Wills transfer ownership. Not access.

Your client's estate plan is impeccable — and their executor still can't open the phone. Digital assets fail probate in a way paper never did: the will names who owns the accounts, but nobody can get into them. Advisors who close this gap deliver visibly better outcomes; advisors who hold client passwords to do it take on liability nobody wants.

The access gap in every estate plan

Email is the master key to a modern estate — every reset flows through it — yet it's behind a password that dies with the client. Photos, banking, business systems, and crypto follow the same pattern. Platform bereavement processes take weeks and frequently end in memorialization, not access. The result: executors administer assets they can see but cannot reach.

Why you shouldn't hold the keys

The traditional workaround — client hands the firm a sealed list — makes you a custodian of live credentials: a breach target, a staleness problem, and a conflict in any dispute. The better structure is one where the client stays in control and you never touch a secret.

The structure that works

With Capsulene, the client seals an access capsule themselves: contents encrypted in their browser before upload (zero-knowledge — neither Capsulene nor you can read them), released to their chosen recipient only if they permanently stop answering periodic check-ins, after a grace period and repeated reminders. For crypto, key capsules add Shamir's 2-of-3 secret sharing so no single party ever holds the whole key. Your role: put it in the plan, verify it exists, note it in the estate file — contents unseen.

The advisor playbook

Add a digital-access section to your standard estate questionnaire: devices, email, password manager, crypto, business access.
Have the client seal the capsule — access inventory + instructions, recipient usually the executor or spouse.
Record that it exists (never its contents) alongside the will.
Review annually like beneficiary designations — the client updates the capsule in minutes.

Recommend continuity without custody — see how capsules work.

Explore Capsulene

Frequently asked questions

Do I, as the advisor, see my client's secrets?

No — and that's the point. Contents are encrypted in the client's browser before upload; you can recommend the process without ever becoming a custodian of passwords or keys, and without the liability that custody carries.

How does this fit alongside a will or trust?

The will transfers ownership; the capsule transfers access and knowledge. Probate can take months and makes documents public — the capsule delivers instructions and key material privately, within days of the trigger firing.

What should I tell clients to put in a capsule?

An access inventory (password-manager recovery key, device PINs, 2FA backup codes), the location of original documents, key contacts, and — for crypto holders — wallet recovery context protected by Shamir secret sharing.