This is what will eventually happen. Sooner or later all crypto funds will be lost/inaccessible - given enough time. If he had kept his funds in stocks or just a plain old bankaccount (or even gold), you would have now had access to the funds.
The lesson here - if you are about to die, sell your crypto...
It depends on the market situation or “instincts” whether to sell or hold it. This is why I store my private keys, passwords, 2FAs, etc., in a “sacred notebook” and keeping it somewhere safe. My family are the only ones that I trust, so when the time comes, I am about to tell them the “keys to the kingdom” and I’ll just tell them to be self-resourceful by going to Youtube and search for some “how-to” videos or such, or even create an account here on Bitcointalk and ask questions.