What happens to your BitGo accounts when you die

Account rights cannot be assigned or delegated by the account holder. The Terms of Use provide: "You may not assign or delegate these Terms, your obligations, rights or responsibilities. Any attempt by you to do so is void."¹

A private side agreement purporting to pass the account to someone is not effective against BitGo.¹

Accounts held for a trust or entity are governed by the account agreement and the Authorized Signer Form on file, not by a designation.²

BitGo Bank & Trust, N.A. holds federal fiduciary and custodial authority under its OCC national trust bank charter, which is what makes a trust-titled custody account workable.³

On a self-custody wallet held by the trust, BitGo holds only the Platform Key and cannot restore access if the trust loses its two keys.³

The fiduciary authority is not universal across BitGo services: the Staking and Delegation Services Terms expressly disclaim any fiduciary duty or advisory relationship for staking.⁴

Completed by the Control Person, who signs and dates it. Available to download.²

The form names a Control Person, the individual with "significant responsibility to control, manage, or direct the affairs of the company/entity," who must sign and date it. For a trust, the trustee is the natural control person.²

The form catalogs each individual "authorized to sign and enter into any and all agreements" for the entity with BitGo Trust.²

Naming the successor trustee as an authorized signer while the current trustee is alive is the only pre-death mechanism BitGo actually publishes, so the account is not stranded on the trustee's death or incapacity.²

Custody accounts for New York clients, under NYDFS supervision³