Set up the drill safely
Run the rehearsal on a small test wallet with the same structure as the real one - same quorum, same device types, same descriptor storage. Nobody should touch the live wallet during a drill.
Book a date, invite the actual participants (executor, spouse, professional partner) and give them only the executor briefing. If they need to ask you a question, that question is a documentation defect - write it down.
The six steps to test
One: locate the briefing. Two: identify the wallets and confirm balances from public keys. Three: contact the professional partner and complete their verification process. Four: retrieve the accessible keys from their storage locations. Five: reconstruct the wallet from the descriptor and sign a small test transaction. Six: record how long each step took and what went wrong.
Time matters. A recovery that technically works but takes eleven months is a failure for a family that needs liquidity for tax or funeral costs.
Common failures a drill exposes
The descriptor was never backed up. The safe deposit box requires an authority the executor does not hold. The professional partner needs a grant of probate that takes months. The metal backup is in a property that has been sold. The executor cannot install the wallet software. Each of these is invisible on paper and obvious in a drill.
Fix them by amending the briefing, not by explaining verbally. Verbal fixes die with you.
Frequency and record-keeping
Rehearse at setup, again within twelve months, and then every two to three years or whenever anything material changes: a new device, a new address, a new executor, a change of provider.
Keep a dated rehearsal record noting participants, elapsed time, defects found and fixes applied. It is powerful evidence for your family that the plan is real, and it doubles as a review trigger.
Bring the professionals in
Invite your solicitor to observe once. Succession lawyers rarely see a technical recovery, and a lawyer who has watched one drafts far better digital asset clauses afterwards.
If an SMSF holds the Bitcoin, involve the fund's auditor early too: they will want evidence linking wallets to the fund, and a drill is a natural moment to produce it.