Wife discovers husband's hidden Bitcoin during divorce proceeding

[Victorik]

This is why you do not disclose your crypto stash to someone else, not even your spouse unless you trust them with your life or you believe that they aren't with you just for the money. The last one is very difficult to prove especially nowadays that a lot of people only want to exist and be showered with affection and pampered with material things. That is why I do not really agree to speed dating up to a marriage, not unless you know your soon-to-be spouse since childhood and you are sure that they won't flip the switch if it ever comes to that.

Hopefully though, the husband gets to keep whatever crypto he has for himself. It's bullshit that your spouse get to keep half of what you built way even before you guys met while the other doesn't really help add any value to your life in case you get separated.

From the write-up, it appears the man didn't reveal it to the wife, but the woman acted based on suspicion and hire an expert to help her investigate.

Yea, it really suck to have people hide under the guise of divorce to take what they never worked for. I hate divorce, and I hate the fact that some crooks are exploiting this lacuna to defraud their spouse.

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[Yatsan]

Hi guys!
I have come across a topic here that emphasized on the need to disclose one's Bitcoin dealings and seed phrase to his/her spouse incase something bad and unexpected like death comes knocking on the door, the husband or wife can have access to the funds and claim it.

Well... This story is quite different. A husband hid his crypto assets from his wife amid divorce saga, the wife had her suspicion, then hired a forensic expert who found out that during the splitting of the property, the husband failed to declared his 12 BTC stashed somewhere in an undisclosed wallet. She's now asking that the Bitcoin be splitted into two.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/05/20/bitcoin-in-divorce-how-spouses-hide-assets-crypto-hunters-find-them.html

Looks like some of the married folks are getting smarter... They don't want to be left in the dark, but are going out to get it themselves through crypto hunters. What's your thoughts on this?

Marriage is another thing I guess wherein there's transparency with one's fund but ofcourse it would be to the owner of an asset whether to disclose it or not. In my country, a husband has the responsibility to give financial support especially to a kid and his partner but there's no law (on my awareness) which  forces someone in a marriage to give everything he has. Not unless the other party would see it and would demand for a dhare into it, but that would be possible through verbal agreement alone and not on papers. If it is through the man's capabilities to invest then it has nothing to do with the wife unless such thing is announced to other party and demand for a portion of it. But with total possesion ofcourse it would depend to the owner whether to allow such thing or not.

[glendall]

Hi guys!
I have come across a topic here that emphasized on the need to disclose one's Bitcoin dealings and seed phrase to his/her spouse incase something bad and unexpected like death comes knocking on the door, the husband or wife can have access to the funds and claim it.

Well... This story is quite different. A husband hid his crypto assets from his wife amid divorce saga, the wife had her suspicion, then hired a forensic expert who found out that during the splitting of the property, the husband failed to declared his 12 BTC stashed somewhere in an undisclosed wallet. She's now asking that the Bitcoin be splitted into two.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/05/20/bitcoin-in-divorce-how-spouses-hide-assets-crypto-hunters-find-them.html

Looks like some of the married folks are getting smarter... They don't want to be left in the dark, but are going out to get it themselves through crypto hunters. What's your thoughts on this?

In this case, are they really smart or wise? If they do not completely trust each other, they still go to marriage and, as a result, have to go to court and doubt each other until the end. If you think they're smart, your marriage will be just like them. My wife and I always share everything with each other, if one of us intends to hide from each other, we will never be able to love each other until now.

hey dude, not all families have the same problems, so if you're getting along you won't find your partner's flaws, not smart enough in this case, because it's the rule in marriage that joint property after marriage must be divided equally if you don't have children,
but if 12 btc is purchased by the man before marriage the woman has no rights in that ownership,
only a greedy woman admits what is not hers,

[kryptqnick]

I think a lot depends on the kind of relationship and marriage people have. Some marriages are simply unstable, full of conflict. Some work out of convenience, mutual comfort but not mutual love or trust. So, of course, if total trust isn't a part of one's marriage, then disclosing one's BTC funds probably isn't a good idea.
From the article, it seems that what happens now depends on the state legislation, as some states have the policy of 50% of assets acquired during marriage going to a spouse, but others may not. Bitcoin is considered a digital asset (at least, by the IRS), so the court might actually oblige him to share 6 BTC.

[michellee]

It is about honesty from both sides, husband and wife. If the husband has crypto assets, he should tell his wife and tell her if she wants to buy crypto assets and keep them. But if he doesn't, then maybe the husband just wants to hide it from his wife and doesn't want to say anything about the crypto he owns.

If the husband buys his crypto after he marries his wife, she can claim a portion of the total amount of his assets. But if the husband bought the crypto asset before he married his wife, the husband can give some money because he bought it with his own money. And if the husband and wife have children, the husband may be obligated to support the child.

But maybe the husband will split the crypto assets and give half to his wife so there will be no more problems after the divorce. This may be new for all of us but it may develop in the future because the popularity of crypto will surely increase and many people want to invest in crypto.

[spectre71]

He probably bought them through an exchange and the KYC/AML banks have his activities well documented. They will also see his BTC spending...

He probably kept is all in one wallet. 

[JayTrain]

It's not uncommon for financial assets to become a contentious issue during divorce proceedings, and cryptocurrency is no exception. The case you mentioned highlights the importance of transparency and disclosure in financial matters, especially when it comes to shared assets like Bitcoin. This situation serves as a reminder that trust and communication are key in any relationship, and it's wise to plan for the unexpected by considering how to handle cryptocurrency and other assets in case of unforeseen circumstances.

[Rockstarguy]

Personally, I find this story very interesting and I would appreciate if you can keep us posted.
However, I think this will be a very tough but for the judge to crack. What if the man deny ownership of this BTC.
 Bottom line is that this case can go either way.

The case is very complicated one ,  bitcoin and blockchain is so different from from fiat and the banking system that has people's full details and identity in the system.  Blockchain can only give details of transactions but can't give full identity of anyone,. The man can actually deny ownership of the wallet because their is no evidence to prove that the wallet belongs to him.

 So in this case it will be difficult for the woman to claim a share from it. She can only share physical properties of her husband own by his name.
 From this case I can see another benefit of bitcoin which the law do not have power or judgment over it. Their is no evidence that the husband own the wallet. She can only share his money that is in the bank or other investment with prove that is backed with the court of law.

[Obari]

Funny story and I think most of these women are now taking marriage as an investment scheme and I pity for men for fall into these mess of a thing.
The man was smart but not enough and I think he might at the end if proven to be in possession  of such be asked to split his hodlings which isn't right 🤔

Just like the case of the footballer, hakimi was way too smart and acted so fast and I also believe  that most men must have learnt one or two lessons from the entire incidence and acted upon it.
People should learn how to protect what they own and also learn how to protect their marriages rather than seeking a divorce and I think the law should make it fair that splitting  wealth should be a very concrete  bases and not just for the sake of marriage.

[xSkylarx]

Divorce is a sensitive topic here in our country, and there are only a few here who do it, unlike in other countries where it is almost universal. My thought on this is that your ex-wife is not your true love, as both of you are going through this, and I think this is really the case if you go to annulment. You will need to give all of your assets or keep them in half, and this is really in the law. Though hiding it through bitcoin is a good idea, there is a chance that they wouldn't see it if you didn't leave traces.

[memeyrich]

Prenup, guys. No matter how nice she seems, no matter how much you're crazy about her, no matter how supportive and good she seems, ask for a prenup to be signed if you're situated individual.

If she is with you because she loves YOU for you, she wont have any issues with prenup. If she isn't, she'll give you shit and make you feel bad about it. Stay safe, gents

[Eternad]

Looks like some of the married folks are getting smarter... They don't want to be left in the dark, but are going out to get it themselves through crypto hunters. What's your thoughts on this?

This is why prenup is important if you have some undisclosed assets to your partner that you save when you are single. This kind of asset like Bitcoin is supposed to be not split if earned it long time ago.

But on this narrative, The husband use Bitcoin to save some of his assets that supposedly split since it’s considered as both party property because pf the money being use. He is trying to cheat on assets split since he know that the marriage is already cold. Actually, tracking crypto assets now are very easy especially on country like US that crypto are needed to be tax and track for the IRS report.

The husband deserves that bust since he wants to take away the money that earned within the marriage span.

[bittraffic]

Prenup, guys. No matter how nice she seems, no matter how much you're crazy about her, no matter how supportive and good she seems, ask for a prenup to be signed if you're situated individual.

If she is with you because she loves YOU for you, she wont have any issues with prenup. If she isn't, she'll give you shit and make you feel bad about it. Stay safe, gents

It becomes too unforgiving when you got kids. Just giver her what she deserves, split it after all you can earn it all soon after the bull run and you can double your holdings again.

Does anybody thinks of working as a Cryptocurrency forensic expert already?  Seem a new job that is in demand soon for many of the users who knows how to investigate and follow that chain.  It would sound good to introduce yourself as Crypto Forensic Expert  

[coolcoinz]

Prenup, guys. No matter how nice she seems, no matter how much you're crazy about her, no matter how supportive and good she seems, ask for a prenup to be signed if you're situated individual.

If she is with you because she loves YOU for you, she wont have any issues with prenup. If she isn't, she'll give you shit and make you feel bad about it. Stay safe, gents

It doesn't change anything in their case because he didn't have these bitcoins before marriage. He bought them later, when he was earning his 3 million a year.
AFAIK a prenup only makes it clear as to what they had as their own assets and assets that belonged to their families, but income earned during marriage is split.
The law even separates the property into personal property (protected by the prenup) and joint property (that gets divided).
BTC was bough with the money the husband earned during marriage, which is why she had the right to pursue it.  

[Reid]

I wish my wife will never learn about cryptocurrencies. JK. But I do sense she is reading something about it although she never asked me about it yet. I always say: "You have your gold accessories, I have my cryptoccurencies." Whatever happens to us, it will go to the kids. Never ever that we argue about our possession, and I don't think we will be on the point of divorce like on the example or for whatever reason to be on court.
For the rich people who love jumping from one woman to another, this must be done.  

[puloweh555]

I'm wondering how the woman know about the Bitcoin? Maybe the man told her woman and he forget ever telling her? Men needs to wise up because women are not playing around, whatever brings money into a man's life, women are going to be very attentively about it, all women knows is money, they don't joke with money.  

The same. I also think like you, maybe my husband once told his wife about bitcoin. so when the divorce his wife also wanted to get a share of the bitcoin.

I don't want to know how hard you work hard to obtain your Bitcoin, if you are in a country where the law is in support of splitting husband properties into half when divorce comes you have no choice but to do it, men, be wise.

In their country, they implement a civil law system known as "separation of property" where each husband and wife can retain their own property that they owned before marriage and whatever they acquire during marriage remains their personal property. In this system, not all property has to be divided equally. I think her husband kept the bitcoins with his own assets, his wife knew what the husband kept so he hired a forensic expert.

There are also countries such as mine which implement a civil law system called "sharing of joint property", where property acquired during marriage is considered joint property and must be divided equally between spouses upon divorce.

I think it's important for her husband to find relevant information about the civil law that applies in his country. so that during an incident like that he can take back his bitcoin which is 12 BTC without having to divide it in half.

[imamusma]

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In their country, they implement a civil law system known as "separation of property" where each husband and wife can retain their own property that they owned before marriage and whatever they acquire during marriage remains their personal property. In this system, not all property has to be divided equally. I think her husband kept the bitcoins with his own assets, his wife knew what the husband kept so he hired a forensic expert.

There are also countries such as mine which implement a civil law system called "sharing of joint property", where property acquired during marriage is considered joint property and must be divided equally between spouses upon divorce.

I think it's important for her husband to find relevant information about the civil law that applies in his country. so that during an incident like that he can take back his bitcoin which is 12 BTC without having to divide it in half.

The point is there are differences in law and provisions related to this case. However, cases like this may not be new even though the assets owned are different (bitcoin). There have been many divorces before where the wife would get 50% of the property from the husband including digital assets like stocks or others. Bitcoin is also a digital asset that has high selling value, so it is also a property that the husband's side should not hide.

Okay, the husband may be dishonest by saying that the bitcoins he has have run out for whatever reason, but as long as the wife still believes that the bitcoins still exist and can be proven, of course, 50:50 split will be demanded. This is not an uncommon case, but something can be learned.

[terencio]

Wow, that’s a fascinating story. I think hiding crypto assets from one’s spouse is dishonest and unfair, especially during a divorce. I also think that spouses should have some knowledge of each other’s crypto dealings and seed phrases, in case of emergencies or inheritance issues.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

I'm not an expert in this field but can she really get the half of it? The husband can deny that he owns it. There's no proof to prove that he's the owner of it unlike other assets where it has their name on it.

I don't think there is any way he could have denied ownership of those 12 bitcoins that was traced by the forensic expert, because from what stated in the article, the husband's credit card was traced to have been buying Bitcoin on "Coinbass", which is a centralized exchange which keep record of all transactions, of which I think they may have consulted "Coinbase" with a court order for investigation, and it was granted, of which they got to realised the sum total of bitcoin that was involved. Which is why it's not advisable keeping your funds on an exchange wallet, but a non-custodial wallet such as "Bluewallet or Electrum"

[Ojima-ojo]

Divorce is a sensitive topic here in our country, and there are only a few here who do it, unlike in other countries where it is almost universal. My thought on this is that your ex-wife is not your true love, as both of you are going through this, and I think this is really the case if you go to annulment. You will need to give all of your assets or keep them in half, and this is really in the law. Though hiding it through Bitcoin is a good idea, there is a chance that they wouldn't see it if you didn't leave traces.

I don't think bitcoin holding is part of assets to be considered as divorce property if the government doesn't legalize its ownership unless in some countries where bitcoin is a legal asset and covered in government policy regulations otherwise, the man has the legal right over those BTC if and when it is purchase and hold in his private wallets.

Bitcoin is a complicated object in thos situation since divorce property sharing only covers what is legally owned by both parties.