What happens to my bitcoin if I pass without an estate plan in place?

Your estate would be settled through your State's intestacy process and would become public record. A court would designate someone as the administrator of your estate and that person will need to have a private key and contact Unchained for assistance with recovering the bitcoin. 

This is often an expensive and time-consuming process, publicly reveals your bitcoin balance, and could introduce legal challenges for someone holding a key to your vault without the title to the vault. 

Unchained strongly recommends consulting a lawyer or estate planning professional if you have questions about estate planning strategies.

Unchained’s inheritance tools

Unchained accountholders have several tools available to them, depending on the type of account.

• Personal accounts: You may designate a TOD beneficiary for your personal vaults.
• IRA accounts: All Unchained IRAs are required to list a beneficiary. Keep your designations up to date.
• Trust accounts: If you already have a trust, you can onboard it with an Unchained trust account.
• Business accounts: You can add multiple users to your business account.
• Inheritance Protocol: Use our free Inheritance Protocol to help pass along a key to your vault.