In short
Usually, yes, for crypto on an exchange: almost no exchange lets you name a beneficiary, so the account goes through the estate with a death certificate and the court’s probate papers. Probate is a legal process that confirms who may act for the estate. It does not open a wallet: for coins you hold yourself, the keys matter whatever the paperwork says. A living trust or a transfer-on-death beneficiary can keep an asset out of probate in some places.
“Probate” means different things in different countries. In this guide it means the court or notary process that confirms the will, or the heirs if there is no will, and gives the executor the document that banks and exchanges ask for. This page is general information, not legal advice; the country pages have the details.
What exchanges ask for
| Country | The document exchanges usually want |
|---|---|
| United States | Letters testamentary (with a will) or letters of administration (without), the court’s appointment papers. Many states have a simpler small-estate affidavit for modest estates. |
| United Kingdom | A grant of probate, or letters of administration if there is no will. As GOV.UK puts it, “every organisation has its own rules”. Scotland uses a different process, called confirmation. |
| Germany | An Erbschein from the Nachlassgericht, or a notarial will together with the court’s opening record. |
| France | The acte de notoriété drawn up by the notaire, with the death certificate. |
| Netherlands | A verklaring van erfrecht issued by a notaris. |
| European Union | A national document, or the optional European Certificate of Succession, which other EU countries bound by the Regulation accept without a special procedure. |
| Canada | Probate is handled by each province. |
| Australia | A grant of probate (with a will) or letters of administration (without) from the state or territory Supreme Court. Exchanges ask for it before releasing anything. |
Exchange by exchange, with the form each one uses, see claiming crypto from an exchange account.
What probate cannot do for a wallet
If someone kept their crypto in their own wallet, there is no bank, no customer service and no court that can open it without the keys. A judge can rule that you are the rightful heir. That ruling does not give you the twelve or twenty-four words that unlock the wallet. The paperwork settles who owns the coins; the seed phrase, the PIN and any passphrase decide whether anyone can reach them. See found a hardware wallet or seed phrase? and what your heirs need.
Ways to avoid probate
- A trust. In the United States, assets in a living trust, or passed through a transfer-on-death arrangement, can skip probate. The trust has to be funded, and for crypto it only works if the trustee can actually hold the keys. See putting crypto in a trust. In the United Kingdom, putting assets above the nil-rate band into most trusts costs inheritance tax up front.
- A beneficiary on the account. River offers transfer on death for bitcoin, and Unchained does for personal vaults, though the beneficiary still needs access to one of your keys. Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini do not offer a beneficiary for individual accounts, and Robinhood’s beneficiaries do not cover crypto. See crypto on exchanges and in apps.
- Crypto held through a fund or broker. An ETF share is a security and passes like any other investment; in the US you can name a transfer-on-death beneficiary on a brokerage account. See Bitcoin ETFs and crypto in a brokerage account.
Probate and privacy
Once a grant of probate has been issued in England and Wales, anyone can order a copy of the will. In most US states a will filed for probate becomes a public court record. That is why seed phrases and PINs never belong in a will. In Germany and the Netherlands, wills are not public registers, but the court, the heirs and their lawyers still read them. Put the instructions in a letter of instruction and read crypto in your will.
Next steps
For the overall picture, see what happens to your crypto when you die. For tax at death, see inheritance tax on crypto by country. If you are dealing with an estate now, start with your first steps.