Professional Desk · Law firms
Your documents grant the authority. We help make it work for Bitcoin.
You don't need to become a Bitcoin expert to remain the expert your client already trusts.We stay with your client through the whole process: buying bitcoin, securing it with collaborative security, and planning how it passes on. You keep the advice; we handle the technical side.
The questions clients bring to their lawyer
- Will my executor actually be able to access my Bitcoin?
- Should my recovery words go in my will?
- Who can sign if I lose capacity?
- How should a trust hold Bitcoin?
A partner in the room, not a replacement
You know your client. We know Bitcoin security.
When Bitcoin comes up, bring us into the room. You keep the relationship and your advice. We look after the Bitcoin security: how it is held, who can sign, and how it passes on.
Tell us about your next Bitcoin-related client enquiry, and we will talk it through with you.
Peter Dunworth, Partner. Estate planning and generational wealth transfer. Guiding families since 2016.
Who controls the Bitcoin
- Only you can initiate a transaction through your secure vault account. Neither The Bitcoin Adviser nor the platform provider can initiate transactions through the normal platform workflow. Two of the three keys must approve it before Bitcoin can move.
- TBA is a co-signer within the client's structure, not a custodian. No single party, TBA included, can move Bitcoin alone.
- Recovery and succession follow the wallet configuration and the procedures the client has authorised.
The people you work with
Advisers who work with professionals and their clients.
- Peter Dunworth. Estate planning and generational wealth transfer. Guiding families since 2016.
- Dalia Platt. Bilingual bitcoin security and inheritance for families and their advisers across the Americas.
Your documents may establish authority. They do not guarantee access.
Authority on paper is meaningless without the ability to execute.
You Don't Need to Become Bitcoin Experts
Your clients don't expect you to be a Bitcoin custody expert. They expect you to recognise when specialist expertise is required and know who to bring into the conversation.
Most law firms have no desire to become experts in multisignature custody, hardware wallets, recovery procedures, or Bitcoin inheritance workflows. Nor should they.
Your role is to provide legal advice, structure the estate appropriately, and protect your client's interests. Our role is to provide the specialist Bitcoin knowledge that sits alongside that advice. Together, we help ensure that legal authority can be translated into practical control when it matters most.
The most sophisticated professional advisers don't try to be experts in everything. They build networks of specialists they can rely on when clients need expertise beyond the firm's core competency. Most law firms don't employ in-house cybersecurity specialists, forensic accountants, or digital asset experts. They work with trusted partners. Bitcoin should be treated no differently.
Forensic accounting International tax Actuarial work Business valuations Family office governance Cybersecurity Bitcoin custody
Nobody expects a wills and estates lawyer to understand multisig recovery, hardware wallet architecture, inheritance workflows, key management, recovery rehearsals, beneficiary education, or Bitcoin custody design. The risk is not ignorance of Bitcoin. The risk is allowing a technical gap to remain unaddressed.
Five Failure Modes for Legal Professionals
These are the patterns we see when legal documents exist but specialist execution support was never engaged, or when a firm was expected to solve a technical problem outside its normal competency.
Will mentions Bitcoin, but nobody can find the wallet
The document creates an expectation of inheritance without identifying holdings, locations, or who holds operational knowledge. Why instructions are not a plan →
Trustee has authority, but no signing capability
A court order or trust deed grants power on paper. Without keys and coordinated signing, the trustee cannot act on-chain. Legal authority vs control →
Seed phrase disclosed insecurely in estate documents
Keys written into Wills, trust schedules, or file notes create theft risk and may invalidate the security model entirely. Safe reference via Estate Plan Protocol →
One technical family member becomes the hidden plan
A relative with informal knowledge becomes the undocumented operating system and a single point of failure. The expert-dependent trap →
Executor delays; asset becomes unrecoverable or disputed
Time passes, devices are lost, and beneficiaries argue while access deteriorates. Incapacity and delay are as dangerous as death. Plan for incapacity →
Engagement Model
Just as you might engage a tax specialist, forensic accountant, family office consultant, or valuation expert, The Bitcoin Adviser provides specialist expertise in Bitcoin security, inheritance planning, and operational continuity. Your firm introduces; we execute the technical layer.
Law firm remains legal adviser
You retain responsibility for legal structure, tax coordination, and client advice. We do not substitute for counsel.
TBA provides technical custody and control support
Specialist education, collaborative security design, recovery documentation, and beneficiary readiness that sits alongside your file.
TBA does not provide legal, tax, or investment advice
Scope is technical execution and continuity. Boundaries are documented. See Scope & Risks.
Client relationship can be direct or referred
We work with your clients at your direction, or through a direct engagement you have introduced with confidence.
Outputs can be included in the estate planning file
Documented process, specialist referral evidence, and protocol materials designed for file-note integration and executor handover.
Closing the Execution Gap
These are the capabilities your firm can introduce to clients. You do not need to deliver them yourself.
Collaborative Security
Multi-signature vault design that eliminates single points of failure while clients retain meaningful control. No single party can move Bitcoin alone.
Estate Plan Protocol
A structured framework for Bitcoin inheritance: documentation, beneficiary education, recovery procedures, and integration with your Wills and trusts.
Key Agent
Authorised co-signing in a multisig structure. The family holds keys; we are not a custodian and cannot act unilaterally.
Beneficiary and Executor Education
Education for clients, beneficiaries, trustees, and executors so everyone understands their role before a crisis, not during one.
Why Prudent Firms Introduce a Specialist
Documented specialist engagement protects your firm when clients later ask why Bitcoin was handled differently from other estate assets. The question is not whether you need Bitcoin expertise in-house. It is whether you have a trusted specialist you can introduce with confidence.
US Context: For US-based firms, traditional estate plans and asset protection structures often break when applied to Bitcoin. Legal Authority vs. Bitcoin Control → For trust and asset protection structures: U.S. Trusts & Asset Protection →
File-Note Defensibility
Documented specialist referral and a repeatable process give you something concrete to point to if Bitcoin is later questioned during administration.
Executor and Trustee Administration Risk
Executors know who to contact and what steps follow. That reduces delay, guesswork, and the risk of assets being overlooked at probate.
Professional Negligence Exposure
Engaging recognised Bitcoin expertise demonstrates you addressed a known gap rather than improvising technical advice outside your competency.
Evidence of Specialist Referral
A clear referral to The Bitcoin Adviser shows prudence: you identified a specialist need and acted on it, consistent with how you handle other technical disciplines.
Scope Boundaries
Legal advice stays with your firm. Technical custody, signing coordination, and recovery support stay with us. Boundaries are documented in Scope & Risks.
Documented Process and Non-Legal Support
Outputs are designed for your advice file: protocol references, education records, and execution documentation without asking your firm to become technical experts.
Bitcoin Estate Doctrine for Legal Professionals
This page is the legal-professional gateway into our doctrine cluster: focused resources for the execution-gap decisions estate lawyers need to get right before Bitcoin becomes a probate or negligence problem.
Legal Authority vs Bitcoin Control
Why trustees and executors need more than authority on paper to act on-chain.
Why Instructions Are Not a Plan
Static documents fail when people, devices, or circumstances change.
Custody Under Incapacity
Planning for living failure modes, not only death.
Estate Plan Protocol
Making Bitcoin recoverable for heirs, executors and trustees without leaking sensitive material into legal documents.
Key Agent
What key agency means as a signing role, and why it is not custody.
Bitcoin Trusts & Asset Protection
For trust structures and asset protection questions involving Bitcoin.
What Good Looks Like
A well-run Bitcoin estate plan, with specialist support in place, is recognisable:
Bitcoin holdings are identified without exposing keys in legal documents.
Executors know exactly who to contact and what steps to follow.
Beneficiaries receive education before a crisis, not during one.
Legal documents reference the protocol without leaking sensitive material.
Signing and recovery workflows match the legal authority your documents establish.
The advice file contains evidence of specialist engagement and a documented process.
Your Clients May Include
Family offices or institutional balance sheets. For multi-generation family structures: Family Offices. For sovereign wealth funds and public-sector clients: Sovereign Wealth.
Professional partners: Advisers and finance teams face the same gap when clients hold direct Bitcoin. See Financial Advisers and Corporate Bitcoin Treasury. Executor administration intent: Bitcoin Executor Support.
Practical help
Print a one-page collaboration note from the explorer for your file. It records each party's role for the situation you chose.
- Estate Plan ProtocolInheritance documentation without keys in legal documents.
- Legal authority vs Bitcoin controlWhy authority on paper is not the ability to sign.
- ContinuityThe continuity doctrine this work belongs to.
- Scope, risks and important informationWhat TBA does and does not do.
Professional Desk
Talk to the desk
Tell us about the estate or the question in front of you, and we will talk it through with you.
Scope, risks and important information