Ownership and access are separate questions

An heir may have a legal entitlement but no usable recovery material. Someone with a wallet key may have technical control but no authority to take the assets. A useful plan addresses both. Start by deciding who should administer the assets, who should receive them and who can provide technical help without taking unnecessary control.

The Ontario Securities Commission’s Quadriga review attributes the collapse to fraud by Gerald Cotten. It should not be presented as a case where all customer funds simply remained locked behind a deceased owner’s password.

Identify how each asset is held

Separate exchange accounts from self-custody wallets. An exchange has its own verification and estate process; a self-custody wallet depends on its keys and recovery configuration. Include networks, wallet types, staking or lending positions and official support addresses in the inventory. Do not assume the visible balance in one app describes everything you own.

Keep wallet seeds, separate passphrases and multisignature configuration under a deliberate custody arrangement. More people or more copies are not automatically safer. Consider both unauthorised access and the possibility that a required person or location will be unavailable.

Coordinate with advisers and the recipient

Ask a qualified local adviser how the will, any power of attorney, provider settings and tax records should fit together. Avoid promising a universal tax treatment or that an automated message can complete an inheritance. Give the recipient clear contact details and explain when to pause for professional help.

Use a harmless test wallet to rehearse navigation and terminology. Do not ask an inexperienced person to enter a live seed into an unfamiliar application. Record the date, software and backup format checked, and review the plan when holdings or recovery arrangements change.

Use a conditional handoff as one layer

ZeroLatch can deliver a scoped inventory and instructions after a missed check-in and safety period. It does not transfer assets, establish legal authority or confirm death. Simple permits authorised service-managed key recovery; Private requires a separate password or ZeroLatch recovery phrase. Neither option replaces an independent backup or a real recipient rehearsal. Start with harmless information and read the security model and backup checklist.

A short first message can identify the executor, explain where the inventory is kept and warn against unsolicited recovery offers. It need not include every key. Keep the independent backup useful even if the delivery service, email account or billing arrangement stops working.