Deceased Account Holder Crypto

[Dooski333]

Ok so 10 or so years ago I setup an account for my step mom to try and get her into buying and selling on eBay. She never really caught on and gave it any attention but I continued to use the account in the hopes she would once she saw she could actually make some decent money doing so. But she never did and actually never used the account a single time. Sadly a few years later she ended up passing away. By that time I had the account well established and was doing and fair amount of buying/selling on eBay with it. Since all of the bank/debit card info was in my name and the account was well established I just continued to use it without giving it much thought. Fast forward to last year when PayPal started advertising crypto. I had been hearing a lot about it so I decided to go ahead and invest a little into it for my first time. I bought some and within a couple months it had doubled. So I went to sell it and that's when I discovered tax forms were going to be involved, and I also realized the fact the account wasn't in my name was going to be an issue. I tried to contact PayPal about changing the name on the account but for understandable reasons they said I couldn't. Even though all of the financials on the account are under my name. So now I'm trying to figure out what I should do. If I go through the process of giving the death certificate to PayPal and having them close the account will they just sell the crypto and put the funds into the bank account (in my name)? If so how does the tax issue work in that situation? Or should I just wait and hope PayPal will one day allow crypto to be transferred? I'm not in a hurry to sell it and have been looking at the situation as a blessing since it has quadrupled from the time I bought it and it prevented me from selling it, but now the number is getting kind of big and I'm becoming more concerned about the account not being in my name.

[kernowlass]

@Dooski333 

If the name on the account is not a name that was ever your legal name, it is not likely that a name change will be possible. Names can be changed on an account in the following circumstances:

A legal name change

A minor misspelling

And in the case of an account for a registered business, a change in the designated contact for the company.

Changing from a fictitious name (or, as in your case, a name unrelated to your legal name) to a legally recognized name is not something that is supported. If the account is not currently limited, you may wish to close the account and open an account using the correct information.