Mikhail Uspenskiy

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Digital assets in inheritance and divorce

Estate planning for crypto assets, inclusion of digital currency in the estate, and division of digital assets on dissolution of marriage. The practice rests on multi-year scholarly research into the legal nature of digital currency — the characterisation of the asset determines the fate of the entire matter.

Planning

Estate planning

Designing the transfer of crypto assets: testamentary constructions, inheritance contracts, organising heirs’ access to keys and media without compromising the assets during the owner’s lifetime.

Estate

Inclusion in the estate

Supporting notarial and court procedures: proving that assets exist and belonged to the deceased, valuation, and working with the notary on non-standard property.

Divorce

Division on divorce

Identifying a spouse’s crypto assets, proving acquisition during marriage, valuation and division. Acting for the claimant or for the asset holder.

Research

Scholarly foundation

The practice draws on research into the legal characterisation of digital currency in Russian and foreign law — see International research.

Questions

Common questions

Is cryptocurrency inheritable?
Yes: digital currency is recognised as property and forms part of the estate. The practical difficulty is not legal possibility but proving the assets exist and securing actual access to them.
What happens to cryptocurrency if heirs do not know about it?
Assets of which no one is aware and to which there is no access are in practice lost permanently. The key element is lifetime planning: recording the asset inventory and a protected procedure for transferring access.
How to pass key access to heirs safely?
There are legal-technical constructions: from sealed notarial documents to distributed storage of access components. The solution is tailored to the asset mix and family situation; the main rule is not to keep a seed phrase “in an envelope in a desk drawer”.
Is cryptocurrency divided on divorce?
Crypto assets acquired during marriage generally form part of jointly acquired property and are subject to division. The central process questions are proving the assets exist, that they belong to the spouse, and valuation.
How to prove that a spouse holds crypto assets?
Through a body of circumstantial evidence: bank transfers to exchanges and exchangers, correspondence, witness evidence, forensic examination of devices. The proof strategy is built around the specific facts.
How is cryptocurrency valued for a notary and a court?
Valuation is made as of a legally significant date under a reasoned methodology. Asset volatility makes the choice of date and quote source an independent dispute point for which one must be prepared.
Can a will cover assets that do not yet exist?
Testamentary constructions can be drafted to cover property acquired after they are made. For crypto assets this is especially relevant and requires careful wording.
Where to start estate planning for crypto assets?
With an inventory: asset composition, storage locations, access methods. Then — choosing the legal transfer construction and its technical implementation. An initial consultation resolves most questions.
Next

The scholarly basis for characterising digital currency is set out under Research. Complex mandates are delivered with Parallax.

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