Probate

In England and Wales, the government describes probate as “the legal right to deal with someone’s property, money and possessions (their ‘estate’) when they die”. The executor works out what the estate is worth, then applies, and the grant usually comes within 12 weeks. Not every estate needs one: money held jointly, for example, passes to the surviving owner. In California, a judge appoints a personal representative, who collects the dead person’s property, pays their bills and passes on what’s left.

Crypto can be part of an estate like anything else. In December 2025, a law confirmed that things like crypto tokens can be owned as personal property in England and Wales, which, as the government pointed out, means they can be part of a person’s estate.

What probate can do depends on where the coins are:

• On an exchange, it’s the way in. The company treats a dead customer’s account much as a bank would: Kraken, for example, asks for the official death certificate, the document appointing whoever represents the estate, and that person’s ID.
• In a wallet only the dead person could open, it gives the right to the coins, not the private key. Without the device and its PIN, or the seed phrase, the coins stay where they are.

It can also make a will public. In England and Wales, anyone can search the probate records and order a copy of a will online for 16 pounds, so recovery words written into a will can reach strangers. The guide on inheritance covers how to arrange keys so that heirs can reach the money and no one can take it while you’re alive.