What is the minimum estate size that a professional executor will accept? A few prospective clients have called asking, so we’ll review bank executor minimums, our minimums, and some exceptions.
https://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/E302-Minimum-Estate-Size-for-a-Professional-Executor.jpg10801920Anthony Parkhttps://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/logo-600.pngAnthony Park2023-01-25 07:00:502025-03-03 08:03:07E302 Minimum Estate Size for a Professional Executor
Economic recession affects probate, just as much as wages, gas, and your grocery bill. We’ll share a few ways we’ve seen how it’s been impacting probates.
https://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/E301-How-the-Recession-Affects-Probate.jpg10801920Anthony Parkhttps://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/logo-600.pngAnthony Park2023-01-18 07:00:562025-03-28 06:54:17E301 How the Recession Affects Probate
A shared Bitcoin family wallet sounds like a simple way for your heirs to inherit upon your death. We’ll discuss the advantages of this setup, as well as some important drawbacks.
What is a Bitcoin family wallet? It is a shared Bitcoin wallet, but not a multisig wallet. It is a singlesig wallet/device/app that multiple family members have access to.
Hot wallet example: husband, wife, and kids use an app and all of them have the password and seed phrase.
Cold wallet example: husband and wife share physical custody of the hardware wallet, PIN, and seed phrase. The kids know where the parents keep the hardware wallet and perhaps even know the PIN (but not the seed phrase)..
Pros of Bitcoin inheritance with a family wallet
Compared to other inheritance solutions, a family wallet is easy to set up and maintain. Unlike mulitsig or secret sharing, there are no extra steps. If you are comfortable with self-custody, then you are most likely comfortable updating your hardware device and keeping firmware up-to-date.
It is also easier to make transactions during your lifetime. If you want to send or spend during your lifetime, it is easier with singlesig. With multisig, you have to get multiple signatures, and with secret sharing you might have to reconstitute your key to sign any spending transactions. With a shared family wallet, for example, your just sign the transaction with no extra steps.
Because the shared family wallet is one wallet (and everyone knows it’s stored in mom’s dresser), there is very little treasure hunting upon death. It’s even easier if everyone knows the PIN.
Cons of a Bitcoin family wallet
It is extremely poor security to have so many different people with access to a single wallet.
First, there is the risk of a family member going wayward and just taking the wallet. Sadly, there was a news story of a son who drugged his dad’s tea to get to dad’s Bitcoin. No family is perfect, and if someone decides they are entitled to something more, they have instant access to a shared wallet.
Second, when you have multiple people who have full access to a wallet, there are multiple points of careless error. For example, the son doesn’t quite appreciate how self-custody works and leaves his copy of the seed phrase laying around. Everyone who has access to the wallet needs to take steps to maintain a high level of security. They all need to understand that the seed-phrase needs to be better protected than saving it on Google Drive (bad idea!).
Similarly, there will be varying levels of interest and understanding of self-custody among the family members.
Inheritance problems with a Bitcoin family wallet
Recently, we’ve seen a case with a shared family wallet and multiple family members have been contributing/purchasing into the wallet. That can cause confusion as to who really owns what. Sure, you can figure out which transactions and which UTXOs belong to which purchaser. But it creates accounting issues and increases the risk of family drama even to the point of litigation. Commingling of funds is never a good idea, and this is a good example as to why.
Upon your death, the question becomes: who’s the boss? Whenever the answer is unclear, it increases risk of family conflict. With legacy probate, it’s usually legally clear who’s in charge (the named executor or trustee). That named person has the authority over the estate and that person also bears all the responsibility.
If there are multiple key holders, whoever starts signing first is in charge. It’s easy to imagine someone sweeping the wallet into a different wallet and seizing control. Now that person gets to decide who gets what. That is a recipe for family drama.
Another problem is: will your heirs figure out what to do with Bitcoin upon your passing? Even if you are a Bitcoiner, your kids may not care enough to figure it out. For example, our client called saying: “My son is very intelligent, but he has no interest in learning Bitcoin custody now. He says he’ll figure it out if anything happens to me.”
It’s a bad idea for even the smartest people to try and figure out Bitcoin on the fly. They can still make stupid mistakes compounded by the emotional stress of the loved one’s death. If you make a mistake with self-custody Bitcoin, the result can be catastrophic loss. You can’t pursue unclaimed funds, and there is no password reset.
Executor (can apply to Bitcoin)
If you have a shared family wallet, you may want to consider naming a professional Bitcoin executor, hiring a professional service, or naming a friend who is very familiar with the process.
My book, “How to Hire an Executor,” is not specific to Bitcoin, but it will help you understand more about professional executor services that are available.
As you know, we love this topic. Please email your questions or leave a comment on other Bitcoin-related topics you’d like us to cover.
Request your free consultation
New Client v5 Free Bitcoin Chapter
"*" indicates required fields
Sign-up for your free consultation using the form above, and I’ll be happy to email you a free chapter from Anthony’s best-selling book “How to Leave Bitcoin to Your Heirs.”
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Sometimes a revocable trust makes great sense for a solo ager estate plan. Generally, revocable trusts aren’t so great in New York, because they can be hard to fully fund. The main goal of a revocable trust is to avoid probate. Since revocable trusts are hard to fully fund, the goal of avoiding probate is not usually met. Here are a few reasons a revocable trust may nonetheless work for a solo ager.
https://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/E299-When-do-Solo-Agers-Need-a-Revocable-Trust.jpg10801920Anthony Parkhttps://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/logo-600.pngAnthony Park2023-01-04 07:00:502025-03-28 07:10:37E299 When do Solo Agers Need a Revocable Trust?
https://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/E298-Is-a-Cash-Buyer-Better-for-Probate-Real-Estate.jpg10801920Anthony Parkhttps://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/logo-600.pngAnthony Park2022-12-28 07:00:542025-03-05 15:53:27E298 Is a Cash Buyer Better for Probate Real Estate?
Here’s what I learned about bitcoin inheritance at the recent Adopting Bitcoin conference in El Salvador. Link to presentation
Background: (1) One year ago, El Salvador was the first country in world to make bitcoin legal tender, and (2) these conferences tend to be attended by the most hardcore bitcoiners, not so much the everyday users.
https://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/E297-Lessons-on-Bitcoin-Inheritance-from-El-Salvador-2022.jpg10801920Anthony Parkhttps://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/logo-600.pngAnthony Park2022-12-21 07:00:532025-03-07 10:28:14E297 Lessons on Bitcoin Inheritance from El Salvador 2022
We’ll discuss a recent case study of how bad neighbors can harm probate real estate sale, and how to deal with them.
Bad neighbor blames estate for water leak
I am the professional executor for an estate with real estate that needs to be sold. During this process, we’ve had a neighbor with complaints.
First, the neighbor blamed our unit for a water leak. He had water damage in his unit, and he thought it was coming from us. Water damage can lead to mold issues, so we took the complaint seriously. We responded immediately and gave him access to a plumber.
The real estate is in a co-op building, which, as we discussed before, are a different animal! In this situation, the co-op manager appreciated our fast response to the problem.
As it turns out, the bad neighbor was blaming us for no reason. It had nothing to do with our unit, and the water issue was completely internal to his unit.
Bad neighbor blames estate for insects
Second, the bad neighbor blamed us for a sudden infestation of bugs in his unit. His theory was that when we cleaned out our unit, something was shaken which caused bugs to move to his unit. We took the complaint seriously again and responded by giving him access to an exterminator of his choosing.
When selling probate real estate, you need to try to get along with the neighbors and building management. Getting off on the wrong foot with building management can make things very difficult for the executor. Even though we felt that the neighbor was not being truthful (as we saw no indication of bugs in our unit), we responded promptly. Again, the co-op manager appreciated our fast response to the problem.
It turns out that the bad neighbor cried wolf again. The neighbor’s hired exterminator was so dismissive of the neighbor’s theory that he didn’t even bother to spray our unit. Even though the cost of spraying would have been low, the exterminator said there was no point.
Despite all of this, the bad neighbor threatened to block our probate sale by lobbying the co-op board to not allow our unit to sell. However, the co-op saw that the neighbor lied twice and that we had been cooperative throughout the process. Thankfully, we did not need to worry about the board preventing our sale.
Bad neighbor sends us a “buyer”
Those were the last of the complaints, but oddly enough, the bad neighbor sent us a buyer. He suggested selling to someone, so we looked into it. The bad neighbor “vouched” for an “investor,” which is odd because investors usually don’t do well with co-op rules.
The buyer turned out to be an inexperienced kid (late teens, early 20s) who apparently saw on Tik Tok how to flip probate properties. The kid offered a wildly high offer, which is unlikely to actually close at that price. As we’ve discussed before, if a wildly high offer does go through, it’s because the buyer nickel-and-dimes the price down to the asking price. This strategy is used to get the buyer’s foot in the door by making an attractive offer and thus eliminating the competition. (link to E291 What is a Strong Offer on Probate Real Estate?)
In this case, the heirs had been tracking the situation and understood that this buyer was recommended by the bad neighbor. Therefore, they were not bamboozled into demanding that we accept this “high” offer, like they might have been if they did not know the back-story. The bad neighbor actually helped us with this bad buyer. If we didn’t know who sent him, it would have taken more time and research to know to reject the offer.
This is a situation where a professional executor can help buffer and deal with curveballs. An inexperienced executor may get bullied with empty threats of blocking the sale, etc. Professional executors know what to look for and can help the heirs avoid the stress of threats. We continued to address the false alarms and adjusted our treatment of the bad neighbor accordingly.
To learn how a professional executor can help you avoid probate headaches, check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor,” available on Amazon.
Request your free consultation
New Client v4 Free Executor Chapter
"*" indicates required fields
Sign-up for your free consultation using the form above, and I’ll be happy to email you a free chapter from Anthony’s best-selling book “How to Hire an Executor.”
https://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/E296-How-to-Sell-Probate-Real-Estate-with-Bad-Neighbors.jpg10801920Anthony Parkhttps://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/logo-600.pngAnthony Park2022-12-14 07:00:092022-12-05 15:32:10E296 How to Sell Probate Real Estate with Bad Neighbors
After many months (maybe years), the estate is finally nearly finished. What are the final steps to close probate? We’ll explain the accounting, receipt and releases, and the reserve.
https://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/E294-How-to-Close-a-Probate-Estate-in-New-York.jpg10801920Anthony Parkhttps://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/logo-600.pngAnthony Park2022-11-30 07:00:192025-02-17 10:55:43E294 How to Close a Probate Estate in New York
Is the highest offer the strongest offer? Not necessarily, especially in probate. Sometimes an heir or a co-executor believes they can get a higher offer. Then, all things being equal, we should take that offer. However, it’s unusual that two offers are identical. There are other factors to take into account besides the price.
https://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/E291-What-is-a-Strong-Offer-on-Probate-Real-Estate.jpg10801920Anthony Parkhttps://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/logo-600.pngAnthony Park2022-11-09 07:00:552025-02-19 08:39:09E291 What is a Strong Offer on Probate Real Estate?
E304 Poor Man’s Multisig for Bitcoin Inheritance
/in Bitcoin inheritance /by Anthony ParkWhat are some less costly alternatives for a managed multi-sig bitcoin inheritance plan?
E302 Minimum Estate Size for a Professional Executor
/in Professional executor /by Anthony ParkWhat is the minimum estate size that a professional executor will accept? A few prospective clients have called asking, so we’ll review bank executor minimums, our minimums, and some exceptions.
E301 How the Recession Affects Probate
/in Probate /by Anthony ParkEconomic recession affects probate, just as much as wages, gas, and your grocery bill. We’ll share a few ways we’ve seen how it’s been impacting probates.
E300 Inheritance by Bitcoin Family Wallet
/in Bitcoin inheritance /by Anthony ParkA shared Bitcoin family wallet sounds like a simple way for your heirs to inherit upon your death. We’ll discuss the advantages of this setup, as well as some important drawbacks.
What is a Bitcoin family wallet? It is a shared Bitcoin wallet, but not a multisig wallet. It is a singlesig wallet/device/app that multiple family members have access to.
Hot wallet example: husband, wife, and kids use an app and all of them have the password and seed phrase.
Cold wallet example: husband and wife share physical custody of the hardware wallet, PIN, and seed phrase. The kids know where the parents keep the hardware wallet and perhaps even know the PIN (but not the seed phrase)..
Pros of Bitcoin inheritance with a family wallet
Compared to other inheritance solutions, a family wallet is easy to set up and maintain. Unlike mulitsig or secret sharing, there are no extra steps. If you are comfortable with self-custody, then you are most likely comfortable updating your hardware device and keeping firmware up-to-date.
It is also easier to make transactions during your lifetime. If you want to send or spend during your lifetime, it is easier with singlesig. With multisig, you have to get multiple signatures, and with secret sharing you might have to reconstitute your key to sign any spending transactions. With a shared family wallet, for example, your just sign the transaction with no extra steps.
Because the shared family wallet is one wallet (and everyone knows it’s stored in mom’s dresser), there is very little treasure hunting upon death. It’s even easier if everyone knows the PIN.
Cons of a Bitcoin family wallet
It is extremely poor security to have so many different people with access to a single wallet.
First, there is the risk of a family member going wayward and just taking the wallet. Sadly, there was a news story of a son who drugged his dad’s tea to get to dad’s Bitcoin. No family is perfect, and if someone decides they are entitled to something more, they have instant access to a shared wallet.
Second, when you have multiple people who have full access to a wallet, there are multiple points of careless error. For example, the son doesn’t quite appreciate how self-custody works and leaves his copy of the seed phrase laying around. Everyone who has access to the wallet needs to take steps to maintain a high level of security. They all need to understand that the seed-phrase needs to be better protected than saving it on Google Drive (bad idea!).
Similarly, there will be varying levels of interest and understanding of self-custody among the family members.
Inheritance problems with a Bitcoin family wallet
Recently, we’ve seen a case with a shared family wallet and multiple family members have been contributing/purchasing into the wallet. That can cause confusion as to who really owns what. Sure, you can figure out which transactions and which UTXOs belong to which purchaser. But it creates accounting issues and increases the risk of family drama even to the point of litigation. Commingling of funds is never a good idea, and this is a good example as to why.
Upon your death, the question becomes: who’s the boss? Whenever the answer is unclear, it increases risk of family conflict. With legacy probate, it’s usually legally clear who’s in charge (the named executor or trustee). That named person has the authority over the estate and that person also bears all the responsibility.
If there are multiple key holders, whoever starts signing first is in charge. It’s easy to imagine someone sweeping the wallet into a different wallet and seizing control. Now that person gets to decide who gets what. That is a recipe for family drama.
Another problem is: will your heirs figure out what to do with Bitcoin upon your passing? Even if you are a Bitcoiner, your kids may not care enough to figure it out. For example, our client called saying: “My son is very intelligent, but he has no interest in learning Bitcoin custody now. He says he’ll figure it out if anything happens to me.”
It’s a bad idea for even the smartest people to try and figure out Bitcoin on the fly. They can still make stupid mistakes compounded by the emotional stress of the loved one’s death. If you make a mistake with self-custody Bitcoin, the result can be catastrophic loss. You can’t pursue unclaimed funds, and there is no password reset.
Executor (can apply to Bitcoin)
If you have a shared family wallet, you may want to consider naming a professional Bitcoin executor, hiring a professional service, or naming a friend who is very familiar with the process.
My book, “How to Hire an Executor,” is not specific to Bitcoin, but it will help you understand more about professional executor services that are available.
As you know, we love this topic. Please email your questions or leave a comment on other Bitcoin-related topics you’d like us to cover.
Request your free consultation
New Client v5 Free Bitcoin Chapter
"*" indicates required fields
Sign-up for your free consultation using the form above, and I’ll be happy to email you a free chapter from Anthony’s best-selling book “How to Leave Bitcoin to Your Heirs.”
How to Probate Self-Custodied Bitcoin
How to Hire a Bitcoin Executor
E339 Why Sharing Your Seed Phrase is a Bad Bitcoin Inheritance Plan
E299 When do Solo Agers Need a Revocable Trust?
/in Solo Agers /by Anthony ParkSometimes a revocable trust makes great sense for a solo ager estate plan. Generally, revocable trusts aren’t so great in New York, because they can be hard to fully fund. The main goal of a revocable trust is to avoid probate. Since revocable trusts are hard to fully fund, the goal of avoiding probate is not usually met. Here are a few reasons a revocable trust may nonetheless work for a solo ager.
E298 Is a Cash Buyer Better for Probate Real Estate?
/in Probate, Probate Real Estate /by Anthony ParkWhich offer for probate real estate is better: an experienced investor cash buyer, or an individual financed offer that’s supposedly $80,000 more?
In a recent case, turns out the individual offer was actually more like $30,000 (~3.5%) higher, plus tons of headaches and delays.
E297 Lessons on Bitcoin Inheritance from El Salvador 2022
/in Bitcoin inheritance /by Anthony ParkHere’s what I learned about bitcoin inheritance at the recent Adopting Bitcoin conference in El Salvador. Link to presentation
Background: (1) One year ago, El Salvador was the first country in world to make bitcoin legal tender, and (2) these conferences tend to be attended by the most hardcore bitcoiners, not so much the everyday users.
E296 How to Sell Probate Real Estate with Bad Neighbors
/in Probate Real Estate, Professional executor /by Anthony ParkWe’ll discuss a recent case study of how bad neighbors can harm probate real estate sale, and how to deal with them.
Bad neighbor blames estate for water leak
I am the professional executor for an estate with real estate that needs to be sold. During this process, we’ve had a neighbor with complaints.
First, the neighbor blamed our unit for a water leak. He had water damage in his unit, and he thought it was coming from us. Water damage can lead to mold issues, so we took the complaint seriously. We responded immediately and gave him access to a plumber.
The real estate is in a co-op building, which, as we discussed before, are a different animal! In this situation, the co-op manager appreciated our fast response to the problem.
As it turns out, the bad neighbor was blaming us for no reason. It had nothing to do with our unit, and the water issue was completely internal to his unit.
Bad neighbor blames estate for insects
Second, the bad neighbor blamed us for a sudden infestation of bugs in his unit. His theory was that when we cleaned out our unit, something was shaken which caused bugs to move to his unit. We took the complaint seriously again and responded by giving him access to an exterminator of his choosing.
When selling probate real estate, you need to try to get along with the neighbors and building management. Getting off on the wrong foot with building management can make things very difficult for the executor. Even though we felt that the neighbor was not being truthful (as we saw no indication of bugs in our unit), we responded promptly. Again, the co-op manager appreciated our fast response to the problem.
It turns out that the bad neighbor cried wolf again. The neighbor’s hired exterminator was so dismissive of the neighbor’s theory that he didn’t even bother to spray our unit. Even though the cost of spraying would have been low, the exterminator said there was no point.
Despite all of this, the bad neighbor threatened to block our probate sale by lobbying the co-op board to not allow our unit to sell. However, the co-op saw that the neighbor lied twice and that we had been cooperative throughout the process. Thankfully, we did not need to worry about the board preventing our sale.
Bad neighbor sends us a “buyer”
Those were the last of the complaints, but oddly enough, the bad neighbor sent us a buyer. He suggested selling to someone, so we looked into it. The bad neighbor “vouched” for an “investor,” which is odd because investors usually don’t do well with co-op rules.
The buyer turned out to be an inexperienced kid (late teens, early 20s) who apparently saw on Tik Tok how to flip probate properties. The kid offered a wildly high offer, which is unlikely to actually close at that price. As we’ve discussed before, if a wildly high offer does go through, it’s because the buyer nickel-and-dimes the price down to the asking price. This strategy is used to get the buyer’s foot in the door by making an attractive offer and thus eliminating the competition. (link to E291 What is a Strong Offer on Probate Real Estate?)
In this case, the heirs had been tracking the situation and understood that this buyer was recommended by the bad neighbor. Therefore, they were not bamboozled into demanding that we accept this “high” offer, like they might have been if they did not know the back-story. The bad neighbor actually helped us with this bad buyer. If we didn’t know who sent him, it would have taken more time and research to know to reject the offer.
This is a situation where a professional executor can help buffer and deal with curveballs. An inexperienced executor may get bullied with empty threats of blocking the sale, etc. Professional executors know what to look for and can help the heirs avoid the stress of threats. We continued to address the false alarms and adjusted our treatment of the bad neighbor accordingly.
To learn how a professional executor can help you avoid probate headaches, check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor,” available on Amazon.
Request your free consultation
New Client v4 Free Executor Chapter
"*" indicates required fields
Sign-up for your free consultation using the form above, and I’ll be happy to email you a free chapter from Anthony’s best-selling book “How to Hire an Executor.”
Named Executor Not Doing Anything in NY? What to Do
What Is a Professional Executor in New York —And When Should You Hire One?
How to Start Estate Planning if You Are Terminally Ill
E294 How to Close a Probate Estate in New York
/in Uncategorized /by Anthony ParkAfter many months (maybe years), the estate is finally nearly finished. What are the final steps to close probate? We’ll explain the accounting, receipt and releases, and the reserve.
E291 What is a Strong Offer on Probate Real Estate?
/in Probate, Probate Real Estate /by Anthony ParkIs the highest offer the strongest offer? Not necessarily, especially in probate. Sometimes an heir or a co-executor believes they can get a higher offer. Then, all things being equal, we should take that offer. However, it’s unusual that two offers are identical. There are other factors to take into account besides the price.