Divorces are messy, and cryptocurrencies are helping to make them a whole lot more so. Virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are a new challenge for U.K. lawyers, plagued with volatility and secrecy that is extending the already painful process of dividing a couple’s assets.
“Often in a divorce one spouse is looking for a pot of gold that doesn’t exist. But with cryptocurrencies, it’s possible the pot does exist,” Toby Yerburgh, head of Family Law at Collyer Bristow, said in an interview. Yerburgh said he started to get cases where partners are concerned about hidden Bitcoins since the currency became better known last year.
But it won’t be that easy to get away with burying cash in Bitcoin. Courts are accustomed to tackling cases that require painstakingly tracing assets, especially where those assets are held offshore. And in some circumstances, if one party refuses to disclose their cryptocurrency holdings, the court can make an award heavily in favor of the other party to make up for it.
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