Crypto Estate Planning for Digital Asset Holders
Crypto estate planning and gifting strategies designed to minimize transfer taxes, preserve wealth across generations, and ensure yourdigital assets reach the right hands. We also account for how the IRS treats crypto when planning transfers.
What happens without a plan.
40% Federal Estate Tax
Without proper planning, up to 40% of your crypto wealth can be claimed by the federal estate tax. Digital assets are no exception, the IRS treats them like any other property in your estate.
Heirs Left Scrambling
Without a succession plan, heirs face lost wallet access, missing seed phrases, and no documentation of cost basis, turning inheritance into a tax and logistics nightmare.
Missed Gifting Exemptions
Every year you skip strategic gifting, you lose the annual exclusion amount permanently. Over a decade, that can mean millions in unnecessary estate tax exposure.
Crypto Estate Planning Starts with Secure Digital Asset Access
Digital assets often depend on private keys, seed phrases, hardware wallets, exchange logins, and multi-factor authentication. If those details are unavailable when an estate is administered, assets can become inaccessible even when beneficiaries are legally entitled to them.
An effective crypto estate plan addresses both tax and access. We help clients document wallet ownership, organize exchange accounts, identify custodians, and coordinate secure transfer instructions with their estate planning attorney without exposing sensitive credentials during their lifetime.
When digital assets are held through an entity, the succession plan should also align with the client's entity structure.
Wealth preservation, compared.
Without Planning
$12M to heirs
With COS Elite
$18.8M to heirs
Illustrative scenario based on a $20M digital asset estate. Results vary by individual circumstances.
How we protect your legacy.
Estate Valuation
Assess all digital asset holdings, wallet structures, and current estate tax exposure to establish a clear baseline.
Strategy Design
Model gifting, trust, and entity structures to minimize transfer taxes while preserving control and flexibility.
Implementation
Draft trust documents, execute gifting strategy, and coordinate with estate attorneys to bring the plan to life.
Ongoing Monitoring
Annual review of exemption thresholds, asset valuations, and legislative changes to keep your plan optimized.
Meet Garrett Taylor, CPA.
Pick your starting point. Both paths put you on Garrett’s calendar directly. No assistants, no pre-screeners.
Direct access to Garrett. He’ll work with you as a team, every step of the way.
Understanding Estate Tax and Stepped-Up Basis for Cryptocurrency
Under current federal law, inherited cryptocurrency generally receives a new tax basis equal to its fair market value on the date of death. This can reduce or eliminate capital gains that accumulated during the original owner's lifetime.
Lifetime gifts are different. Gifted cryptocurrency often carries over the donor's original cost basis, which can leave future gains taxable when the recipient sells. The right choice depends on estate size, expected appreciation, and long-term family objectives.
We model transfer scenarios using current federal estate tax thresholds and the client's projected asset growth so the immediate and long-term tax consequences are clear before a strategy is implemented.
Every deliverable, accounted for.
Estate Tax Exposure Analysis
Full assessment of your digital asset portfolio against current federal and state estate tax thresholds.
Gifting Strategy Optimization
Annual and lifetime exemption planning to systematically reduce your taxable estate over time.
Trust Structure Recommendations
Irrevocable trusts, GRATs, and other vehicles tailored to your crypto holdings and family situation.
Digital Asset Succession Plan
Secure transfer protocols for wallets, seed phrases, exchange accounts, and DeFi positions.
Beneficiary Tax Impact Projections
Modeling of tax consequences for each beneficiary under different distribution scenarios.
Coordination with Estate Attorneys
Direct collaboration with your legal team to ensure tax strategy and legal documents align.
Annual Estate Review & Adjustment
Yearly reassessment of exemptions, valuations, and legislative changes to keep your plan current.
Built for those with wealth worth protecting.
The Crypto Millionaire
You hold significant digital wealth and need a defensible plan to protect it from estate taxes before they erode what you have built.
The Family Steward
You want to pass crypto to the next generation as tax-efficiently as possible, with clear access protocols and documented cost basis.
The Charitable Giver
You want to leverage appreciated crypto for philanthropic giving, reducing your taxable estate while supporting the causes you care about.
Coordinating Estate Planning with Your Ongoing Tax Strategy
Portfolio changes, new purchases, token sales, mining income, staking rewards, and business activity can all affect a digital asset succession plan.
We coordinate estate recommendations with ongoing tax return preparation so ownership records, cost basis documentation, and reported transactions remain consistent over time.
Keeping accurate tax records today can make estate administration substantially easier for beneficiaries in the future.
Estate planning questions, answered.
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