Bitkey's Inheritance feature allows you to designate a single beneficiary who can access the funds in your wallet after your death.
🔎 Note: Inheritance only allows for one active beneficiary. If you already have one, you’ll need to remove them before adding a new one.
Before you begin
- Your beneficiary does not need to have a Bitkey wallet before you send the invitation, but they must have one (hardware + app) before they can accept
👉 See Who can be a beneficiary? - We recommend letting your intended beneficiary know ahead of time, since they’ll need to accept your invitation
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Inheritance is not active until:
- Your beneficiary accepts the invitation
- You reopen the Bitkey app to activate it
⚖️ Legal Note: Naming someone as a beneficiary in Bitkey does not guarantee legal ownership of your funds. Ownership may be governed by a will or other legal documents.
We recommend consulting an estate attorney to ensure your intentions are fully supported.
To add a beneficiary
- From the Bitkey app Home screen, tap the
settings icon
- Tap
Inheritance
- On the Beneficiaries tab, tap + Add
- Enter your beneficiary’s name and tap Continue
- Enable critical alerts if you haven’t already
👉 See What are critical alerts and how do I update how I’m notified about them? - Tap Save beneficiary and confirm using your hardware device
- Tap Share invite, then send the invitation to your beneficiary
Once sent:
- Your beneficiary will need to follow the steps in How do I become an Inheritance beneficiary? to accept
- You’ll see You're all set when the invitation is created
- When your beneficiary accepts, you’ll receive a notification
- Reopen the Bitkey app to activate Inheritance
 👉 See How do I see the status of my beneficiary?
If the invitation wasn’t received, see:
 👉 How do I resend a beneficiary invitation?
 👉 How do I resend a beneficiary invitation?
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If the invitation expired, you’ll need to remove the beneficiary and start again.
To remove a beneficiary
- From the Bitkey app Home screen, tap the
settings icon
- Tap
Inheritance
- On the Beneficiaries tab, tap Manage next to their name
- If no name is listed, there is no current beneficiary relationship
👉 See Why did the name of my beneficiary / benefactor disappear?  - Then, follow the steps based on the beneficiary’s status:
- If no name is listed, there is no current beneficiary relationship
| Status | Action |
| Pending | Tap Cancel invitation, then confirm with your hardware device |
| Invite expired | Tap Cancel invitation, then confirm with your hardware device |
| Active | Tap Remove beneficiary, then confirm with your hardware device |
| Claim pending | Tap Remove beneficiary to cancel the claim and end the relationship |
| Claim approved | See below for specific guidance depending on fund transfer progress |
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If the claim is approved:
- If Transfer funds is still visible, and the beneficiary hasn’t completed the transfer:
👉 The inheritance claim has been approved. How do I retain control of my funds? - If your beneficiary has already initiated the fund transfer:
- The Remove beneficiary option will appear
- Since your encrypted App Key has been shared, your wallet is considered compromised
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We strongly recommend creating a new wallet with a new key set
👉 See How do I set up a new Bitkey wallet if I already have an existing one?
What happens after removal?
- The beneficiary’s name will disappear from your Beneficiaries tab
- They’ll receive a notification informing them they’ve been removed
- They will no longer see your name listed as a benefactor