Can Executor Access My Bitcoin: Modeled Authority Versus Access Constraints

Executor Authority Versus Technical Access Gaps

This memo is published by CustodyStress, an independent Bitcoin custody stress test that produces reference documents for individuals, families, and professionals.

What Executor Authority Means

A holder dies. The estate plan names an executor. A court confirms the executor's authority. The executor now has legal power to manage estate assets. The executor learns that the estate includes bitcoin. The executor tries to access the bitcoin. The question emerges: can executor access my bitcoin based on legal authority alone?

This assessment considers what happens when executor authority meets bitcoin custody. It explains why the bitcoin executor authority vs access gap shapes recovery outcomes. It does not define executor actions or remedies.

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What Executor Authority Means

An executor has legal authority to act on behalf of an estate. A court grants this authority. The executor can open estate bank accounts. The executor can sell property. The executor can access safety deposit boxes.

Executor authority operates through the legal system. The executor presents documents to institutions. The institutions verify the documents. The institutions grant access. This process works for traditional assets.

Executor bitcoin access does not follow this path. Bitcoin does not recognize court documents. Bitcoin recognizes keys.

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What Bitcoin Access Requires

Bitcoin access requires keys. The keys are mathematical secrets. Whoever holds the keys can move the bitcoin. Whoever does not hold the keys cannot move the bitcoin.

There is no institution to call. There is no customer service to contact. There is no appeals process. There is no court order that produces keys. The keys exist or they do not. The executor has them or does not.

The system recognizes keys, not court appointments. Recovery in a scenario remains blocked when authority exists without key material. An executor with full legal authority and no keys has authority over bitcoin that cannot be moved.

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The Gap Between Authority and Access

Traditional assets respond to legal authority. The executor presents letters testamentary to a bank. The bank grants access to accounts. The executor presents documents to a brokerage. The brokerage transfers stocks.

Bitcoin does not respond to legal authority. The executor presents letters testamentary to the bitcoin network. Nothing happens. The bitcoin network does not read documents. The bitcoin network does not verify identities. The bitcoin network checks keys.

The scenario in which an executor cannot access bitcoin despite having full legal authority exposes this gap. The executor can legally manage the bitcoin. The executor cannot physically reach the bitcoin. Legal control and technical control are different things.

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What Executors Expect

Many executors expect bitcoin to work like other assets. The executor expects to contact someone. The executor expects to present documents. The executor expects to receive access.

The result often surprises executors who can manage traditional assets but not bitcoin. The executor discovers there is no one to contact. The executor discovers documents do not produce access. The executor discovers that the path to bitcoin runs through keys, not courts.

Can executor access my bitcoin is a question that assumes bitcoin works like a bank account. Bitcoin does not work like a bank account.

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Exchange-Held Bitcoin

Some bitcoin sits on exchanges. Exchanges are companies. Companies respond to legal processes. An executor can contact an exchange. An executor can present documents. An exchange may grant access to exchange accounts.

This path works when bitcoin is held by an institution. The institution has its own keys. The institution can transfer bitcoin based on legal authority. The executor deals with the institution, not with the bitcoin directly.

Executor access to bitcoin inheritance through exchanges follows a familiar pattern. The exchange verifies executor authority. The exchange grants account access. The executor manages the bitcoin through the exchange interface.

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Self-Custodied Bitcoin

Some bitcoin is self-custodied. The holder controlled the keys directly. The holder did not use an exchange. There is no company to contact. There is no customer service to call.

An executor facing self-custodied bitcoin faces a different problem. The executor needs keys. The keys are stored somewhere. The executor needs to find them. The executor needs to know how to use them.

The scenario in which an executor cannot access bitcoin because it is self-custodied creates maximum friction. The executor has authority. The bitcoin has no institution that recognizes authority. The path to the bitcoin runs through the holder's custody arrangement, which the holder is not present to explain.

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Where Keys Might Be

Self-custodied bitcoin has keys stored somewhere. The keys may be on a hardware device. The keys may be written on paper as a seed phrase. The keys may be stored in a password manager.

The executor does not automatically know where keys are. The executor knows the estate includes bitcoin. The executor does not know where the bitcoin lives. The executor does not know where the keys are stored.

Recovery in a scenario becomes a search problem. The executor searches for information the holder possessed. The executor may or may not find it. The executor may or may not recognize it when found.

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Executor Dependency on Others

Executors often depend on others for bitcoin access. A spouse may know where backups are stored. A child may have been given passwords. An attorney may hold documents. A trusted friend may have been told key information.

The profile becomes sensitive to whether spouses, heirs, or third parties hold access information. The executor has authority. Someone else has knowledge. Recovery requires both. Recovery stalls when the executor cannot find the person with knowledge or when that person cannot or will not cooperate.

The scenario in which an executor needs help from a family member who is also a beneficiary creates complexity. The family member has information. The family member has interests. The executor depends on cooperation that may or may not come freely.

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Documentation Limits

Estate documents describe intent. The will says bitcoin passes to certain beneficiaries. The will names the executor. The will creates legal framework. The will does not contain keys.

The system becomes constrained when executor-facing documents describe intent but not access paths. The executor reads the will. The executor knows bitcoin exists. The executor does not know how to reach it. The documents that grant authority do not grant access.

Recovery in a scenario diverges when documentation assumes executor familiarity with bitcoin. Some holders leave detailed instructions. Some holders leave nothing beyond the will. The executor inherits whatever documentation exists.

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The Knowledge Gap

Executors may not understand bitcoin. An executor may be an attorney. An executor may be a family member. An executor may be a professional fiduciary. None of these roles require bitcoin knowledge.

The scenario in which an executor finds a hardware wallet and does not know what it is creates delay. The executor sees a small device. The executor does not recognize it as a bitcoin wallet. The executor may set it aside. The executor may discard it.

The scenario in which an executor finds a piece of paper with twenty-four words and does not know what they mean creates delay. The executor sees a list of words. The executor does not recognize it as a seed phrase. The executor may not connect it to the bitcoin in the will.

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Coordination Across Roles

Bitcoin inheritance often involves multiple people. The holder created the custody arrangement. The executor administers the estate. The beneficiaries receive the bitcoin. Technical knowledge may sit with none of these people.

The system depends on executors coordinating with heirs, custodians, or institutions. The executor may need to ask the spouse where backups are. The executor may need to contact the attorney who helped the holder. The executor may need to hire someone who understands bitcoin.

Recovery in a scenario becomes delayed when authority boundaries do not align with access boundaries. The executor has authority but not access. Someone else has access but not authority. Coordination is required. Coordination takes time.

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Executor Interpretation Risk

An executor who cannot find bitcoin access may draw wrong conclusions. The executor searches for keys. The executor finds nothing. The executor concludes the bitcoin does not exist or was already spent.

The result becomes indeterminate when executors cannot distinguish "inaccessible" from "nonexistent." The bitcoin may exist. The access path may be hidden. The executor cannot tell whether there is nothing to find or whether the search has not succeeded yet.

Recovery in a scenario may halt prematurely if missing access is misread as missing assets. The executor reports to the court that no bitcoin was found. The bitcoin exists. The executor did not find the keys. The bitcoin remains unrecovered.

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Time Pressure on Executors

Executors face timelines. Estates have deadlines. Tax filings have due dates. Beneficiaries have expectations.

Bitcoin access problems create delay. The executor searches for keys. The search takes time. The executor coordinates with family members. The coordination takes time. The executor learns about bitcoin custody. The learning takes time.

The scenario in which an executor cannot access bitcoin before a tax deadline creates pressure. The executor knows bitcoin exists. The executor cannot value it precisely without access. The executor cannot sell it to pay taxes without access. The timeline does not pause while the executor searches.

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Professional Executors

Some estates use professional executors. Banks serve as executors. Trust companies serve as executors. Attorneys serve as executors.

Professional executors may or may not have bitcoin experience. A bank that serves as executor knows how to manage bank accounts. The bank may not know how to manage bitcoin. The professional role does not automatically include bitcoin knowledge.

The scenario in which a professional executor encounters self-custodied bitcoin creates the same gap. The executor has authority. The executor has professional experience. The executor may not have the knowledge needed to find and use bitcoin keys.

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What the Executor Actually Receives

An executor receives legal authority. An executor receives whatever documentation the holder left. An executor receives access to the holder's physical spaces. An executor does not automatically receive bitcoin knowledge.

The executor can search the holder's home. The executor can open the holder's mail. The executor can access the holder's deposit box. Whether these actions produce bitcoin keys depends on where the holder stored them and whether the executor recognizes them.

The scenario in which an executor searches thoroughly and still finds nothing creates uncertainty. Did the holder leave no bitcoin access? Did the holder hide the access too well? Did the executor miss something? The executor cannot know without finding the keys.

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Inaccessible Versus Lost

Bitcoin that cannot be accessed looks the same as bitcoin that does not exist. The executor cannot see it. The executor cannot move it. The executor cannot prove it is there.

The executor may report to the court that no bitcoin was recovered. This may mean the bitcoin was spent before death. This may mean the bitcoin never existed. This may mean the bitcoin exists and the executor never found the keys.

An executor cannot access bitcoin that the executor cannot reach. Whether the bitcoin is truly lost or merely inaccessible may never become clear. The outcome looks the same from the outside.

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Summary

When an executor is appointed to an estate that includes bitcoin, legal authority does not automatically produce technical access. Courts grant authority. Authority does not produce keys. Keys produce access.

Executor bitcoin access depends on whether the holder left keys in a findable location, whether the executor recognizes what keys look like, and whether others who hold access information cooperate. The gap between authority and access becomes visible when the executor tries to manage bitcoin using the same methods that work for traditional assets.

The assessment describes how custody systems behave when executor authority does not produce bitcoin access. It observes that legal control and technical control are different things. It does not define executor actions or remedies for any given estate.

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System Context

Examining Bitcoin Custody Under Stress

Executor Authority vs Bitcoin Signer

Bitcoin Executor Legal Responsibilities and Access Constraints

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