The Inheritance Plan Worksheet

Most crypto that is lost is not stolen. It is stranded, because the only person who could reach it is gone. This worksheet walks you through a plan that lets the right people recover your funds later, without ever writing a secret somewhere it could leak now. Work through it slowly. The goal is a plan you have actually tested, not a document you felt good about writing.

Take inventory, privately

I have listed, in a secure place, every wallet and account that holds value, and roughly what each one holds.
For each wallet, I have noted what kind it is (hardware, software, exchange) and what is needed to reach it.
This inventory contains no seed phrases or private keys. It describes what exists and where, never the secrets themselves.

Decide who inherits what

I have decided who should receive these assets, and who should help recover them, which may be different people.
I have chosen people who are trustworthy and capable of following instructions carefully under stress.
If more than one person is involved, I have decided how much any single person can do alone.

Choose a recovery method

I have chosen a method that does not depend on one person holding one secret: for example a Shamir split, a multisig, or a guided recovery like the Lazarus Protocol.
No single person I have chosen can drain the funds on their own while I am alive.
I understand how the chosen method actually triggers, and I have confirmed it works the way I think it does.

Document the map, not the keys

I have written clear instructions for how recovery works, who to contact, and what steps to take, in plain language.
These instructions point to where things are and how the process works, and never contain the seed phrase or private key itself.
My seed phrase and key material are stored separately, physically, under the method I chose, not in this document and not in my will.

Tell the right people the right amount

The people involved know they have a role, know where to find the instructions, and know who else is involved.
Nobody has been given enough, on their own, to compromise the funds today.
Someone I trust knows this plan exists at all, so it is not discovered too late to use.

Test it, then schedule a review

I have done a dry run of the recovery process, as far as is safely possible, to confirm the instructions actually work.
I have fixed anything in the instructions that was unclear during the test.
I have set a date, at least once a year, to review this plan as my holdings, tools, and people change.