Cryptocurrency And Alabama Divorce

Cryptocurrency can affect people’s marriages in a variety of ways.  Perhaps the modest Bitcoin investment you and your spouse made years ago was a source of hope, excitement, and, eventually, prosperity.  Maybe the volatility of the value of cryptocurrency was just another source of financial stress in your marriage.  There are probably some divorced people out there who feel that their spouses abandoned them for Bitcoin.  It hurts when your spouse lies to you about money, but it hurts even more when your spouse lies about digital currencies, because it is so much harder to find out the truth.  From the perspective of the divorce court, though, cryptocurrency is just another asset, subject to the same laws as any other marital or nonmarital asset.  For help getting your fair share of the marital property in your divorce, including digital assets, contact a Birmingham divorce lawyer.

How to Divide Cryptocurrency Equitably

If your spouse purchased cryptocurrency during your marriage, it is a marital asset.  If your spouse already owned the crypto at the time of your wedding, then the amount of its appreciation in value during your marriage counts as a marital asset, but the rest is your spouse’s to keep.  In this regard, crypto is just like any other asset that fluctuates in value.

Equitable distribution of cryptocurrency presents several challenges, though.  First is the challenge of determining the value of the currency.  If the spouses list the value of the crypto differently on their respective financial disclosures, the court might need to bring in financial experts to determine the true value.  The other challenge is to transfer your share of the cryptocurrency to you once the court determines the amount of your fair share.  It is best to have a neutral third party accomplish the transfer but to reveal the digital key to the crypto wallet to as few people as possible.

What If Your Spouse Has Been Hiding Digital Assets?

As complicated as it may be to transfer cryptocurrency in a divorce when both spouses are being honest, it is even more difficult when your spouse is not forthcoming about the value of his cryptocurrency, or even which cryptocurrencies he owns.  If your spouse denies owning cryptocurrencies but you are trying to prove that these digital wallets exist, you can present evidence in the form of tax returns and loan applications that list these crypto assets.  (Some cryptocurrencies are easier to discover than others; some send forms every year for their holders to present to the IRS, while others seem specifically designed for hiding from divorce courts.)  If your spouse has gone to extraordinary lengths to hide her cryptocurrency assets, you can petition the court to order your spouse or other relevant parties to surrender devices that may contain evidence of the cryptocurrency assets.

Contact Peeples Law About Divorce in the Cryptocurrency Age

A Birmingham family law attorney can help you distribute your marital assets equitably if some of those assets are in the form of cryptocurrencies.  Contact Peeples Law today to schedule a consultation.

Sources:

cnbc.com/2021/05/28/dividing-cryptocurrency-in-a-divorce-settlement-is-complicated.html

cnbc.com/2021/06/01/divorcing-spouses-are-using-cryptocurrency-to-hide-money-how-experts-find-it.html