In 2026, Should Cryptocurrency Be Included in Your Florida Living Trust?
Cryptocurrency has moved from a niche investment to a common part of many people’s financial lives. Some Florida residents own Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins, NFTs, or other digital assets through an online exchange. Others keep cryptocurrency in a private wallet, hardware wallet, or cold-storage device.
No matter how the cryptocurrency is held, it raises a very practical estate planning question: what happens to it if you die or become incapacitated?
A traditional estate plan may address a home, bank accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance, and personal property. But cryptocurrency is different. It is digital. It may be highly volatile. It may be stored through a third-party exchange, or it may be controlled only by a private key or recovery phrase. If your successor trustee or family cannot locate or access it, the asset may effectively be lost.
For that reason, cryptocurrency should be addressed directly in a Florida estate plan, especially if you use a revocable living trust.
What Is Cryptocurrency in a Florida Estate Plan?
Under Florida law, digital assets are generally treated as electronic records in which a person has a right or interest. Cryptocurrency can fall within that broad concept because it is a digital asset that represents value and is stored or tracked electronically, often through blockchain technology.
Examples may include:
Bitcoin;
Ethereum;
Solana and other alternative coins;
Stablecoins such as USDC or USDT;
NFTs;
Digital wallets;
Exchange accounts; and
Other blockchain-based assets.
From an estate planning standpoint, the issue is not just whether cryptocurrency has value. The issue is whether someone else can lawfully and practically manage it when you cannot.
That is where a properly drafted Florida living trust can be useful.
Can a Florida Living Trust Own Cryptocurrency?
Yes. A revocable living trust can own many types of property, including intangible personal property and digital assets. Cryptocurrency can be part of the trust estate if it is properly assigned, titled, transferred, or documented as trust property.
However, simply mentioning cryptocurrency in a trust is usually not enough.
A good plan should address at least three separate issues:
Who owns the asset;
Who has legal authority to manage it; and
How the successor trustee will actually access it.
Those are different questions. A trust may give your successor trustee legal authority, but that authority will not help much if no one knows where the wallet is, what exchange was used, or how to access the private key.
Why Put Cryptocurrency in a Living Trust?
A Florida revocable living trust is often used to avoid probate, provide privacy, and allow for smoother management of assets after death or incapacity. Those same benefits can apply to cryptocurrency if the trust is properly structured and funded.
The main benefits include:
1. Avoiding Probate
Assets owned by a revocable trust generally avoid the probate process. This can make administration faster, more private, and less cumbersome for your beneficiaries.
This is especially important with cryptocurrency because delays can be costly. Crypto markets can move quickly, and a personal representative waiting for court authority may not be able to act as quickly as a properly authorized trustee.
2. Planning for Incapacity
Estate planning is not only about death. If you become incapacitated, someone may need to manage your financial affairs during your lifetime.
A trust can allow a successor trustee to step in and manage trust assets if you are no longer able to do so. For cryptocurrency, this may include securing the asset, transferring it to safer storage, selling it if appropriate, or working with professionals to preserve value.
3. Reducing the Risk of Lost Assets
Cryptocurrency can be permanently lost if no one knows it exists or no one can access it. A living trust, combined with a digital asset inventory and secure access plan, can reduce that risk.
The trust should not contain private keys or seed phrases. Those should be kept separately and securely. But the estate plan should give the trustee enough information to know that the assets exist and how to locate the access instructions.
4. Providing Clear Instructions
Some beneficiaries may want cryptocurrency distributed in kind. Others may prefer that it be sold and converted to cash. Some trustees may be comfortable managing digital assets, while others may need authority to hire technical, tax, or investment professionals.
A trust can provide guidance on these issues before a dispute arises.
Florida Law and Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets
Florida has adopted laws governing fiduciary access to digital assets. These laws are important because custodians, exchanges, and online platforms do not always treat digital assets the same way banks treat traditional accounts.
Florida law allows a user to authorize disclosure of digital assets through an online tool or through estate planning documents such as a trust, will, or power of attorney. In some circumstances, an online tool provided by the custodian may override contrary language in a trust or will.
That means your estate plan should be coordinated with the settings and beneficiary tools offered by any exchange or platform you use.
Florida law also preserves the effect of terms-of-service agreements. In other words, your trustee’s authority may still be limited by the rules of the exchange or custodian. This is one reason why relying on a generic trust form can create problems. The trust should specifically authorize the trustee to access, manage, transfer, sell, and safeguard digital assets to the fullest extent allowed by law.
Funding the Trust With Cryptocurrency
Funding a trust with cryptocurrency depends on how the asset is held.
Cryptocurrency Held on an Exchange
If cryptocurrency is held through an exchange, the first step is to determine whether the exchange allows trust accounts. Some platforms may permit accounts to be titled in the name of a trust. Others may not. Some may have specific procedures for death, incapacity, or fiduciary access.
If the platform allows trust ownership, the account may need to be retitled or opened in the name of the trust. If the platform does not allow trust ownership, your attorney may need to use other planning tools to coordinate the asset with your overall estate plan.
Cryptocurrency Held in a Private Wallet
If cryptocurrency is held in a private wallet, hardware wallet, or cold storage, the planning becomes more practical than legal. The trust can say who has authority, but the successor trustee must know how to find and access the wallet.
This may require a separate digital asset memorandum, secure password manager, hardware device instructions, or other secure method of communication. The right method depends on the client, the type of assets involved, and the level of technical sophistication of the trustee.
The key point is simple: do not put private keys, seed phrases, or passwords directly in the trust document. A trust may eventually be shared with financial institutions, beneficiaries, or a court. Sensitive access information should be protected separately.
Choosing the Right Trustee
Not every trustee is well suited to handle cryptocurrency.
A trustee does not necessarily need to be a cryptocurrency expert, but the trustee should be responsible, organized, and willing to hire qualified help when needed. Cryptocurrency can present issues involving cybersecurity, taxes, valuation, market volatility, and recordkeeping.
If your estate includes significant digital assets, you may want to consider:
A trustee who understands digital assets;
A co-trustee structure;
Authority for the trustee to hire digital asset professionals;
Specific instructions on whether to hold or sell cryptocurrency;
Authority to use exchanges, custodians, wallets, or cold storage;
Indemnity language for reasonable decisions made in good faith; and
Clear investment powers addressing concentrated or volatile assets.
Trustees in Florida have fiduciary duties. They must act prudently, loyally, and in the interests of the beneficiaries. Cryptocurrency’s volatility makes those duties especially important.
Tax Issues Should Not Be Ignored
For federal tax purposes, digital assets are generally treated as property, not currency. That means sales, exchanges, and other dispositions may have income tax consequences.
A trustee may need to determine basis, date-of-death value, gains, losses, and reporting obligations. This is especially true if the decedent bought cryptocurrency over many years, transferred assets between wallets, used staking, exchanged one token for another, or held assets on multiple platforms.
A Florida estate plan should not try to replace tax advice. But it should give the trustee authority to obtain tax help and should encourage good recordkeeping during the owner’s lifetime.
A Practical Cryptocurrency Estate Planning Checklist
If you own cryptocurrency, consider taking the following steps:
Identify all cryptocurrency holdings;
List where each asset is held;
Determine whether each asset is held on an exchange, in a software wallet, in a hardware wallet, or in cold storage;
Review whether your exchange offers trust accounts, beneficiary tools, or legacy access options;
Update your revocable living trust to specifically address digital assets;
Make sure your durable power of attorney also addresses digital assets;
Choose a trustee who can handle or supervise digital asset management;
Create a secure inventory of wallets, exchanges, and access instructions;
Do not place private keys or seed phrases directly in your trust;
Keep tax records showing purchase dates, cost basis, transfers, and sales;
Review the plan regularly as technology, platforms, and laws change.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
One common mistake is assuming that a will is enough. A will may direct who receives your property, but a will does not automatically solve the access problem. It also usually requires probate.
Another mistake is writing private keys or seed phrases in estate planning documents. That can create a serious security risk.
A third mistake is assuming that family members will know what to do. Even technologically capable family members may not know which wallets exist, which assets are valuable, or how to avoid triggering unnecessary tax consequences.
Finally, some people assume that because cryptocurrency is “digital,” it is somehow outside the normal estate planning process. That is not true. Cryptocurrency may be new technology, but it is still property that needs to be planned for.
Final Thoughts
Cryptocurrency can be a valuable part of your estate, but it requires special planning. A Florida living trust can be an effective tool for managing and transferring digital assets, but the trust must be drafted carefully and paired with a secure access plan.
The goal is not just to say who receives the cryptocurrency. The goal is to make sure the asset can actually be found, accessed, protected, and transferred when the time comes.
If you own cryptocurrency, now is the time to review your estate plan. A thoughtful plan can help prevent confusion, avoid unnecessary probate issues, and reduce the risk that valuable digital assets are lost forever.
Burns Law Firm can help Florida residents update their estate plans to address cryptocurrency, digital assets, incapacity planning, and trust administration.