free excerpt · vol. 1 · the letter of instruction

the letter your family needs is not the will

margin note: b9’s take: the boring folder saves a family a year of guessing.

the letter of instruction is a plain document, addressed to whoever will deal with this, that turns the asset map (a no-secrets list of what you hold and where) into steps. it is not a legal document and it is not a will. it is a manual.

what it should contain

what this is. “this letter explains how to find and access my crypto-assets. the asset map is attached.”
who to involve. the trusted person by name, your lawyer if you use one, and anyone technical you trust.
where the secrets are. not the secrets themselves: “the seed backup is in X. the passphrase is in Y. both are needed.”
the order to do things in. first step: do nothing in a hurry.
who not to trust. “nobody legitimate will ever ask for the seed phrase. ignore anyone who contacts you offering to recover or unlock anything.”
what not to do in a hurry. no selling, no moving, no “consolidating” until the estate process says who owns what.
the date. and a promise to yourself to update it.

write it for someone smart who has never used a wallet. if a sentence needs the word “obviously”, rewrite it.

why the seed phrase doesn’t go in the will

a will is a legal document with a different job: who inherits what. it is often read by several people during the estate process, and in some places a will can become a public record afterwards. and a will is usually written long before it is used, so a seed phrase inside it is exposed for years.

so: the will can say who inherits the crypto-assets, and can refer to “my crypto-assets as described in my asset map”. it should not contain seed phrases, passwords or anything that gives control.

laws differ by country. check the rules where you live, and talk to a local lawyer about wills and inheritance.

nfa. education, not financial, legal or tax advice. you can lose all the money you put into crypto. interests: see /disclosure.

what’s inside the full guide (pdf · 22 pages): five chapters (why “they’ll figure it out” fails · the asset map: what exists and where · access without handing over keys today · the letter, the trusted person and the dead man’s checklist · testing the plan and keeping it current), plus a fill-in asset map, a fill-in letter, a step-by-step checklist for the family, a one-page checklist, a glossary and sources.

ad · our own product. the full guide, “the lazy guide to digital assets after death” (vol. 1, pdf, 22 pages), is $3.99: rektnotrich.com/courses/digital-assets-for-death

source: the lazy guide to digital assets after death, vol. 1, v1.1 (oct 2026). chapter 4 · 4.1 “the letter of instruction” and 4.2 “why the seed phrase doesn’t go in the will”, page 12 (item 4 wording from the fill-in letter, page 12). asset map definition: glossary, page 18. heads-up line: disclaimer, pages 2 and 20. margin note: the one-page checklist, page 17. contents: page 3.