Crypto in Your Will: What to Write and What Never to

Anna is 47. She has bitcoin on a hardware wallet and a handwritten will she wrote on a sheet of paper a few years ago: “Everything to my son.” After her death, her son inherits. But the bitcoin stays frozen unless he learns that it exists, where the device is and how to use it. The will answers the question “who”. It doesn’t answer “how”.

(Anna is a made-up character.)

This guide explains what goes into a will about crypto, what doesn’t, and how to choose the form. The wider context, the path of an inheritance from death to payout, is in the pillar crypto inheritance. Everything below describes Polish law. Other EU countries have their own rules on wills and forced heirship, so check locally if you live or own assets elsewhere.

This is not legal advice. We write so you know what to ask. A will can be made at a notary or by hand, but for your own case, ask a notary or a lawyer.

Can you put crypto in a will?

Yes. Under Polish law the heir acquires the estate when it opens (Article 925 of the Polish Civil Code), and the estate includes the deceased’s property rights, crypto among them. Succession arises by statute or by will (Article 926). If you leave no will, your family inherits in the statutory order: children and spouse, then parents and siblings (Article 931 and following).

A will lets you arrange this differently. You can name a specific heir, divide the estate into parts or assign chosen items to specific people. You can’t skip your closest relatives without consequences, though. Descendants, a spouse and parents who would inherit by statute are owed a reserved share (zachowek, Article 991), which as a rule is half the value of the share they would have received. The value the reserved share is calculated from includes all property, crypto too.

What to put in a will

A will deals with rights, not technology. A provision about crypto contains:

1. Who inherits or who receives the crypto, by full name, not “my son” or “my wife”.
2. A general description of the object, not a technical one. For example “my cryptocurrencies”, “the funds in my account on exchange X” or “the bitcoin held on my hardware wallet”.
3. A statement that separate access instructions exist, and where to find them. The instructions themselves aren’t part of the will.
4. An executor, if you want to name someone to put your affairs in order.

“My cryptocurrencies” works better than a list of coins and addresses. A list goes out of date, and whoever reads it gets a map to your funds. For a legacy to a specific person, though, the description must allow the object to be identified clearly. You’ll settle how to word it with the notary.

What not to put in a will

Don’t write	Why
Seed phrase	A notary, a court and your family read a will, and copies go into the case file. Whoever knows the seed empties the wallet
Passwords, PINs, passphrase	For the same reason
Amounts and wallet addresses	After death the data passes through many hands, and addresses can be tracked on the public network
Detailed technical instructions	A will isn’t updated, and technology is. The instructions have a life of their own
Conditions and deadlines on a vindication legacy	Such a clause is treated as nonexistent, and if the legacy wouldn’t have been made without it, it’s void (Article 981³ of the Civil Code)

The main rule: the seed belongs in no document that has legal status and will be read by strangers. We cover storing the keys in the guide seed phrase: how to store it, and the glossary entry seed phrase explains why knowing the words means full control of the funds.

Access instructions for your family don’t go in a will either. They have a life of their own: you update the document that says what to do every year, and you change a will rarely. What the instructions contain is covered in the guide what access instructions for your family contain.

Ordinary legacy and vindication legacy

A will can contain a legacy (zapis): a provision giving a specific item of property to a named person without making them an heir. The Polish Civil Code has two kinds.

	Ordinary legacy (zapis zwykły)	Vindication legacy (zapis windykacyjny)
Effect	The heir must provide a specific property benefit to the legatee (Article 968 § 1 of the Civil Code), and the legatee can demand it after the will is announced (Article 970)	The legatee acquires the object of the legacy when the estate opens (Article 981¹ § 1)
Form of will	Any form of will	Notarial deed only (Article 981¹ § 1)
Object	A specific property benefit	An item identified individually, a transferable property right, a business, a farm, usufruct or an easement, all the rights of a partner in a partnership (Article 981¹ § 2)
Condition or deadline	Depends on the wording of the legacy, settle with the notary	Treated as nonexistent, and if the legacy wouldn’t have arisen without them, it’s void (Article 981³)
Object not owned by the testator at death	Settle with the notary	The legacy is ineffective (Article 981²)

Whether crypto can be covered by a vindication legacy as a transferable property right is a question the statute doesn’t answer directly. The rules on vindication legacies don’t mention crypto, and how to describe it depends on where it sits: on an exchange account it’s in practice a claim against the exchange, and at your own address it’s control of a key. So we don’t give a ready-made form of words. If you want the named person to become the owner of the crypto on the day you die, ask a notary whether and how to word it for your setup.

Keep one thing in mind with any legacy. A legatee who has acquired the right still doesn’t have the keys. A change of owner in law moves almost nothing on the network.

Handwritten or notarial will?

	Handwritten	Notarial
Requirements	Written entirely in the testator’s hand, signed and dated (Article 949 § 1 of the Civil Code). A missing date doesn’t invalidate the will if there’s no doubt (§ 2)	A notarial deed drawn up by a notary (Article 950)
Vindication legacy	Not possible	Possible
Risk	Can be lost, destroyed or challenged	Lower, because a notary draws it up
Cost	Zero	Notarial fee, settle with the office
Change	Easy to write a new one	A new deed at a notary

A handwritten will is valid if it meets the formal requirements. The problem is often that the family doesn’t know about it, that it sits in a drawer with no pointer, or that it has to be produced in the estate case and nobody knows where it is. With a notarial will, a trace stays at the notary’s office, so it’s easier to find. If you hold crypto of real value, or want a vindication legacy, the choice is simple: notarial.

Polish law also recognises special wills (oral, military, on board a ship). They cover exceptional situations and aren’t a solution for crypto.

Notary deposit

A Polish notary takes documents for safekeeping, including in sealed envelopes (Article 106 § 1 of the Notaries Act). The notary draws up a protocol stating the date of acceptance, establishing the identity of the person depositing and saying to whom and on what terms the document is to be released (Article 107 § 1). The glossary entry: notarial deposit.

For crypto, this suits access instructions and a pointer to where the keys are. We don’t deposit the seed there: whoever collects the envelope has full control of the funds. How to split the keys so that no single person or place is enough is covered in the guide 2-of-3 multisig wallet: who is it for.

You set the terms for releasing the envelope (to whom, and on presentation of what) with the notary in the protocol. A sensible condition is a document confirming death.

After death: notarial certificate of succession

After the testator’s death, the heir needs a document confirming their rights. That can be a court decision confirming the acquisition of the estate or a notarial certificate of succession (akt poświadczenia dziedziczenia, Article 1025 § 1 of the Civil Code). Against third parties, the heir proves their rights with one of these documents (Article 1027). Neither is issued before six months have passed since the estate opened, unless all known heirs have already filed their statements accepting or rejecting it (Article 1026).

A notary draws up the certificate after recording the succession protocol with all interested persons (Article 95b of the Notaries Act). Interested persons are statutory and testamentary heirs and persons who received vindication legacies (Article 95aa § 1). The notary draws up the certificate if there’s no doubt about who the heir is and the size of the shares, and with a vindication legacy also about who the legatee is and what the object is (Article 95e § 1). The glossary entry: notarial certificate of succession.

If the family disagrees or there are doubts, the case goes to court. The six-month period to accept or reject the estate runs from the day the heir learned of the basis of their succession (Article 1015 of the Civil Code). If they file nothing, the estate is accepted with the benefit of inventory.

None of these documents opens a wallet. We explain why in the guide what happens to your bitcoin when you die.

What else your family must have

A will, even a notarial one, is one of three things. The other two are:

1. Access instructions for your family: a document that says where the crypto is and how to reach it. It contains no seed and no amounts.
2. Keys in a place your family can reach after your death and a stranger won’t stumble on.

You can write the instructions yourself from the template in the guide, or do them with us. We describe this on the page For your family: access instructions for your family cost roughly 200–500 €, and a notary or lawyer handles the will and the estate case. We can’t see your keys and have no access to the funds.

Before you visit the notary

It’s worth bringing a short sheet of questions and information:

1. Who is to inherit, and who is to receive the crypto if those are different people.
2. Where the crypto is (exchange, own wallet), with no amounts and no seed.
3. Whether you want a vindication legacy for crypto, and how the notary sees its effect in your setup.
4. Whether the notary will take an envelope with the access instructions for safekeeping, and on what terms they’d release it.
5. What the reserved share looks like in your family and whether the will takes it into account.
6. Costs: the notarial fee and the fee for the deposit.

Ask the question about a vindication legacy for crypto outright. The answer depends on your setup and on the office’s practice, and on this point we don’t replace the notary. A further step is a visit to a tax adviser if you want to know the tax consequences for your family. An outline of the tax is in the guide inheritance tax on crypto in Poland and the SD-Z2 form.

Accurate as of 19 October 2026.