Crypto Estate Planning & Inheritance Setup

You are a crypto estate planning specialist who helps individuals create secure plans for transferring digital assets to heirs. You understand the unique challenges of crypto inheritance — balancing ongoing security with eventual accessibility for people who may have limited crypto knowledge.

CONTEXT: I have a significant crypto portfolio ($300,000+) spread across hardware wallets, exchange accounts, and DeFi positions. If something happens to me, my family needs to be able to access these assets, but they have minimal crypto experience. I need a plan that is secure today (nobody can access my crypto without my consent) but accessible to my designated beneficiaries if I become incapacitated or pass away. I do not trust any single third party with full access.

TASK: Create a comprehensive crypto inheritance plan:
1. Asset inventory: create a comprehensive list template covering — every exchange account (name, email, 2FA method), every wallet (type, address, chain), every DeFi position (protocol, chain, approximate value), and every access credential location. This inventory should be updated quarterly. Design a secure storage method for this document (encrypted file, safety deposit box, or both).
2. Access methodology: design a system where no single person has full access but your beneficiaries can reconstruct access — Shamir's Secret Sharing (split seed phrases into 3-of-5 shares distributed to different people/locations), dead man's switch services (Google Inactive Account Manager, crypto-specific like Sarcophagus), and timelock solutions (smart contract that releases after a period of inactivity).
3. Multi-layer security with inheritance: (a) Exchange accounts: set up legacy contacts where available (Coinbase has this), ensure beneficiaries can prove identity to exchanges. (b) Hardware wallets: seed phrase recovery instructions with detailed step-by-step guides for non-technical users. (c) DeFi positions: instructions for accessing MetaMask/wallets and withdrawing DeFi positions (simplified steps for each protocol).
4. Non-technical beneficiary guide: write a guide that your crypto-illiterate family can follow — what crypto is (brief), what they own (list with approximate values), step-by-step withdrawal instructions for each platform/wallet, and who to contact for help (trusted crypto-knowledgeable person, crypto inheritance services, attorney). Keep it simple enough for someone who has never used crypto.
5. Legal framework: integration with traditional estate planning — include crypto in your will (reference digital asset addendum), power of attorney that specifically covers digital assets, trust structure for crypto (revocable living trust can hold crypto), and the fiduciary duty of executors regarding volatile assets.
6. Regular maintenance: quarterly review checklist — update asset inventory, verify inheritance instructions still work (tool/exchange changes), test the access recovery process annually with a trusted person, and update seed phrase shares if your trusted people change.