You may be part of the select group of individuals who have recently hopped on the trend in investing in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, or any other cryptocurrency. This is a newer form of digital currency, which is also not maintained by standard government entities or financial institutions. Given these factors, many cryptocurrency holders remain unsure about how and whether their heirs will be able to inherit this digital asset at the time of their unfortunate death. If you are wondering the same thing, please read on to discover how you should pass down cryptocurrency to your beneficiaries and how a seasoned Broward County estate lawyer at The Probate Lawyers can inform you on the best possible way to do this through your estate plan.
How should I pass down my cryptocurrency to my beneficiaries?
You should include instructions regarding your cryptocurrency in the same way as all your other property and assets within your Last Will and Testament document. That is, you should identify the type of cryptocurrency you own and the digital wallet, website, or app in which it is stored.
But the special planning we suggest for this unique digital asset is to include a clause in your will document that has your cryptocurrency as part of the “residue and remainder” of your estate. The residue refers to the assets that are left over after special gifts have been fulfilled, along with when all debts, taxes, and expenses have been paid off. From here, you may direct how the remainder of your total estate assets are distributed amongst your beneficiaries on a percentage basis.
This may be a better method than assigning a single beneficiary to receive ownership of your cryptocurrency simply due to the sheer volatility of this digital asset. If you do so, there may be an unfortunate ending where one of your beneficiaries inherits significantly less than all your other beneficiaries. This may create tensions and hostilities amongst your loved ones, and possibly even prompt a contention over your will document.
Why should I name a digital executor of my estate plan?
Cryptocurrency is still considered to be somewhat of an uncharted territory. That is, you cannot assume that the individual you appointed as the executor of your Last Will and Testament document holds the same level of understanding of this new digital currency. For this reason alone, it may be in your best interest to also assign a separate digital executor.
Importantly, even if you have found someone with the technical capability to know how to access cryptocurrency, this may be useless if they do not have your personal information. That is, you must not forget to provide them with your username, password, and other multi-factor authorization information to get to the location of your stored cryptocurrency. You should inform this person in another way besides through your will document, as this becomes a public record once it enters the Florida probate court.
Nonetheless, if you are ready to get started on your plan, please retain the services of a competent Broward County estate lawyer as soon as you can. We at The Probate Lawyers look forward to receiving your outreach.
