. Maybe your last relationship ended in a divorce, or it’s been a long time since they were married. However, according to a recent article from MSN, “Planning to remarry after a divorce? 6 tips to protect your financial future,” there are some steps to take to make relationships easier to navigate and protect your financial future.

Not all of them are easy, but all are worthwhile.

1.No marrying without a prenup. Everyone thinks of prenups as pertaining to divorce.  They can address divorce, but prenups do much more.  They clarify property in the marriage, such as whether it will belong to one spouse or to the other or both.  Prenups clarify many issues: full financial clarity, financial expectations, the marital rights of the couple and clear details on what would happen in the worst case scenario. This is especially important to putting each of the couples’ respective families at ease as they marry.  Getting all this out in the open before you say “I do” makes it much easier to go forward.

2.Trust…but verify. Estate planning ensures that assets pass as you want. A revocable living trust set up during your lifetime can be used to ensure your assets pass to your offspring. Unlike a will, the provisions of a revocable trust are effective not just when you die but in the event of incapacity. A living trust can provide for the trust creator and their children during any period of incapacity prior to death. At death, the trust ensures that beneficiaries receive assets without going through probate.

3.Estate planning. While you are planning to marry is a good time to check on account titles, beneficiary designations and powers of attorney, both medical and financial. Couples should review their estate plans to be sure planning reflects current wishes. This will go a long way to avoiding fights between the respective families who just recently joined together.

4.Check beneficiaries. Especially after divorce and before a remarriage, check beneficiaries on 401(k)s, pensions, retirement accounts and life insurance policies. If you marry, state law may require you to give some portion of your estate to your spouse or otherwise affect your ownership of property.  In many cases, this can be addressed by a prenup, but you still want to consult an estate planning attorney to guide you through any changes to beneficiaries.

5.Medicaid Planning.    On the negative side, you should consider the likelihood that either party will need help paying for long term care BEFORE marrying.  Medicaid, which is a government benefit that helps pay for long term care, has different eligibility based upon the marital status of the applicant.  Medicaid also expects both spouse’s assets to be used for care which has nothing to do with the prenup.  So, for some individuals, it doesn’t make sense financial to marry where one party will need long term care.

6.Choose fiduciaries wisely. The fiduciaries named in your estate plan are the people who have tasks to fulfill.  This could be a trustee, an executor, an agent and so on.  Consider carefully who should fill these roles as they may have to be between the two families.  Consider the advantages of a corporate trustee, who will be neutral and may prevent tensions with a newly blended family. If an outsider is named as an executor, or to act as a trustee, they may be able to minimize conflict. They’ll also have the professional knowledge and expertise with legal, tax and administrative complexities of administering estates and trusts.

Reference: MSN (Feb. 11, 2023) “Planning to remarry after a divorce? 6 tips to protect your financial future”

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