Bitcoin Executor: Whom Should I Appoint?

A bitcoin executor is the person who, after your death, secures your estate including your bitcoin, manages it and distributes it among your heirs. You appoint them in your will: in Germany under §§ 2197 et seq. of the Civil Code (BGB), in Austria under § 816 of the General Civil Code (ABGB), in Switzerland as a "Willensvollstrecker" under Art. 517 of the Civil Code (ZGB). A good choice is someone who can move bitcoin safely, gets on with your heirs and can reach the keys only when the time comes. Legal knowledge can be bought in; technical knowledge rarely can in an emergency.

How to build a bitcoin inheritance plan with an emergency letter, key storage and a will is covered in Inheriting bitcoin. This article is about one decision within it: who carries the plan out.

What an executor actually does

Without an executor, several heirs inherit jointly as a community of heirs. In principle, every decision about the estate then needs all of them. If three siblings are to divide 2 BTC and one stops answering messages, the money sits still. With bitcoin there is an extra twist: whoever gets hold of the hardware wallet and the seed can move the coins alone. The law says "together", the technology says "whoever holds the key".

An executor solves both. They take possession of the estate, pay debts and taxes, carry out legacies and distribute the rest according to your will. During this time the heirs cannot dispose of the assets under administration themselves. For bitcoin, this means one person is responsible for securing, valuing and either transferring the coins to the heirs' wallets or selling them in an orderly way.

Typical tasks in a bitcoin estate:

1. Secure: establish access before anyone else does and, if necessary, move the coins to a new wallet whose keys only the executor holds.
2. Value: record the price on the date of death, because it counts for inheritance tax (see Bitcoin and inheritance tax).
3. List: draw up an inventory of the estate showing the bitcoin with amount and value.
4. Distribute: one transfer per heir to an address the heir provably controls, or a sale and payout in euros or francs.

Germany: §§ 2197 et seq. BGB

Under German law you appoint the executor in a will or inheritance contract (§ 2197 BGB). You can also name a substitute or leave the choice to a third party, such as the probate court (§§ 2198, 2200 BGB). The person does not have to accept; they declare acceptance to the probate court (§ 2202 BGB).

Once they accept, the executor manages the estate (§ 2205 BGB) and the heirs lose the power to dispose of it to that extent (§ 2211 BGB). The executor is liable to the heirs for mistakes (§ 2219 BGB), including losing coins through carelessness or sending them to the wrong address. Towards exchanges and banks they identify themselves with the executor's certificate (Testamentsvollstreckerzeugnis, § 2368 BGB).

You can set the duration. A simple settlement ends when everything has been distributed. A long-term administration (§ 2209 BGB) can manage the estate for longer, as a rule for at most 30 years (§ 2210 BGB). That is useful for bitcoin when a child should only control their share at 25 and someone has to hold the coins until then, instead of parking them on an exchange.

Austria: the executor in probate proceedings

In Austria every estate goes through probate proceedings (Verlassenschaftsverfahren) under the Non-Contentious Proceedings Act. A notary runs them as court commissioner. They record the assets, take the heirs' declarations of acceptance and prepare the "Einantwortung", the court order that hands the estate to the heirs. Until then, depending on the case, a curator or an heir represents the estate.

You can still appoint an executor under § 816 ABGB. Their task is to see that your last will is carried out; any further powers depend on what you give them. Administration as in Germany does not come automatically. What matters in practice is that the notary finds the bitcoin at all. State in your will that bitcoin exist and that the executor knows how to access them. The executor can then prove amount and value to the court commissioner without revealing any keys.

Austria has had no inheritance tax since 2008. But bitcoin you bought after 28 February 2021 remain "new assets", and a later sale by the heirs is taxable (see Bitcoin taxes in Austria). The executor should therefore hand over the purchase records too.

Switzerland: the Willensvollstrecker under Art. 517 ZGB

In Switzerland the role is called Willensvollstrecker. You appoint them in your will (Art. 517 para. 1 ZGB). The authority notifies them of the appointment, and they have 14 days to accept; silence counts as acceptance (Art. 517 para. 2 ZGB). They are entitled to reasonable remuneration (Art. 517 para. 3 ZGB).

Their powers are broad: they manage the estate, pay the debts, hand over the legacies and divide the estate according to your instructions or the law (Art. 518 ZGB). They are identified by a certificate of appointment, issued depending on the canton by the district court, a notary or another authority.

For bitcoin in Switzerland, tax comes in as well: the Willensvollstrecker usually prepares the inventory and files the deceased's final tax return. Bitcoin appear there at the price on the date of death or per the Federal Tax Administration's price list. Whether inheritance tax applies is up to each canton; spouses and, in most cantons, children are exempt.

Whom should I appoint? What a crypto-literate executor needs

The question in the title has no standard answer, but it has clear criteria. Check every candidate against these five points.

1. Technical confidence, not enthusiasm. The person must be able to set up a hardware wallet, verify an address, send a test transaction and produce a signed message. Someone who has self-custodied for years can. Someone who only trades through an app cannot.

2. Trusted by all heirs. An executor who is also an heir easily falls under suspicion of favouring themselves. That is allowed, but it causes conflict when 3 BTC and two estranged siblings are involved.

3. Reachable and younger than you. It sounds harsh, but it is the most common mistake: the friend who got you into bitcoin is the same age as you. Name at least one substitute.

4. Willing to accept. Talk to the person beforehand. An appointment they decline helps no one.

5. Separate from the key holder when the amount is large. For large holdings it is wiser if the executor cannot reach the coins alone, only together with an heir or a lawyer.

Three typical set-ups

• A family member with bitcoin experience: inexpensive, knows the family. Risk: conflict of interest and being overwhelmed by the legal side. A law firm can handle the formalities.
• Lawyer or notary: knows procedures and liability, often knows nothing about seeds. Works if your emergency letter describes the technical steps for a layperson or names a crypto-literate helper.
• Specialised service provider or trust company: Some law firms and trust companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland offer crypto estate settlement. Check whether they actually self-custody or just hand coins to an exchange, and get the fees in writing.

Cost: what an executor earns

In Germany the law only says "reasonable remuneration" (§ 2221 BGB). In practice, courts and advisers often use the Neue Rheinische Tabelle, a recommendation published by the German Notaries' Association in 2000. It gives a base fee as a percentage of the estate's value, with surcharges for complex estates. Bitcoin can justify such a surcharge if securing them takes effort.

You can set the fee yourself in the will, as a percentage, a fixed sum or an hourly rate. That avoids disputes over "reasonable". Switzerland and Austria have no widely used table; billing is usually by time spent, at lawyers' or trustees' hourly rates.

How the executor reaches the keys

The appointment grants powers, not keys. An executor's certificate opens an exchange account; together with a death certificate and ID, that is enough for the exchange. It does not open a hardware wallet in a drawer. You therefore have to set up access during your lifetime so that it meets two conditions:

• Useless before: the executor cannot move your coins while you are alive.
• Reliable after: they can, without an heir clearing everything out first.

Three approaches have proven themselves:

1. Emergency letter with the executor, seed elsewhere. The executor holds a sealed letter with instructions and the seed's location, for example a bank safe deposit box they can only open with the certificate. How to store seeds safely is covered in Storing your seed phrase.
2. Multisig with the executor as co-signer. In a 2-of-3 multisig wallet you hold two keys and the executor one. Alone they can do nothing. After your death they take your second key from the safe deposit box and sign with their own.
3. Timelock: a wallet branch that the executor's key alone can open only after a set period without movement. You then have to move the coins regularly, or the path opens while you are alive.

If you hold your coins on an exchange or through an ETP, it is simpler: the certificate is enough there. But that brings the provider's custody risk, described in When a crypto exchange goes bust.

What the will should say about the executor

A short checklist for the wording, to go through with a notary or lawyer:

• Name of the executor and at least one substitute.
• Task: settlement or long-term administration, and if long-term, until when (for example until the youngest heir's 25th birthday).
• Whether they may sell bitcoin or should distribute them in bitcoin, and whether they have a time window for it. Without instructions they act at their reasonable discretion, and a quick sale after a price drop can cause disputes.
• Fee as a percentage, flat sum or hourly rate.
• A note that an emergency letter exists and where the executor will find it, without its contents.
• Release from restrictions where wanted, for example the power to create a separate wallet for the estate.