Trust LanguageThe Fine Print
The boilerplate covered "all property, real and personal." The Bitcoin, being neither in the document’s eyes, left the heirs "at the gate without standing."
★ What the vault gets rightThe trust explicitly authorizes "digital assets, cryptographic keys, wallets, and seed phrases" — the RUFADAA language — so the family actually has legal standing to reach the coins. Get this clause wrong and nothing else on this page matters.
vs. boilerplate that names everything but the Bitcoin.
Read the full story → ProbateCourthouse Desk
Probate — described by all present as "public, slow, and expensive" — entered its second financial quarter on Tuesday.
★ Why the vault skips itA revocable living trust owns the coins, so successor trustees step in by the terms of the document and probate never starts. No public docket, no court-appointed stranger, no six-month wait.
vs. a will — a six-month line at the courthouse, held in public.
Read the full story → Step-Up In BasisTax Desk
IRC §1014, analysts confirm, erases the capital-gains tax on a lifetime of appreciation — narrowly out-performing every strategy except remaining alive.
★ The real ruleHeirs inherit Bitcoin at its value on the day of death, not what was paid — so the gains tax on all that appreciation is wiped out. The vault is built to pass that to the family without probate.
vs. gifting during life, which keeps the old cost basis (and adds a Form 709).
Read the full story → Trustee FeesMoney Desk
The vault tripled. The 1% fee tripled. The labor, records show, held steady at none.
★ What the vault does insteadA per-task fee schedule — set fees for setup, annual review, and the inheritance event itself — so the trustee is paid for effort, not for the price chart.
vs. 1% of a number that mostly goes up.
Read the full story → The Dual RoleEthics Desk
Marcus disclosed the conflict, secured written consent, and recommended the family hire a different lawyer to determine whether they should trust this one.
★ The real safeguardAttorney-trustee is standard but heavily regulated: written disclosure, written consent, and in some states a second attorney drafts the clause naming the first. It all lives on the engagement letter.
vs. a handshake and a hope.
Read the full story → vs. The CompetitionConsumer Desk
The service, marketed as "collaborative," involves one collaborator who is a company and one collaborator who is you.
★ What's different hereThe Family Vault keeps every key in the family — no company on the recovery line, no premium scaling with vault value, no chartered trust company in the middle.
vs. "collaborative custody," where the collaborator holds a key to your coins.
Read the full story →
Background, not legal advice — the drafting belongs to a real attorney in the state where the trust is formed.
See The Paper Side →