If he does that, his family will be aware of his funds and they will spend it.
Anyone with your private key can spend your coins.
This is my point exactly! I will not give them my private key as long as i am alive. i do trust them and it is not much (so far), but this is out of the question.
I also do not want to write the key plainly in the will. You can call me crazy, but things happen and i do not think this is a safe way to handle this situation.
I am sure there are some smart people out here who have the perfect answer to my question.
You can set up a server that requires an email sent to it every month before it will email your family members with instructions and the private key.