Version: 2019-06-27 Release 1.0.0
{id: appendix-i-sample-digital-assets-letter}
The following is a sample letter which could be used by a digital-asset holder to alert their heirs of the existence of the digital assets. For a more complete book on this topic, see Pamela Morgan's book Cryptoasset Inheritance Planning.
Dear [Heir],
Today's date is [Date]. This letter is intended to inform you that I own digital assets that are not held or controlled by third parties. I want to be sure that you can access them in case someday I can't. Do not access these digital assets unless I am dead or mentally incapacitated.
Please read through this letter completely before you take any action, and get the help of someone knowledgeable about digital assets such as [a trusted person or persons familiar with digital assets].
Remember, these assets aren't held by a bank and mistakes can't be fixed; the transfers must be done correctly or the funds could be lost forever. Closely watch everyone who helps and make sure you understand everything that is happening. Be extremely careful with PINs, passwords, and "wallet backups" because anyone who sees them can steal the digital assets.
To date I've used [digital-asset exchange brokerage] as my digital-asset-to-US-dollars exchange. This exchange account is connected to my [insert traditional bank name] [checking, savings, or brokerage] account ending in [last 4 digits of the account number]. My exchange account is registered with the account name [account name] and password is [reminder of a password that you previously shared with the Heir(s)]. As of the date of this letter, there are no funds in [brokerage]; I only move digital assets there for the briefest amount of time possible in order to exchange to/from US dollars. However, you may need to access [brokerage] just in case there are any funds there in-progress; to do so, you'll need access to my phone for 2FA (two-factor authentication) to move any funds away. The PIN on my phone is [PIN, or reminder of a PIN that you previously shared with the Heir(s)] and the app [app-name] will give you the code to authorize transactions with [brokerage]. If you need to sell digital assets to US dollars, I recommend you set up your own accounts rather than use my [exchange] account. In all cases, you should work with the companies by going through their processes to gain legal access to my account, as it may be illegal for you to use my account and password directly.
Most of my digital assets are held under my master secret, which is a computer-generated 24-word recovery phrase. These words are stored at [where they're stored, and an explanation of whether any additional work is required to decrypt them]. Be very careful with these 24 words as with them anyone can steal my digital assets. It is safer to use [a hardware device containing the private keys], which is located at [location]. [Include a photo of the device too.] It is secured by [PIN, or preferably, an clue of what the PIN is that the Heir will recognize]. Try using that first with anyone helping you move or exchange digital assets and leave the 24 words in the safety deposit box as a last resort.
As of today there are [number] kinds of digital assets stored under my master secret: [a list of what they are]. In the future there may be more or less. Using that master secret, the funds can be recovered from anywhere, but the easiest method is to use my [hardware device] and [software program], which is accessible through a USB stick stored with my other materials.
There may be some other 24-word keys or passwords at [storage location]. These may have smaller amounts of money for [other endeavors] or for lesser incidental use while I'm traveling.
[Discussion of non-digital assets or important accounts, such as brokerage and email accounts, may also be appropriate for such a letter.]
Signed, [Digital Asset Holder]