The solution will allow users to be in “hands” of a specialized lawyer and a multi-password to protect the owner of the digital currencies.
Recently, it was announced that a company dedicated to create blockchain solutions, called Casa Covenant, developed a tool that will allow people who use cryptocurrencies to delegate their assets as inheritance using, even, real estate lawyers specialized in this area.
The tool will work as a custody service for cryptocurrencies, cataloging digital currencies as valuable properties with the right to be inherited or transferred to a family member in case of inactivity or if the owner is sick. This would avoid the fear that some people who save on cryptocurrencies constantly have. In the event of a death, the money will not disappear.
Casa Covenant is a startup which is mainly dedicated to developing multi-signature keys to improve security, as well as creating nodes for Lightning Bitcoin. A few days ago, through its official blog, the company published a document detailing what would happen to these bitcoin assets, once their owner died unexpectedly. It explained how companies proceed today. The first, and the most common procedures, is that the assets remain without being able to access them.
The second option is that a family member or a relative of the deceased can have access to passwords and codes, so that these assets can be accessed. But this is a completely vulnerable option to theft and diversion of funds.
And the third option is the one suggested by the company, where a protocol is put into operation. That protocol can be expressed in a testament and in a completely legal way, using lawyers and documents duly registered in the ordinary public bodies. In this way, the platform helps contain these digital assets and distribute them to who will be the heir of the deceased.
Casa Covenant created a solution based on unifying the multi-signature structure they have developed with the traditional legal system, with the aim to achieve a proper estate planning. To make this possible, the company developed a system of six signatures or keys. Three of them will be used to access the funds withheld and one of them will be in hands of the deceased’s lawyer. This will allow that all funds can be accessed in a safe manner.
Another key will be protected by the company. The key can only be recovered when the lawyer comes with a court order, and a death certificate. In this way, the company is responsible for keeping the bitcoins safe, until the heir asks and access to the assets.
Nick Newmann, who is a representative of the company, says that everything related to legal aspects is not completely covered, since they could have certain failures in the inheritance process for this type of property. Despite this, they explain that they are still working to improve the service.
“In evaluating ways to handle these problems, we realized that the integration of this multi-signature technology with the existing legal and estate planning system is the first correct step. One day a more independent inheritance process will come, but there are many pitfalls when going too far and too fast”, Newmann said.
By María Rodríguez
