If something happened to you tomorrow, could your family get to your coins? A lot of us have thought about keeping our keys safe and not enough about handing them over. Here is the checklist I use. It's general information, not legal advice, and the details depend on your state or country.

Two separate problems

1. Your family doesn't know the Bitcoin exists. There is rarely a paper trail.
2. They know, but can't get in. A lawyer's authority over your estate doesn't replace the private key.

What not to do

• Don't put your seed phrase in your will. A will usually becomes part of the public record in probate, so anyone reading it could take the coins. Ask your attorney how to keep your instructions out of the will itself.
• Don't store the seed and the explanation of what it is in the same place.
• Don't split a seed by just dividing the words between two people. That can make it weaker, not stronger. Use a scheme your wallet actually supports.
• Tell your heirs in writing that "recovery services" claiming to restore coins without the seed are scams.

What to do

1. Inventory. List what you hold and where: wallets, devices, exchanges, what kind of setup each is. Don't list seeds. Keep purchase dates and prices for cost basis.
2. A letter of instruction, kept separate from your will, written for someone who knows nothing about Bitcoin: what you have, where the backups are, and the steps from opening the wallet to turning coins into cash.
3. Choose how they actually get in. Single key plus instructions is simplest but relies on one person and one location. Multisig (for example 2-of-3) means no single person can spend alone, but every key holder also needs the wallet descriptor, because seeds alone won't restore a multisig wallet. Collaborative custody puts one key with a company, which adds fees and company risk. Each has trade-offs; pick on purpose.
4. Name your Bitcoin in your will or trust, without keys or passwords, so it doesn't fall into the catch-all residue.
5. Test it. Have a trusted person walk through the letter on a small amount.
6. Review yearly, and whenever you change wallets.

Ask a professional about: whether your will and letter interact badly, whether a person or firm holding a key has licensing issues in your state, and how your heirs would be taxed. Many attorneys and CPAs don't know Bitcoin yet, so ask directly whether they've handled self-custody before.

Disclosure: I run BitcoinProFinder, a free directory of professionals who publicly say they work with Bitcoin holders (no referral fees, not endorsements). The longer version of this checklist, with questions to ask an attorney and a CPA, is here: https://bitcoinprofinder.com/guides/leave-bitcoin-to-heirs.html

Corrections welcome. What have you set up for your own family?