Three families

How wealth slips away, and how it need not.

Name: Charlie Stevens
Address: SV
Price range: $$

Most family wealth is not lost to markets. It is lost to small, ordinary mistakes that nobody noticed until it was too late. Here are three of them.

A family home

The house that divided three children

A widowed mother leaves the family home to her three children in equal shares. One wants to sell. One wants to live there. The third cannot afford to buy the others out.

A house cannot be split three ways without selling it. Years pass in disagreement. There are legal costs, upkeep on a property nobody lives in, and siblings who stop speaking. The wealth survives on paper; the family does not.

What went wrong

The wealth was held in something that could not be divided, and the wishes behind it were never written down or talked through while the mother was there to explain them.

What we would do

Bitcoin can be divided exactly, so it can be passed on in the shares you choose without forcing anyone to sell.
We help you write down who receives what, set it up so each heir can receive their share, and walk them through it while you are here to explain your wishes.
Where property or other assets are involved, we work alongside your lawyer so the whole plan fits together.

Bitcoin

The keys that went with him

A father keeps his Bitcoin carefully: one hardware wallet, and the recovery words written down and hidden somewhere only he knows. His wife knows the Bitcoin exists, but not where anything is.

After a sudden illness, the family finds the device but not the words, and nobody knows the PIN. The money is still there and can never be reached.

What went wrong

A single point of failure. One person, one set of recovery words, one hiding place, and no written plan for anyone else to follow.

What we would do

Alternative backups kept in separate places, so there is always a plan B.
A map of keyholders chosen by you, so no single person or place is critical, and, if you want it, time-delayed recovery that opens a path for your heirs after a period you set.
A written recovery plan, rehearsed with your spouse, and one line on your documents: "If you can’t reach me, call Schelling Point."

Bitcoin

The heir who was not ready

A grandmother leaves her grandson an envelope with her recovery words inside. He has never used Bitcoin. Unsure what to do, he searches online and contacts what looks like a wallet support service.

They ask him to type in the words to “verify” the wallet. Within an hour, it is empty.

What went wrong

The heir received the keys but not the knowledge. Nobody had shown him what he was holding, or told him who he could safely call.

What we would do

A handover while you are here: we go through the whole framework with your heir, with a full walkthrough, so they understand what they will receive.
Plain-language instructions, including the one rule that matters most: recovery words are never typed into a website or shared with anyone.
A known contact. Your family calls us, we confirm who they are and guide them step by step. We never ask for recovery words, and we never hold your keys.

These scenarios are illustrative, drawn from situations common to many families. They are not accounts of our clients.

If any of these feel familiar, we would be glad to talk.

Arrange a free, confidential consultation