How to notify or transfer Coinbase when someone has passed away

Steps to notify Coinbase

  Verify authorization

Before starting, gather the documentation showing your legal authorization to proceed. If in doubt, double check with your estate executor, or trustee. Coinbase generally requires:

• Death Certificate - A death certificate is an official document issued by the government, which declares cause of death, location of death, time of death and other information about the deceased.
• Photo Identification - Current, valid government-issued photo identification of the person(s) named in the Probate Documents
• Probate Documents - Probate Documents for the Deceased's Estate (either Probate, Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, Affidavit for Collection, or Small Estate Affidavit)
• Specific Instructions - A letter signed by the person(s) named in the Probate Documents instructing provider on what to do with the account
• Account Required - Provider requires you to have an account already established in order to be named as a contact or gain access.

 

  Identify wishes

Coinbase is a cryptocurrency exchange platform. Identify what the deceased's instructions are, or what they wanted to have happen to this asset when they passed away. This is usually located in their will or living trust documents. Or, if they're using Eternal Me, authorized executors can login and view their instructions.

Coinbase provides the following options:

 
• Bequest - Manually transfer item.
   

Digital Executor and Crypto Executor clients also have these options for Coinbase:

• 
  Manual Deletion
  
  Request removal or deletion of the asset, or closure of account.
• 
  Custom
  
  Attempt custom instructions for managing this item.
• 
  Liquidate
  
  Liquidate and transfer the funds to my estate.

 

  Administer Coinbase

Now that you've verified your authorization and identified the deceased's wishes, do the work to carry out their instructions. You can click here to begin the process of administering Coinbase. Or, if using our Digital or Crypto Executor service, you're all done -- just wait until you hear back from us on the status.

 

  Document activities

It's important to carefully record each interaction, and be able to check on and report the status to heirs and estate executors. This is automatically handled for users of Eternal Me.

 

  Continue to other assets

After handling the notification, move onto other assets. Here's a selection of other digital assets to address.