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208 sats \ 5 replies \ @nerd2ninja 16 Mar 2023 \ on: Bitcoin inheritance: treat your heirs like aliens bitcoin
Timelocks (or better op_vault, but of course that's a softfork that hasn't been implemented into consensus yet)
If I understand correctly, a timelock will automatically spend BTC to another wallet upon a set time.
So your non-bitcoiner heirs need to understand how to access, self-custody, and maintain security for the destination wallet.
So it seems like the same issues, just a new wallet (the destination wallet instead of your own)
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The difference, is that you can perfectly describe exactly how to use it in full plain text. If someone tries to steal it before you're dead, you can spend out of it, but if it is in the hands of the heir, it can well really just be a smartphone with the wallet installed, private key ready to rock and everything. "Hit send and scan the QR code of whomever you want to send it to". Might be the instructions. I suppose you could try being extremely verbose as well, but its a hot wallet essentially. Oh, I remember lightsats teaches users how to download and use a lightning wallet so easily too.
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"you can perfectly describe exactly how to use it in full plain text"
This sounds like a version of the "perfectly" written inheritance letter or "simple" treasure map.
My experience, even with legacy assets, has been that no matter how clearly or simply the deceased thinks they've arranged things, during the stressful probate process, heirs will often fumble.
If anything, I urge us all to underestimate our heirs and executors. It may seem silly, but assume their IQ drops 50 points
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Its not a treasure map. You give it to them and explain how to use it while you're alive maybe even let them try a test transaction. They can't spend from the timelocked wallet as long as you're alive to spend out of it.
ALSO, if you never teach your heir about Bitcoin, you especially shouldn't expect them to value Bitcoin at all. As soon as they get it, they're gonna go sell it on Coinbase lol.
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Not really. One way you could approach this is by storing a few pre-signed transactions that transfer your funds to your heir, that have a locktime of a few years.
That way, the funds can't be spent before that timelock (and you could just spend the UTXOs, invalidating the pre-signed transactions), and the timelocked transaction can only be mined after that locktime.
Another way is Liana https://github.com/wizardsardine/liana, that uses a script address that can be spent by a secondary (heir) key after some amount of time. Liana is still WIP though.