Estate access failure — hardware wallet (2025)

A 2025 Canadian estate case involved a holder who had left very clear documentation—a complete list of all assets, seed phrases, and access instructions—but who had stored the documentation in a safety deposit box at a Scotiabank branch. The will named the executor but did not specify the safety deposit box's existence. Under Canadian probate law, the executor could not access the safety deposit box without already having the letters probate—but they needed the documentation inside the box to establish the estate's full value before probate could be granted. The circular dependency required an application to the court for access to the safety deposit box before full probate.