Bitcoin, Ethereum and Co.: How do you actually inherit cryptocurrencies?
If you want to pass on your assets in the form of digital means of payment, you have to regulate technical access above all. But there are also some tax aspects to consider.
US entrepreneur Matthew Mellon's heirs were unable to access his XRP cryptocurrency fortune worth hundreds of millions of dollars after his death in 2018, as he had not left behind the access details. According to experts, including Sandra Klug from the Verbraucherzentrale Hamburg and Stephanie Herzog, a lawyer, cryptocurrencies are considered part of a deceased person's estate and are subject to inheritance laws.
To ensure that heirs can access the cryptocurrency, it is recommended to store the private key securely, for example, with a lawyer or in a safe, and to document its location. The value of the cryptocurrency is determined on the day of the deceased person's death, and heirs may be liable for inheritance tax even if they cannot access the cryptocurrency.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report — not a translation of it. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
