Have you ever thought about where the NFTs in a wallet go if the owner dies?– For your information, a blockchain wallet is inaccessible without a private key. Now, guess what?– The wallet owner is the only person who knows the seed phrase. So, if he dies, then nobody will be able to access the assets present in the wallet.
Luckily, this isn’t the case anymore! A new system has been discovered to make it technically possible to automate an NFT transfer even after the owner dies. Smart contracts are the key players in this process. So, this kind of complicated operation will require the assistance of a well-experienced Smart contract development services offering enterprise.
What Was The Case So Far?
Generally, if an NFT trader dies, his digital collectibles will be gone eternally, except if they have activated any asset handover plan. It is quite challenging to make this process successful due to several legal complications and restrictions. This is why lawyers believe that it will be more convenient if there is a way to seamlessly hand over the NFTs to another user, just in case the NFT owner passes away.
From a legal perspective, developing an estate plan needs simple arrangements like property management and disposal in preparation for future inability or demise. Doing this would be good and the best possible solution to make sure that the NFTs are given to their trustable ones after the owner’s death.
Why Do You Need To Hand Over Your NFTs To Inheritors?
Really guys, NFTs are valuable assets, and it is worth taking some preventive steps to ensure they will reach a safe hand after you pass away. There are no restrictions, so you can either pass it to your loved ones or donate it to a charity. Heirs won’t have to worry about taking additional affirmative actions if everything is set in the right place. But first, you should need a wallet to receive and hold tokens. If the handover system is proper, the trustee will assure that the NFTs are forwarded to the heirs. However, this also needs NFT collectors to give access to the wallet for executors and beneficiaries.
However, if the blockchain assets are stored in a cold wallet with a brain key only, then it is totally impossible to recover them. According to a report, approximately 2.7 Million BTC have been untouched in a decade. It is because the respective owners either died or lost the private key forever.
How Does This Transfer Process Happen?
Until the government passes the death certificate of the NFT owner, the assets will be inaccessible. In the other case, the certificate will be verified via blockchain oracles and trigger an on-chain asset transfer process. Although it is possible to transfer the NFTs from the owner to beneficiaries automatically, it is essential to consider various legal and practical concerns.
Hence, you should link all the legal documents with smart contracts, like a will, specifying the details of desired heirs. By doing this, smart contracts will be able to find the respective recipients and receive instructions on what to do after confirming the death of the NFT owner. Ultimately, this process won’t work the best if you do not acquire the aid of a blockchain smart contract development company.