What if a crypto exchange refuses to release digital assets to my heirs?

Major exchanges have legal obligations to follow court orders. If a platform refuses to cooperate with a legitimate heir, a Spanish court order (or equivalent in the relevant jurisdiction) can compel them. However, this process is slow and expensive — proper preparation with documented access information avoids this entirely.

What digital assets are most commonly lost when someone dies?

The most commonly lost digital assets are cryptocurrency wallets (where no seed phrase was documented), cloud storage files (where no legacy contact was set up), online banking accounts (where heirs do not know the account exists), and domain names or online businesses (where account credentials were never recorded).

Digital Assets Inheritance in Europe: What Expats Need to Know

Q: Does my Spanish will cover my crypto assets?

Your will can — and should — explicitly include cryptocurrency as part of your estate and name the intended heirs. However, naming heirs in a will does not grant them technical access to the assets. Access requires the exchange credentials, wallet addresses, and seed phrase storage location to be separately documented and transmitted.

Q: Can my heirs access my Netflix, Spotify, or gaming accounts?

Most subscription services and gaming platforms prohibit account transfer under their terms of service. These are not transferable assets in the legal sense. Content purchased outright (not rented or streamed) may in some cases be retained through a designated beneficiary process, but this varies significantly by platform.

In brief: European succession law was written before digital assets existed. There is no EU-wide framework for inheriting cryptocurrency, online accounts, or digital wealth. What your heirs can recover depends on what you documented, what the platforms allow, and whether you planned for it. This guide covers the key categories and what to do.

The Legal Vacuum Around Digital Assets

EU Regulation 650/2012 governs which country's law applies to your estate — but it says nothing specifically about digital assets. Each EU country applies its general property law to digital assets, often through analogy with existing legal categories.

The result is a patchwork:

Cryptocurrency is generally treated as movable property in most EU jurisdictions
Online accounts may or may not be transferable depending on the platform's terms of service
Intellectual property rights in digital content follow copyright law
Access credentials (passwords, seed phrases) are not legally defined as assets — yet they are the gateway to everything

Spain has no specific legislation on digital inheritance. German courts have ruled (BGH, 2018) that digital accounts form part of the estate and heirs inherit full access rights. The Netherlands has no specific law. France has taken some steps through the Digital Republic Act (2016) but the framework remains incomplete.

What matters practically is whether your heirs can access the asset — not just whether they are legally entitled to it.

Categories of Digital Assets and How They Work in Practice

Cryptocurrency

Exchange-held crypto (Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Bitstamp, Bitpanda, Scalable Capital):

Platforms have bereavement processes requiring death certificate, proof of heirship, and identity documents
Heirs must know which exchanges you use — there is no central registry
Processing times vary from weeks to months
Spanish, German, and Dutch tax authorities require heirs to declare and pay inheritance tax on crypto at the date-of-death value

Self-custodied crypto (hardware wallets — Ledger, Trezor; software wallets — Metamask, Exodus):

No intermediary, no recovery option
The seed phrase (12 or 24 words) is the only access mechanism
Without it, the assets are permanently lost
Storing the seed phrase securely — and ensuring heirs know where to find it — is the single most important action for crypto holders

Recommended approach: Maintain a private, written record of all exchanges where you hold crypto, all wallet addresses, and the location (not the content) of your seed phrase storage. This record should be held in a secure but accessible location — not emailed, not in a cloud document, not stored only in your head.

Online Investment and Brokerage Accounts

Platforms like DeGiro, Trading 212, Interactive Brokers, eToro, and Scalable Capital hold assets that are legally part of your estate. Most platforms have bereavement processes.

Key steps your heirs will need:

Know which platforms you use
Obtain a certified death certificate (apostilled if cross-border)
Prove heirship (will, or declaration of heirs)
Provide each platform's required documentation

Note: assets held in these accounts are typically client assets, not platform assets, and are protected in the event of platform insolvency under MiFID II rules. They do not disappear with the platform.

Email and Cloud Storage

Your email account is the central hub of your digital life — it is used to reset passwords, receive bank notifications, manage subscriptions, and correspond with employers, lawyers, and tax authorities. Access to your email is often the first thing heirs need to reconstruct your financial life.

Cloud storage (iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive) may contain irreplaceable documents, photos, and creative work.

Platform policies:

Google: Inactive Account Manager allows you to designate who receives access after a period of inactivity. Without this, heirs can request access through Google's next-of-kin process, but it is slow and not guaranteed.
Apple: Digital Legacy (iOS 15.2+) allows you to designate a Legacy Contact. Without this setup, there is no standard heir access mechanism.
Microsoft: Microsoft Account next-of-kin process exists but is complex and jurisdiction-dependent.

Domain Names and Digital Businesses

If you own domain names, a blog, an e-commerce store, or a subscription newsletter generating income, these are assets with real value. They can be transferred to heirs — but this requires:

Knowledge that the asset exists
Access to the registrar or hosting account
Understanding of how the asset generates value (for valuation and continuation)

These assets may also have tax implications in the country where the business is registered.

Digital Intellectual Property

Books on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, music on Spotify or DistroKid, stock photos on Shutterstock — these generate ongoing royalties and can be transferred to heirs or estates. The process typically requires the platform to be notified of death and provided with proof of heirship.

Tax Treatment of Digital Assets in Spain

Under Spanish inheritance tax law (Impuesto sobre Sucesiones y Donaciones), cryptocurrency and other digital assets with monetary value are part of the taxable estate. Heirs must:

Declare the digital assets in the inheritance tax filing
Value them at the market price on the date of death
Pay the applicable rate within 6 months

The practical problem: if heirs do not know about the assets, they cannot declare them — and may inadvertently commit tax evasion. Spanish tax authorities have been increasing their scrutiny of crypto transactions and estate reporting.

What Expats Should Do Now

Step 1: Create a complete digital asset inventory. List every platform, every account, and every type of digital asset you hold. Include account names, associated email addresses, and approximate values. This document does not need to contain passwords — only the information heirs need to begin the access process.

Step 2: Set up platform death tools. Enable Google Inactive Account Manager, Apple Digital Legacy, and Facebook Legacy Contact for your key accounts. These are official, secure mechanisms that do not require sharing passwords.

Step 3: Secure your crypto seed phrases. Store them physically, in a location your heirs will know about (but that is secure from casual access). Do not store seed phrases digitally or share them before death.

Step 4: Document everything securely. Sucesio provides a structured way to document your digital asset inventory, store secure hints and instructions, and ensure this information is transmitted to your designated heirs at the right moment — not before, and not delayed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my Spanish will cover my crypto assets? It can — and should. Your will can explicitly include cryptocurrency as part of your estate and name the intended heirs. However, naming heirs in a will does not give them access to the assets. Access requires the technical information (exchange accounts, seed phrases) to be separately documented and transmitted.

What if a crypto exchange refuses to release assets to my heirs? Major exchanges have legal obligations to follow court orders. If a platform refuses to cooperate with a legitimate heir, a Spanish court order (or equivalent) can compel them. However, this process is slow and expensive — proper preparation makes it unnecessary.

Can my heirs access my Netflix, Spotify, or gaming accounts? Most subscription services and gaming platforms prohibit transfer of accounts under their terms of service. These are not transferable assets. Content purchased (not rented) may in some cases be retained through designated beneficiary processes, but this varies by platform.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Consult a lawyer or notary specialised in digital assets and cross-border succession for advice specific to your situation.