Just a couple of generations ago, divorces were fairly straightforward. There were always couples whose bitter battles included allegations of hidden assets, whether in the literally stashing money behind walls or sending funds overseas to Swiss banks or offshore Cayman Island banks.
Now, however, there is a far more complex system used to avoid sharing marital assets. It involves cryptocurrency investments. Could it factor into your North Carolina divorce?
What’s the deal with splitting up the crypto?
The first factor involving cryptocurrency division in your property settlement is determining its existence. While it is a myth that these alternative financial transactions are untraceable – they aren’t — one spouse may be completely oblivious to the other’s conversions or diversions of shared marital assets that fund these cryptocurrency acquisitions.
New industry emerges to track elusive digital assets
Most individuals and even family law attorneys are unfamiliar with the tools and tricks for tracking digital asset sales and migrations. To fill that gap, forensic analysts have stepped into the breach to investigate cryptocurrency movements through complex record-keeping ledgers known as blockchains.
The processes necessary to reveal the existence of crypto investments don’t come cheap. Forensic investigators who riffle through these digital wallets send out five-figure invoices to their divorce clients. Still, it can be a good investment if significant crypto purchases occurred. Also, the diversion, conversion and disappearance of other assets to fund these transactions can impede the equitable distribution of the marital property.
What steps should you take? If you know or suspect that digital assets could be part of the property settlement in your divorce, share this information with your family law attorney immediately. They can provide advice and guidance on this and other matters.
