Matt Foster comments in the Financial Times and the Daily Mail on the importance of cryptocurrency disclosure in divorce proceedings
When wealthy couples divorce, could they be obscuring their cryptocurrency assets?
As part of the process of courts dividing up spouses' assets, divorcing parties in England and Wales fill in a Form E. This form calls for the disclosure of each person's financial circumstances, however it does not specifically call for the disclosure of crypto assets, leaving some cases where these are undeclared – intentionally or otherwise.
The Financial Times and Daily Mail cite lawyers who have seen cases where cryptocurrency worth millions of pounds was uncovered, or on the converse, it was revealed that crypto assets had not been disclosed because the accounts were perceived as old, or considered not to be of value. Nonetheless, no matter the value of any crypto holdings, these assets must be disclosed during the process.
This need for transparency also applies to those at the start of the marital process. If an engaged couple signs a prenup, failure to disclose significant assets including cryptocurrency holdings could void the prenup agreement.
Matt Foster, Senior Associate in our Family team, comments in the Financial Times and Daily Mail about how lawyers are keeping 'au fait with crypto'.
Whilst we have seen an increase in recent years in the prevalence of cryptocurrency holdings, the increase in allegations about the non-disclosure of cryptocurrency has been even greater.
Of course, not all of those allegations will be true, but it is certainly telling as to how the public perceive cryptocurrency.
Allegations about non-disclosure of cryptocurrency can often infect everything else in a case and make reaching a settlement much more complicated.
Read the reporting in full from the Financial Times here, and the Daily Mail here.
