What happens to Bitcoin and other digital assets when you die in Florida
Nieuchowicz Law PLLC | Delray Beach, Florida
Leaving Bitcoin to someone requires a plan for both ownership and access. Your estate documents determine who is entitled to the property. Your custody arrangements determine whether the person administering your estate can locate and manage it. A plan can succeed on paper and fail in practice if either part is missing.
Start by identifying what you actually own. Bitcoin in a personal wallet, an account with a cryptocurrency platform, and shares of a Bitcoin fund held through a brokerage account require different administration steps. Calling all three a “crypto account” can obscure the documents and procedures your family will need.
The custody arrangement changes the work
| Holding | What the successor needs to establish | Practical access issue |
|---|---|---|
| Exchange or other custodial account | The customer's contractual interest, account registration, and applicable succession arrangement | Provider procedures, identification, and fiduciary documentation |
| Self-custodied cryptocurrency | Ownership records and the will, trust, or other valid transfer arrangement | A usable recovery method and any required signers |
| Bitcoin fund shares in a brokerage account | Ownership of securities and the account's registration and valid beneficiary arrangements | Brokerage administration rather than recovery of personal Bitcoin keys |
A provider's emergency contact or legacy setting may concern disclosure, access, or account closure. It should not be assumed to create a valid beneficiary designation. Ask the provider what its feature actually does and retain the answer with your planning records.
A will and a funded trust work differently
Individually owned assets without a valid nonprobate transfer arrangement may require probate administration. A will supplies instructions for that process; writing an asset into a will does not itself remove the asset from probate. Assets actually held under a trust arrangement are administered under that arrangement, subject to its terms and applicable law. Signing a trust is only the beginning: ownership and funding must also be addressed. Florida separately addresses probate of a will and methods of creating a trust. Section 733.103 and section 736.0401.
Consider a hypothetical parent with an exchange account, a hardware wallet, and Bitcoin fund shares. The appointed fiduciary must review the exchange's ownership and succession terms, establish ownership and secure access for the wallet, and check the brokerage registration and any valid beneficiary designation. The three holdings need not follow the same transfer route. If one child knows the wallet's recovery phrase, that knowledge does not authorize the child to disregard another beneficiary's rights or the administration process.
What if there is no will
For probate property not effectively disposed of by a will, Florida's intestacy rules determine the heirs. A surviving spouse's share depends on family circumstances, including relevant descendants. Marriage and blended-family facts deserve review; access to a wallet does not determine the inheritance. Valid nonprobate arrangements require separate analysis. Sections 732.101 and 732.102.
Who administers the assets before distribution
A beneficiary is entitled to receive property under the applicable succession arrangement. A fiduciary administers property under legal authority and duties; the same person may serve both roles, but one does not automatically establish the other. Florida describes the personal representative as a fiduciary responsible for estate settlement and distribution. Section 733.602.
Before distributing probate assets, the representative must address applicable administration expenses, creditor claims, taxes, and beneficiary rights. Available assets and statutory priorities affect what can be distributed. An inheritance instruction should not be read as permission for an immediate wallet transfer that bypasses those obligations. Trust and nonprobate holdings require review under their own applicable rules. Section 733.707.
Florida's access law helps with custodians
Florida's Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act addresses disclosure and fiduciary access. It does not create ownership, repair a lost seed phrase, or make every account transferable. Its requirements differ according to the fiduciary and the information requested. A request for email content, for example, raises issues different from a request for other digital assets. Florida Chapter 740.
NFTs add another distinction. Owning a token does not automatically mean owning copyright in the associated image or a right to reproduce it commercially. The successor should preserve relevant purchase terms and licenses rather than assume those rights travel with the token. U.S. Copyright Office overview.
Give your family a usable starting point
Prepare an inventory that identifies holdings, custody types, ownership records, and the location of the recovery plan. Keep passwords and recovery phrases out of the will and ordinary intake forms. Your lawyer generally needs to understand the arrangement without receiving the means to move your assets.
For a planning discussion, bring your current estate documents, a nonsecret account list, and the provider's beneficiary or legacy-setting information. Those materials make it possible to connect the intended inheritance with a workable administration process.
Common questions
Can a court recover lost keys? A court order may assist with a custodian's disclosure or cooperation. It cannot, by itself, reconstruct a missing private key. Practical recovery depends on the custody system and surviving recovery materials.
Does sharing my seed phrase avoid probate? Sharing credentials alone does not create a valid ownership transfer, beneficiary designation, or probate-avoidance arrangement. It can also expose assets to unauthorized transactions.
Does my platform's legacy contact inherit my assets? Not necessarily. A legacy feature may concern disclosure, access, or closure. Confirm whether the provider offers a legally effective property-transfer arrangement and coordinate it with your plan.
Planning discussion
Contact Nieuchowicz Law PLLC, Delray Beach, Florida, to inquire about a planning discussion. Describe your objective without sending private keys, recovery phrases, passwords, or authentication codes. Representation is subject to conflicts review, acceptance, and an agreed scope.
General educational information, not legal, tax, investment, or technical advice for your circumstances. This article does not create an attorney-client relationship. Obtain appropriate advice before acting.