Digital Asset Services
For estates where cryptocurrency or overseas shares are suspected, but no paperwork has been found.
When a deceased is thought to have held cryptocurrency, overseas shares or other digital assets, the evidence needed to find them is often lost in the first few weeks. Preservation & Scoping secures that evidence trail quickly and gives you a clear, documented plan for what to collect next.
The risk
Phones and laptops are wiped, sold or traded in, taking wallet apps and records with them.
The deceased's mobile number is often the security code for exchanges, brokers and banks. Once it is cancelled, recovery becomes much harder.
A list of 12 or 24 words can be the only key to a cryptocurrency wallet. To a grieving family, it looks like scrap paper.
How it works
A written letter for your client, issued within one business day, setting out what must not be touched, switched off or closed.
We confirm the documents exchanges, brokers and registries will require before releasing information, and flag any gaps early.
Our structured question set and briefing notes for your interview with your client. We then review your notes and follow up any gaps.
A checklist for the family to search the home for hardware wallets, seed phrases, papers, old devices and overseas correspondence.
A short memo recording what is known, the likely asset types and jurisdictions, and recommended next steps, with a document request list ready for you to send.
After scoping
Buying cryptocurrency or overseas shares leaves a trail in Australian financial, tax and registry records. Where the scoping memo shows it is worthwhile, we follow that trail to identify the exchange, broker or registry holding each asset, so you can make formal enquiries. This work is quoted separately, as a fixed fee, once the scoping memo is delivered.
Questions
Buying cryptocurrency almost always leaves a trail. Money has to move from an Australian bank account to an exchange, and exchanges send emails, statements and tax records. Preservation & Scoping protects that trail and identifies where to look, so the exchange or wallet can be traced.
Keep the deceased's devices as they are, keep their mobile number active, keep email and cloud accounts open, and do not throw out any papers. They should not log in to the deceased's accounts using known passwords. Our preservation letter sets this out in full, within one business day.
You do. As the solicitor acting in the estate, you interview your client using our structured question set and briefing notes. We then review your notes and follow up any gaps.
The preservation letter is issued within one business day, and the full service is completed within five business days of your instructions, subject to the family's availability.
Yes. The fee covers the preservation and scoping work, which protects the estate's position whether or not assets are later identified or recovered.
No. All our work is charged as a fixed fee, agreed before it starts. The estate is never charged a percentage of its own assets.
Not during Preservation & Scoping. We never access accounts or devices without proper authority. Where device examination is needed later, it is carried out by a licensed forensic examiner, with a documented chain of custody.
No. Estates Back Office is an administrative service provider. You remain the client's solicitor of record, and all legal advice on the estate stays with you.
Tell us about the estate and we will issue preservation instructions within one business day.