Keys never enter probate
Probate is public. If a private key enters the public record, the asset is gone. We use tailored trust architectures to bypass the court entirely.
PRACTICE · CRYPTO & DIGITAL ASSETS
Digital Asset Wealth & Succession
The traditional institutions built to protect real property—banks, executors, and probate courts—are fundamentally unequipped to secure digital assets. When an estate holds seven figures in Bitcoin or an illiquid portfolio of tokenized assets, standard wills fail catastrophically, often exposing private keys to the public record. We structure the equivalent of a private bank for assets that have no bank, ensuring wealth transitions quietly, securely, and cleanly to the next generation without risking loss or theft.
- Discipline
- Crypto & Digital Assets
- Engagement
- Per matter or retainer
- Counsel
- Christopher Moye
CRYPTO & DIGITAL ASSETS
Keys never enter probate
Probate is public.
The problem
A standard will can destroy a crypto fortune the moment it does its job — by publishing the keys.
Probate is a public proceeding. A will that lists wallet credentials, or an executor with no authority to compel an exchange, is how digital wealth is lost — and a meaningful share of all Bitcoin is already gone to forgotten keys. Succession here is a custody problem as much as a legal one, and both have to be solved before the estate is tested.
Principles · 01
How we draft the matter.
Every engagement is composed against these commitments. They shape the protections we add, the questions we ask, and the document that leaves the file.
Eliminating single points of failure
A hardware wallet in a safe is not a succession plan. We structure multi-signature custody that survives incapacitation or loss.
Fiduciaries must have authority
Without explicit RUFADAA language, exchanges will freeze your accounts upon death. We draft the exact clauses that force compliance.
What we watch · 02
What can break the matter.
These are the terms, structures, and practical risks that usually decide whether the work holds when the file is tested.
PATRIARCHFOUNDER
Digital-Asset Estate Planning
Integrating RUFADAA-compliant language into core estate documents to ensure fiduciaries have the exact legal authority required to compel access from centralized exchanges.
HNWFAMILY OFFICE
Multi-Sig Custody & UCC Article 12
Eliminating single points of failure by architecting multi-signature arrangements and controllable electronic record trusts that satisfy New York’s strict commercial code requirements.
COLLECTORCREATOR
NFT & Tokenized-Asset Succession
Drafting the specific trust mechanisms required to transfer the commercial IP rights and immense financial value of non-fungible tokens and tokenized real estate across generations.
The work · 03
Four steps. One engagement.
Each step is concrete; each step has a deliverable. The scope is defined, the matter moves, and the file closes.
- 01
Inventory & Architecture
We map the full extent of your digital holdings, separating custodial exchange accounts from self-custodied hardware wallets.
- 02
Trust Integration
We draft tailored, crypto-native trusts designed specifically to hold digital assets without triggering unnecessary tax events.
- 03
Custody Engineering
We establish multi-signature protocols and designate trusted technical fiduciaries to ensure redundancy.
- 04
Stress Testing
We simulate an incapacitation event to verify that your fiduciaries can actually access and move the funds when required.
Proof
What stands behind the work.
What stands behind the work — credentials and representative engagements, stated plainly.
Digital-asset succession matters are handled by Christopher Moyé, Esq., who authors the firm's published writing on crypto estate planning.
Crypto-native trusts, RUFADAA fiduciary authority, multi-signature custody for estates, and NFT and tokenized-asset succession.
Every plan is stress-tested — we simulate an incapacity event to confirm a fiduciary can actually reach the assets.
Common questions
Questions clients ask.
Plain answers to the questions that come up most. If yours is not here, send the facts — we answer in writing.
- How do I leave my crypto to my heirs?
- Through a plan that transfers access, not just ownership: a trust or instructions that keep keys out of the public probate record, fiduciary authority your executor can use with exchanges, and a secure, tested way for heirs to obtain the keys. Naming the asset in a will without solving access is how it gets lost.
- Why can't I just put my wallet in my will?
- A will becomes a public record in probate, so listing keys or a seed phrase there can expose them. A will alone also often does not give your executor authority an exchange will honor. We use trusts and RUFADAA-compliant language so access transfers privately and enforceably.
- What is RUFADAA?
- The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, adopted in New York, governs whether your fiduciary can access your digital accounts. Without the right authorizing language in your documents, a custodian or exchange can refuse — even freeze — the account at death. We draft the clauses that establish that authority.
- What happens to my crypto if I die without a plan?
- If no one can locate or access the keys, the assets are effectively lost — there is no bank or court that can recover a self-custodied wallet. A large share of existing Bitcoin is already unrecoverable for exactly this reason. Planning is the only safeguard.
- Can a trust hold Bitcoin and NFTs?
- Yes, with the right structure. A crypto-native trust can hold digital assets, name a trustee able to administer them, and direct multi-signature custody so no single person's loss breaks the plan. We draft the trust to the assets rather than forcing crypto into a conventional template.
SECURE YOUR ASSETS
Secure your digital estate.
Draft the explicit trust mechanisms and custody structures that ensure your private keys outlive you.
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