How are crypto assets in an estate mapped out?
In short: Paucitas maps out the crypto assets in an estate and determines the value on the date of death. Executors, beneficiaries and their solicitors use that overview for the estate accounts and for Inheritance Tax.
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What Paucitas does
We start with whatever has been found: a hardware wallet, a note with addresses, an old phone or a message from an exchange. From a single address the history can usually be read back, which is what turns a box of papers into a list of holdings.
In a UK estate the assets are valued at the date of death for Inheritance Tax, and the estate has to be valued before probate, or confirmation in Scotland, is applied for. We therefore fix the balance and the value on that day first, and only then look at what happened afterwards.
We start with whatever has been found: a hardware wallet, a note with addresses, an old phone or a message from an exchange. From a single address the history can usually be read back, which is what turns a box of papers into a list of holdings.
What you supply
You supply Paucitas with everything that has been found: addresses, screenshots, papers with key words, letters or messages from platforms, and the bank statements showing deposits. Do not discard anything that looks technical, however trivial it seems.
Where an executor or administrator is acting, add the documents that establish that authority. We need them before we can look at holdings that were not your own, and providing them at the start saves a round of correspondence.
Do not discard anything that looks technical, however trivial it seems. Bank statements showing deposits to an exchange are often the only surviving trace of a platform account, and they are enough to start from.
What you receive
You receive from Paucitas an overview that a solicitor or a tax adviser can use directly, with a reference per item to the underlying data. Where keys are missing, the overview records the holding and its value and states plainly that access could not be established.
That distinction matters for an estate. A holding that exists but cannot be accessed is a different item in the division from one that can, and the overview keeps the two apart.
For readers in the UK the frame is the point. For Inheritance Tax the valuation date is the date of death, so crypto assets in an estate are fixed on that day first and anything that happened afterwards is recorded separately.
Where keys are missing, the overview records the holding and its value and states plainly that access could not be established. That distinction matters in an estate: a holding that exists but cannot be reached is a different item in the division from one that can.
How to get started
You contact Paucitas with a short description of what has been found and who is handling the estate. We will tell you what an inventory can establish with the material available. The contact page is the place to begin.
Tell us what has been found and who is handling the estate. Where an executor or administrator is acting we also need the documents that establish that authority, and providing them at the start saves a round of correspondence.
A solicitor or a tax adviser can use the overview directly, with a reference per item to the underlying data, so no one has to take a figure on trust.
What the executor, the solicitor or HMRC does with the overview, they decide themselves.
Would you like to know what this means for your situation? Ring us on +31 20 244 5774, day or night, or fill in our contact form and you will hear from us within 1 to 3 hours. We answer emails within 24 hours, usually the same day. The intake is free and without obligation.
Do you have a question about your own situation?
Feel free to get in touch with Paucitas. Paucitas can be reached by phone 24/7, including evenings and weekends. Through the contact form we usually reply within 1 to 3 hours, and we answer e-mail within 24 hours.
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Frequently asked questions
About your case
Which date applies in an estate?
Paucitas uses the date of death. Balance and value are fixed on that day for the estate and for Inheritance Tax.
What if the keys are missing?
Paucitas explains: the holding and its value are still recorded, with a plain statement that access could not be established.
Can a solicitor use the overview?
Paucitas: yes. It is built for that, with a source reference per item so that each figure can be checked.
From Amsterdam, for the whole of the UK
Everything can be done fully online. Prefer to meet in person? You are very welcome at our office in Amsterdam, by appointment.
Paucitas is an independent expert firm based in the Netherlands that, for clients across the UK, investigates investment fraud and crypto fraud, establishes the origin and legitimacy of crypto assets and prepares expert reports for legal proceedings and compliance.
Your own situation
If you are reading this, you probably have a question about your own situation. That is exactly what Paucitas does.
The first step is contact by phone. You can book that call by phone or through the contact form, so you do not have to wait. In the call we look together at what can factually be established in your case and what Paucitas can examine for you.