An inheritance template

Below is an example letter designed to help you consider how you might handle inheritance for Bitcoin.

The goal is to ensure that your beneficiary(s) have a basic level of understanding and experience using self custodial Bitcoin wallets before they inherit your bitcoin. As they create these wallets, they no longer have the excuse that taking custody is too hard as the bulk of the work is already done and the details of what to think about have already been spelled out.

If the beneficiary understands self custody and bitcoin wallets, they will likely be able to skip many of the steps, however the letter is framed such that if they do not have this knowledge, they will most likely follow the steps as it appears to be a mandatory technical prerequisite to receiving the bitcoin.

In order to compliment this letter, you should consider creating and providing a starter kit. This will include the tools and devices necessary to complete the instructions, and it would be helpful to include some recorded demos of you following the same instructions. The beneficiary will need to use their own personal device(s), and some steps may be different in the future, but a visual aid will be very helpful.

What you'll need

In order to create a starter kit, you will need the following items:

1. A spare hardware wallet: this will be a device that you will never use; you will have your own hardware wallet for your own personal use, but this needs to be one exclusively reserved for your beneficiary.
2. Dice or coins: Why not provide the tools that you wish for them to use to create their own keys.
3. A key stamping kit: this will include any steel plates that will be stamped onto, hammers, any jigs that might help make the stamping process easier, and a capsule or enclosure for the stamped backup with tamper evident seals or stickers. Note, if you prefer to store your seed in some other fashion, have the tools and mediums for that instead.
4. An extra steel plate: You will be demoing the process of stamping seed phrases to your preferred medium of storage. This means that you will an extra untouched one to include in the final starter kit.
5. A video camera: It may also help to have a partner or friend film you and for you to have a well lit and set up environment.
6. A digital storage device: A small USB storage device can contain the videos you wish to share.
7. Blank cards or paper: We can use these to label items and to provide tips to help our beneficiary identify items and how they should be used.
8. A case: For presentation, it is a good idea to place the different items into a case, preferably filled with a foam insert that can be cut to allow the different items to be snugly fit and presented nicely. It may also be a good idea to seal the case with a tamper proof seal or sticker.

Note that this document is merely a recommendation, feel free to design your starter kit as differently as you'd like. If the kit can be personalised in any way to the intended beneficiary, that will be even better.

What to record

It may be possible to find and link to online videos made by others, however a video of yourself will be more familiar and will show how to use the tools you have provided. If the beneficiary feels uncertain, they will choose to use the provided tools and to follow your instructions to the letter.

The following things are useful to record:

1. Rolling dice or coin flips and creating a new key: This can be a sped up video, but it shows that the task is not overly complex or convoluted and will encourage the viewer to follow this step. Doing it for real, you will show how you go about recording fairly, if you find duplicate numbers, you can stress why you should keep those in.
2. Entering details into your hardware wallet: Creating a new cold wallet using dice rolls or coin flips is often hidden as an advanced feature. Showing how to find this feature using the device they will be using will speed the process up tremendously.
3. Stamping seed words: This can be a short video showing only the stamping of a couple of words, but it will help to show how the tools are used and it will provide some familiarity for the viewer and encourage them to do the same.
4. Creating a watch-only wallet: This can be a daunting task, and is hard to describe in the letter as it depends on the device and the application you are choosing to use. Showing how to do this air-gapped is also very useful.
5. Air gapped signing: Again, air-gapped signing is different based on the hardware wallet and the wallet software so showing a specific example will help.

Making these recordings will give you the confidence that the instructions are clear and will help you to add clarifications to the letter or as hint cards where appropriate for your specific setup.

Reusing items for demo and final purpose

It is obviously best to provide brand new items in your starter kit, however certain things can be expensive: namely the tools used to punch seed words, and the hardware wallet itself.

If you must use the same hardware wallet to demo, be sure to include extra instructions on what things have been open, and what to expect when starting the device. Ideally it should be in a factory reset mode, however if this is not possible, you may need to provide a pin and provide instructions on how to restart seed creation.

Be clear, such that the recipient can still follow official online guidance with only the exceptions you provided. For example, you can keep your device within the tamper evident bag it came in. The recipient can verify that the device and packaging match but will understand that you have already opened it and that they should not worry about that.

The package

A foam filled case allows you to present your gift well, and ensures that the contents are well protected and organised. Using a marker, you can mark out areas for your items to sit, keeping the holes snug, you can then use a knife to cut into the foam and dig out the holes for your items to sit.

Cards can be placed into slits with finger holes on either side to allow pinching and pulling the card out easily. These cards can provide useful diagrams and notes to help improve the overall experience, making the inheritance feel like a cool gift rather than a set of chores.

The contents will include:

1. A hardware wallet of your choice
2. Tools and plate to punch new seed words, including any capsules if appropriate
3. Dice/coins and paper designed to help with recording the results
4. A USB storage device with videos
5. Tamper evident bag(s) and/or seal(s)
6. A selection of cards explaining what contents to expect, and what they should be used for
7. The letter itself providing instructions for your beneficiary

The letter

Below is an example letter, read it carefully, modify as you please and be sure to add your own details for the last paragraph as your own situation will likely be different to the example I have provided:

A letter to my next of kin