The invention concerns a device and a method for controlling a portable object life cycle, in particular a smart card, the life cycle being determined by successive state transitions, which states determine the services offered by the object. The object includes a processing unit, program storage units and data storage units, each storage unit having a content defining a plurality of configurations. The device controls the transition from a first state to a second state of the object and, preferably triggers actions when the transition crossover from one state to another occurs or when a transition crossover request is denied. The actions are dependent on the type of transitions implied in the requests for state transition crossover applied to the object.