What happens to your Coinbase accounts when you die
No beneficiary or trust option on any account, so they pass through the estate
Coinbase does not currently support beneficiary designations, transfer-on-death registrations, or trust account titling on any account type. All Coinbase accounts pass through the estate at death and may require probate.
When an account holder dies, the executor or administrator will need to contact Coinbase with a death certificate and legal authority documents to claim account balances. The process and required documents are covered on the death claim page.
Coinbase does not currently support beneficiary designations (POD or TOD) on any account type. All accounts transfer through the estate at death and may require probate.
Why trust accounts are not available
Coinbase does not support retitling accounts into a trust, naming a trust as beneficiary, or any other probate-avoidance mechanism. Account balances transfer through the estate at death.
Stocks (Coinbase Capital Markets Corporation)
Coinbase Trading Account
Coinbase Staking
USDC Rewards
Coinbase Vault
Coinbase One
Coinbase Wallet (self-custody)
What Coinbase says about beneficiaries and trusts
Each section is Coinbase's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Which accounts take a beneficiary1
- Crypto account
On legal documentation of death, Coinbase freezes the account. A designated fiduciary must open a new Coinbase account, and the entirety of the decedent's account is transferred into it.1
If no fiduciary was designated, Coinbase may treat as fiduciary a person entitled to inherit, on documentation it deems sufficient such as a will, a living trust or a small estate affidavit, or require a court order. Where a designation's validity is uncertain, it may require a court order first.1
The self-custody Coinbase Wallet has no designation mechanism and no Coinbase involvement. Heirs need its 12-word recovery phrase, or the encrypted iCloud or Google Drive backup and its password.2
Trust account forms Coinbase issues1
- Authorized Representative List (Appendix A template)
Completed by a Trustee or an Administrator, who signs it. Completed online.3
What Coinbase says about trust accounts1
- Whether a new account is opened
An individual consumer Coinbase account cannot be retitled to a trust, because consumer accounts are opened in an individual's name. The trust path is an institutional entity application.3
Accounts handled elsewhere1
- Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC
Custody for trusts onboarded through Coinbase Institutional3
Phone: 1-646-760-6195
Email: institutionalcomplaints@coinbase.com
Mailing address: 228 Park Ave S #23008, New York, NY 10003
Not in Coinbase's published guidance4
- What the owner provides to name a beneficiary
- An online way to name a beneficiary
- Beneficiary designation by phone or mail
- How long a change takes
Sources
Data sourced from Coinbase primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Coinbase instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Coinbase primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Coinbase estate support
Coinbase Institutional
Phone
Mailing address
Website
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