Survivability Doctrine

Bitcoin Custody Under Incapacity (Not Just Death)

Most U.S. estate plans focus on what happens after you die. But for Bitcoiners, the period between health and death—incapacity—is often the most dangerous "living failure" mode. Whether due to stroke, dementia, hospitalisation, or legal detention, if you are unable to sign a transaction, your Bitcoin is functionally lost. We help families build resilience against incapacity failure modes.

The Living Failure Risk

Incapacity is more common than sudden death.
Traditional Power of Attorney (PoA) does not solve technical access.
Custody must survive your inability to sign, not just your passing.

Disclaimer: This content is educational and does not constitute medical or legal advice. We work alongside your professional team to ensure technical continuity.

The Scenarios

Common Incapacity Failure Modes

Medical Crisis

A stroke or accident can occur in seconds. If your custody setup requires a specific physical presence or complex mental recall, your family is locked out at the exact moment they may need liquidity most.

Cognitive Decline

Dementia or Alzheimer's introduces a slow-motion failure. Memory loss can make complex seed phrase schemes or passphrase recall impossible, leading to irreversible asset loss before anyone notices.

Physical Detention

Travel accidents or legal detention can result in being physically unable to access your hardware devices. If you are the only person who can execute a move, your assets are frozen indefinitely.

The PoA Gap

A Power of Attorney gives someone legal authority to act. It does not give them the ability to bypass multisig or recover a lost device. Legal authority without technical capability is ineffective.

Strategic Resilience

Building for Living Failure

Instead of optimising for "if I die," we help you architect for "if I can't sign." This requires a shift from individual expertise to institutional-grade systems.

Technical Continuity for Families

Our Estate Plan Protocol (EPP) explicitly addresses incapacity. We provide the documentation and coordination that allows your spouse or authorised Trustee to execute transactions when you cannot, within a secure governed framework.

The Solution

Execution Infrastructure

Collaborative custody is the only robust solution for incapacity. By sharing responsibility across multiple signers, you ensure that no single human error—including your own incapacity—leads to loss.

Multisig Redundancy

A 2-of-3 setup ensures that even if you are medically incapacitated, the remaining two keys (e.g., TBA and a trusted partner) can still execute a recovery for your beneficiaries.

Managed Handover

We provide the orientation and training for your fiduciaries before a crisis occurs, so they know exactly who to call and what steps to take during high-pressure events.

Is Your Bitcoin Ready for a "Living Failure"?

Don't wait for a crisis to discover your plan doesn't work. Stress-test your setup for incapacity today.

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