Estate and Inheritance Recovery
When the estate includes cryptocurrency
but the credentials were never documented.
When someone dies or loses the capacity to manage their own affairs, the digital assets they held do not pass automatically with the rest of the estate. If their passwords, seed phrases, or device access were never documented and passed on, those assets can remain inaccessible indefinitely, even to heirs with a clear legal right to them.
We specialize in this problem: recovering access to cryptocurrency on behalf of those who have the legal entitlement to it, with the care and patience that the circumstances deserve.
Who We Work With
Families, executors, and the attorneys who represent them.
Surviving Family
Spouses, children, and other heirs.
Family members who have inherited, or have a legal claim to, cryptocurrency held by someone who has passed away or can no longer manage their own finances. We work at the pace the situation requires and keep communication plain and clear throughout.
Executors and Administrators
Those appointed to administer the estate.
Executors named in a will and administrators appointed by a probate court who have the legal duty to identify and account for all estate assets, including digital holdings that may represent significant value. We provide clear documentation of our work for your estate records.
Estate Attorneys
Legal professionals managing digital asset holdings.
Attorneys representing estates that include cryptocurrency. We are comfortable working within the formal structure of probate and estate administration, coordinating at the pace your process requires, and providing written reports that can be entered into the estate record.
Our Approach
Careful, discreet, and legally grounded.
People who come to us with estate cases are almost always navigating grief alongside logistics. We understand that, and we do not treat these cases with the same transactional efficiency we might apply to a standard password recovery. We work at the pace the situation requires, communicate in plain language, and take time to explain each step.
We verify legal entitlement before any technical work begins.
Before we perform any recovery work on an estate case, we confirm that the person engaging us has the legal right to the assets. This is not a formality: it is a firm requirement that protects the estate, protects the heirs, and is a professional obligation we take seriously. Acceptable documentation typically includes one or more of the following: letters testamentary or letters of administration issued by a probate court; a copy of the will or trust document naming you as executor or beneficiary; a current death certificate; or a durable power of attorney if the account holder is living but incapacitated.
We are glad to discuss what documentation applies to your specific situation before you gather anything, and we are comfortable working alongside your attorney to clarify any questions about the legal structure of the estate.
We do not guarantee outcomes.
Estate cases carry the same honest constraints as any other recovery work. Success depends on what information and materials survive, how the original wallet was configured, and the specific nature of the access problem. We provide a clear assessment of recovery probability before any technical work begins, and we will tell you directly if we believe a case is unlikely to be recoverable. We would rather acknowledge a limitation up front than charge an assessment fee for an engagement we cannot in good conscience recommend proceeding with.
What to Prepare
Legal documentation and technical materials.
You do not need to have everything organized before reaching out. Many families contact us before they have finished gathering materials, and we can help identify what is most likely to be useful. The lists below describe what we typically work with in estate cases.
Legal documentation
Letters testamentary, letters of administration, or other documentation confirming your role and authority in the estate.
A copy of the will, trust instrument, or other legal document establishing your right to the digital assets.
A death certificate, or, in cases of incapacity, a durable power of attorney or court order establishing your authority to act.
Any correspondence with a probate court, estate attorney, or financial institution that is relevant to the digital asset holdings.
Technical materials
Any notes, written instructions, or files the deceased or incapacitated person left that might relate to cryptocurrency accounts, wallet software, or access credentials.
Any hardware devices: a hardware wallet such as a Ledger or Trezor, a USB drive, an encrypted external hard drive, or a phone used to manage the wallet.
Any written seed phrases or recovery words, even if partial, damaged, or unclear.
Access to computers the person used regularly, particularly if they ran Bitcoin Core, Electrum, or similar desktop wallet software.
Pricing
The same two-fee model as our standard recovery work.
Estate cases follow the same fee structure as all KeyHaven engagements. There are no additional charges for the documentation requirements or the coordination involved in working with an estate.
Assessment fee
A flat fee starting at $300, set by the complexity of the technical access problem. This covers a thorough examination of all available material and produces a written report: what we found, our confidence in recovery, and a clear recommendation on whether proceeding makes sense.
The assessment fee is credited in full against the success fee. If recovery succeeds, you pay the difference, not both fees in full.
See the pricing page for the full tier breakdown and to understand which tier is likely to apply to your case.
Success fee
A percentage of the value of the assets recovered, charged only if access is successfully restored. The applicable rate depends on the complexity tier established at assessment.
If recovery does not succeed, no success fee is charged. The assessment fee is not refunded because it compensates for real technical work already performed, but it is never supplemented by any further charge.
There is never a third fee.
No release fee, no tax, no unlock fee, no gas fee. KeyHaven charges two fees and two fees only. If any person or service claims to be KeyHaven and requests a payment not described on this page or our pricing page, verify through our official contact address before responding, and treat any discrepancy as an impersonation attempt.
Begin when you are ready.
Start a confidential assessment.
There is no urgency and no payment at the triage stage. Describe the situation using the intake form and we will respond with an honest assessment of what recovery is likely to involve. We are glad to work directly with your attorney or legal representative throughout the process.
Begin a confidential assessment