How to Plan a Bitcoin Inheritance: Passing Your Bitcoin to Your Family

A bitcoin inheritance plan has to solve three problems.

• Access: your family can actually reach the bitcoin.
• Legal title: the bitcoin passes to the person you chose, ideally without probate.
• Tax: your heirs have the records they need to claim a step-up in basis, where it applies.

How hard each part is depends on how you hold the bitcoin. If you hold your own keys, your family inherits the keys and the job of using them. With Onramp's Multi-Institution Custody and a signed transfer on death agreement, your beneficiaries never touch a key. They send a certified death certificate and any documents Onramp requests, verify their identity, and the bitcoin passes to them.

Last checked: November 10, 2026.

Key Takeaways

• Access to the keys is not ownership. A spare key is not a deed, so a complete plan covers both access and legal title.
• A transfer on death agreement or a funded trust generally passes bitcoin outside probate. A will alone does not.
• Naming beneficiaries in an app is not enough. The agreement has to be signed.
• At Onramp, a minor can't be named as a beneficiary. One structure that works is a trust that names the child, with the trust named as the beneficiary.
• A transfer on death agreement takes effect only at death. A durable power of attorney covers incapacity.

Why Bitcoin Inheritance Is Different

Stocks and bank accounts pass through systems built for estates. A bank checks a death certificate and pays the beneficiary. Bitcoin held in your own keys has no one to check anything. Whoever has the keys can move it, and if no one has them, it is gone for good. In 2020, Chainalysis estimated that about 20% of mined bitcoin appeared to be lost or stranded in wallets that hadn't moved in years.

So a bitcoin plan has to do two jobs that other assets take care of on their own: keep the bitcoin reachable, and make sure the right person ends up owning it.

The Three Parts of a Complete Plan

1. Access. Your family needs a way to reach the bitcoin that doesn't depend on them finding a seed phrase, remembering a PIN, or setting up hardware they have never used, all while they're grieving. Every extra device and backup is one more thing that can be lost, found by the wrong person, or not understood. To test your own setup, see Could Your Family Recover Your Bitcoin Without You?

2. Legal title. Holding the keys doesn't make someone the legal owner. Without a beneficiary designation or a trust, bitcoin passes under your will through probate, or under your state's intestacy laws if there is no will. Probate takes time, costs money, and in most states is public: a will filed in probate can generally be requested by anyone, so a seed phrase written into a will can become public.

3. Tax. In the U.S., inherited assets generally get a step-up in basis: your heirs' cost basis resets to the market value on the date of death, which can sharply reduce capital gains tax if they sell. Your heirs need records that show ownership and the value at the date of death to claim it. Bitcoin in an inherited IRA works differently and does not get a step-up. This is general information, not tax advice. Talk to a tax professional about your situation. For more, see Bitcoin Estate Tax Rules in 2026 and What Happens to a Bitcoin IRA When You Die?

How Each Way of Holding Bitcoin Handles Inheritance

For a provider-by-provider look, see Bitcoin Inheritance Services Compared.

Self-custody and Multi-Institution Custody are different things. Self-custody can work for inheritance when it is documented well and your heirs are able to take it over. It also makes you, and later your heirs, responsible for every device, seed phrase, and backup, wherever they are kept. Adding devices and backups in more places spreads the risk, but it also gives your family more to find, protect, and use correctly. The question is whether your heirs could take it over, and whether you want them to have to.

How Inheritance Works at Onramp

Onramp's inheritance planning comes with Onramp Core and Onramp Private, at no added fee. Three institutions protect your bitcoin. No one of them can lose it, move it, or use it, and nothing moves without your permission. Your bitcoin sits in its own segregated vault, titled in your name, and you can verify it on-chain at any time. Onramp, BitGo, and CoinCover each secure a key offline, never on a consumer device, in a 2-of-3 multisig. You never hold a key yourself.

• Set up: name primary and contingent beneficiaries, give each a percentage, and sign the Transfer on Death Agreement. You can change beneficiaries at any time. A lawyer isn't required. For trusts or a larger estate, an estate attorney can help.
• Trusts: you can onboard a trust as the account holder, or name a trust as your beneficiary. For multi-generational plans, Onramp Dynasty Trusts pair an irrevocable South Dakota trust, with First Covenant Trust & Advisors as trustee, with Multi-Institution Custody. For a revocable trust, Onramp can introduce you to estate attorneys who know bitcoin. See Holding Bitcoin in a Revocable Living Trust and What Is a Bitcoin Dynasty Trust?
• At death: your beneficiaries notify Onramp within 90 days, send a certified death certificate and any documents Onramp requests, and complete onboarding, including identity verification. The bitcoin then passes to them at the percentages you set. There are no hardware wallets, seed phrases, backups, or PINs for them to manage.

What your beneficiaries do, step by step, is in What to Do When You Inherit Bitcoin at Onramp.

Building Your Plan: Step by Step

1. List what you hold and where. Include every exchange, wallet, and account, and note how each one is accessed.
2. Decide how each holding will pass. For each one, decide how legal title will pass and who will manage the keys. If you don't want your family managing keys, choose a setup where they don't have to.
3. Name beneficiaries and sign the agreement. Entering names in an app is not the same as a signed transfer on death agreement. Without the signed agreement, the account can end up in probate.
4. Plan for minors. At Onramp, a minor can't be named as a beneficiary, because a minor can't sign the agreement or be onboarded. One structure that works is a trust that names the child, with the trust named as the beneficiary. An estate attorney can help you set this up.
5. Cover incapacity. A transfer on death agreement only takes effect at death. A durable power of attorney lets someone you choose manage your account if you can't. For an Onramp account, the POA should name one person, give authority over financial accounts (ideally mentioning digital assets or bitcoin), and be notarized.
6. Tell your family. Tell them where your bitcoin is held and who to contact. For any self-custody, tell them where your instructions are.
7. Review once a year, and after any marriage, divorce, birth, or death in the family.

Common Mistakes

• Writing a seed phrase into a will. A will in probate becomes public.
• Solving access but not title. A spouse with the keys may still not legally own the bitcoin.
• Naming beneficiaries without signing. The designation needs the signed agreement behind it.
• Naming a minor directly. At Onramp, a minor can't be onboarded. Ask an estate attorney about a trust.
• Planning only for death. Incapacity needs its own document.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I name a beneficiary for my bitcoin?

Not on a hardware wallet, and not on many exchange accounts, so heirs often have to go through the estate instead. At Onramp you can. On Core and Private, you name primary and contingent beneficiaries, set their percentages, and sign a transfer on death agreement. Naming them in the app isn't enough on its own, so make sure you sign the agreement. Your beneficiaries never need a key, a seed phrase, or a hardware wallet.

Are professional bitcoin inheritance solutions worth considering?

They can be. If your heirs would struggle to find or use keys, a solution that doesn't hand them keys removes that step. With Onramp Core and Private, a transfer on death agreement names your beneficiaries, and three institutions protect the vault, so your beneficiaries never need a hardware wallet or seed phrase.

Which bitcoin inheritance services are worth considering?

It depends on whether you want your family to manage keys. Collaborative custody services such as Unchained and Casa leave key management with you and your heirs. A single custodian such as River keeps it simple but depends on one company. Multi-Institution Custody keeps it simple without relying on any one institution to move the bitcoin. See Bitcoin Inheritance Services Compared.

Does bitcoin go through probate?

It depends on how it is titled. Bitcoin covered by a transfer on death agreement, or held in a funded trust, generally passes outside probate. Bitcoin held only under your will generally goes through probate.

Do I need a lawyer to set up a bitcoin inheritance plan?

Not to name beneficiaries at Onramp. For trusts, minors, or a larger estate, an estate planning attorney can help.

Can I name my children as beneficiaries?

Adult children, yes. At Onramp, a minor can't be onboarded. One structure that works is a trust that names the child, with the trust named as the beneficiary.

Does a transfer on death agreement cover incapacity?

No. It takes effect only at death. A durable power of attorney covers incapacity.

What is a step-up in basis for inherited bitcoin?

In the U.S., heirs generally receive a cost basis equal to the market value on the date of death, which can reduce capital gains tax if they sell. Bitcoin in an inherited IRA does not get a step-up. This is general information, not tax advice.

If you're planning how your bitcoin will pass to your family, schedule a consultation with Onramp. To open an account, sign up here.

Related reading:

• What to Do When You Inherit Bitcoin at Onramp
• Bitcoin Inheritance Services Compared
• Bitcoin Estate Planning: An Attorney's Guide to Probate and Title, by Amanda Kita
• Bitcoin Inheritance: A Spare Key Is Not a Deed
• What Happens to Your Bitcoin When You Die?
• Holding Bitcoin in a Revocable Living Trust
• What Happens to a Bitcoin IRA When You Die?