Estate planning articles
Learn how to protect your BitGo accounts and other assets with trusts, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents.
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Contact BitGo — 6-step process, 7 required documents, and varies; institutional accounts may require additional compliance review
After a BitGo account holder dies, accounts with beneficiary designations or trust ownership transfer to the designated recipients without probate. Solely-owned accounts require the estate's representative to contact BitGo's Legal & Regulatory Requests with the proper legal authority documents.
Claims can be filed by phone or by emailing documentation to inquiries@bitgo.com. Before reaching out, gather the account holder's full name, account numbers, and a certified death certificate.
The death claim process at BitGo works as follows:
BitGo does not publicly document a standardized death claim process. The process for estate settlement of digital assets held in custody will depend on the account type (institutional vs. individual), the custodial services agreement, and applicable state probate law. For self-custody wallets, heirs must have access to private keys or key shares -- BitGo cannot recover assets from self-custody wallets without the client's key shares. Contact BitGo support directly to initiate an estate claim.
How long the process takes at BitGo: Varies; institutional accounts may require additional compliance review. The most common reason for delays is missing or incomplete documentation, so submitting everything upfront is the best way to keep things moving.
BitGo requires several documents to process a claim, including Certified death certificate, Government-issued photo identification for the claimant, and Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (court-issued), and additional documentation depending on the account type. Certified copies are typically needed—photocopies are generally not accepted for death certificates or court documents.
For assets held in qualified custody, the estate's executor or administrator must contact BitGo with a certified death certificate, Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, and other required documentation. BitGo will coordinate the transfer of assets to the estate or designated recipient after verifying legal authority. For self-custody wallets, heirs must have access to the account holder's private keys or key shares, as BitGo cannot recover self-custody assets without them.
With qualified custody, BitGo holds all three keys in cold storage and acts as a regulated custodian. With self-custody wallets, the client retains key control using a 2-of-3 multi-signature architecture. For estate planning, qualified custody is generally simpler because the custodian can coordinate asset transfers upon death. Self-custody wallets require the account holder to securely document and store key recovery information for heirs.
Yes. BitGo offers institutional staking services across 50+ proof-of-stake protocols, securing approximately $48 billion in staked assets. Supported networks include Ethereum, Solana, BNB, Polkadot, Sui, and Bitcoin (via Babylon and Core). Staked assets remain in custody and can be managed through the same platform. If an account holder dies, staked assets are subject to the same estate claim process as other custodied assets, though unstaking periods (lock-up times) may delay the transfer of certain assets.
BitGo's Legal & Regulatory Requests can be reached by email at inquiries@bitgo.com for questions throughout the claims process.
Multiple BitGo investment accounts may mean multiple claims. Some account types can be processed together, but others require their own documentation. Check with the Legal & Regulatory Requests to confirm what applies.
Learn how to protect your BitGo accounts and other assets with trusts, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents.
Learn how to protect your BitGo accounts and other assets with trusts, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents.
