a bitcoiner checking his will

Bitcoin Inheritance Strategy: The Complete Checklist in 2025

Bitcoin inheritance planning is the second most important thing you need to take care of after securing your precious BTC. Unless you want to sacrifice your coins after your death and reduce the circulating bitcoin supply further. If not, and you want your hard-earned and preserved BTC portfolio to be inherited by your heirs, follow this bitcoin inheritance strategy checklist and secure your funds for future generations. They’ll thank you later.

TL;DR
How to leave bitcoin to your heirs:

• Make sure you store your BTC securely
• Pick your heirs and decide who gets how much under what circumstances
• Choose the most suitable bitcoin inheritance setup for you
• Consider all the legal and tax-related nuances
• Educate your heirs about Bitcoin
• Maintain and update your inheritance plan

Now, let’s take a closer look at each of these steps.

The Complete Bitcoin Inheritance Checklist

Follow these steps to learn how to leave bitcoin to your heirs after your death or in other unfortunate circumstances.

1. Secure your bitcoin

This might seem trivial, but you need to secure your BTC properly so your heirs can get anything at all. Choose the best strategy that works for you, whether it’s a custodial or non-custodial solution, each of which comes with its own benefits and risks. If you’re into true bitcoin-enabled sovereignty, consider wallets such as Liana, which come with plenty of features that help protect your BTC funds and use them securely.
With self-custody, make sure you have backups of your mnemonics, preferably on metal. Using signing devices (“hardware wallets”) is also a best practice.

2. Choose your beneficiaries

Besides the obvious step of choosing your heirs and deciding who gets how much of your bitcoin, consider other scenarios besides death. Coma, memory loss, serious illness, or other unfortunate circumstances can also prevent you from accessing your coins, leaving your heirs in limbo. Bitcoin features such as timelocks might be the best solution to address these situations.

3. Pick your bitcoin inheritance model

Generally, your choice will fall into one of two main categories: complete self-custody vs. some form of third-party involvement. In the former case, you’ll need to instruct your heirs on how they can access your bitcoin when the time comes and hope they don’t obtain and/or use this knowledge too early. Alternatively, if self-custody is your priority, you can benefit from the timelock-powered inheritance feature of the Liana wallet. It allows your heirs to use your BTC only if your wallet is inactive for a predetermined period. Currently, it’s no longer than around 15 months, but in the future, you might have more options. This way, you solve two problems at once: you don’t need to trust someone else to store and give your BTC’s private keys to your heirs, and you don’t need to worry that your heirs will use their keys to your bitcoin while you’re still around relentlessly stacking sats.

Otherwise, you have the option to trust a centralized custodian, who, hopefully, will pass your BTC to your heirs at the right time. It can be either a Bitcoin company or your lawyer, responsible for taking care of your will. A multisignature wallet where keys are distributed, for example, among you, a trusted third party, and your heir, is another bitcoin inheritance model.

Here’s how the three bitcoin inheritance options compare:

Here is a tutorial on how to quickly set up inheritance with Liana

4. Plan legal and tax-related details

To avoid possible confusion and fights among potential heirs, prepare a legally valid will and, if you’re not going full self-custody, appoint a trusted executor who understands Bitcoin. Additionally, setting up a trust would help avoid probate and ensure your heirs receive BTC faster. It might also help reduce other risks, such as your BTC holdings becoming public knowledge. Also, research your local (or foreign, if your heir lives in a different country) laws on what taxes would be applied to BTC inheritance and whether there are any ways to optimize them. In either case, keep in mind that by the time your heirs receive your BTC, laws may have changed. For example, instead of being considered property, bitcoin might be classified as currency, moving it into a more favorable tax category.

5. Educate your heirs about bitcoin

Ensure your heirs understand bitcoin enough not to lose it once your BTC stash becomes theirs. This is especially relevant if you don’t use any third parties in your bitcoin inheritance setup, who could help your heirs manage their newly obtained BTC. In either case, when teaching them bitcoin storage and security basics (or more), you don’t even need to disclose your bitcoin holdings or inform them about their upcoming inheritance. Just prepare them so they’ll know what bitcoin is and how it should be stored and secured properly.

6. Maintain and update your bitcoin inheritance setup

Develop a routine of reviewing and, if needed, updating your bitcoin inheritance setup, because life changes and new technologies emerge. For example, your beneficiaries might change, as well as your BTC holdings and their distribution among heirs. Your wallets might change, new security features might be introduced (e.g., longer BTC timelock periods), new laws passed, etc. Make sure you keep track of all these changes and adjust your plan accordingly. Liana helps establish this type of routine, as you’ll need to check your setup once a year, or once every 15 months, given the current maximum timelock period.

Start creating your bitcoin inheritance strategy before it’s too late

While diamonds, and now bitcoin, are forever, we are not. Therefore, future generations will appreciate your efforts in securing your bitcoin portfolio and ensuring it’s passed to your heirs smoothly. Just follow the checklist above, choose the best inheritance strategy for you, and remember to maintain and update your setup.

Download Liana now and start building your custom bitcoin inheritance setup.

FAQ

Can bitcoin be inherited?

Yes, bitcoin can be inherited, as it’s already considered property in many jurisdictions. If you’re a bitcoin holder, prepare a custom inheritance setup to ensure your BTC is safe and can be passed to your beneficiaries. If you’re expecting to inherit bitcoin, make sure you learn the best practices of using and securing bitcoin, and familiarize yourself with the taxes you might need to pay on your inheritance.

How to leave BTC in a will?

To leave BTC in a will, as with any other asset, you need to name your beneficiaries and specify who gets what, and how. Also, if needed, appoint a trusted executor who will ensure your beneficiaries receive your BTC. This might not be necessary if you’re using a self-custodial setup and have another arrangement for how your heirs will access your BTC, such as by using the timelock feature in the Liana wallet.

What is the best bitcoin inheritance strategy?

The best bitcoin inheritance strategy depends on your needs and whether you want to allow a trusted third party into your setup. You can choose between fully self-custodial setups, where only you control your funds, and centralized custodian or multisig setups, where a trusted party plays a role. Evaluate the pros and cons of each setup carefully before deciding what works best for you.

What are the best bitcoin inheritance wallets?

The best bitcoin inheritance wallets depend on the features you’re looking for. For example, in Liana, you can create an inheritance wallet with a timelocked BTC feature, which allows you to use your BTC daily, while your beneficiaries can access the funds only after a predetermined period of the wallet’s inactivity. Moreover, Liana offers various other features that allow you to build a custom bitcoin inheritance setup.