What happens to a Ledger when you die?

A Ledger doesn't hold your crypto. It holds the keys. Your family's chances depend almost entirely on one thing: whether they can find the recovery phrase.

The device isn't the important part

A Ledger is a hardware wallet: a small device that keeps the keys to your crypto offline. The crypto itself lives on the blockchain. When you set up a Ledger, it shows you a recovery phrase of 24 words (sometimes 12 or 18). Those words can recreate the keys on any new Ledger.

That means:

• With the recovery phrase, your family can recover everything, even if the device is lost, broken or its PIN is unknown.
• With the device but not the phrase or PIN, they usually can't get in. After three wrong PIN attempts, a Ledger resets itself.
• With neither, the crypto is almost certainly lost for good. Nobody, including Ledger, can reset it.

If you're the executor

1. Don't guess the PIN. Three wrong tries wipes the device. It doesn't lose the crypto, but you'll then need the recovery phrase.
2. Look for the recovery phrase. Check the Ledger's box, a safe, a safety deposit box, or papers held by their solicitor. It may be on paper or stamped into a metal plate. It's a list of plain English words, usually numbered.
3. Check for a passphrase. Some people add an extra word or phrase (sometimes called a 25th word). Without it, restoring the phrase shows a different, empty wallet.
4. Restore on a new device. Buy a new Ledger directly from ledger.com, never second-hand. Install Ledger Live from ledger.com and choose to restore from a recovery phrase. Type the words only on the Ledger itself, never on a computer or phone.
5. Record the value on the date of death, then move the crypto to an account you control as executor to sell or pass on.

If you own a Ledger: plan now

• Keep the recovery phrase somewhere safe from fire, flood and theft, such as a home safe or a sealed envelope held by your solicitor.
• Never keep it as a photo, in email or in cloud notes, and never put it in your will. Wills become public after probate.
• Write down where the phrase and device are, and tell your executor where that note is.
• If you added a passphrase, record where it is kept too, separately from the phrase.

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This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. Ledger's own steps can change; check ledger.com before restoring a wallet. WalletLegacy is not connected to Ledger.