Protecting Your Digital Assets During Divorce

There is so much to consider during a divorce proceeding, from child custody arrangements to property division, including some common but easily overlooked assets. However, one specific class of asset is rarely taken into consideration–digital assets. At the Law Offices Of Cara L. Santosuosso, LLC, our divorce attorney’s  understand that, while digital assets may at first seem trivial, they can have real impacts on divorcing couples, both now and in the future. Here we will discuss what digital assets are and how they should be protected, valued, and divided in divorce.

What Are Digital Assets?

As is true in any sector in life, answers to questions of definition will vary based on context and viewpoint. In general, we can safely say that digital assets can be divided into two main categories: personal and financial/intellectual.

Personal: These could include digital music libraries, e-books, photos and videos posted to social media platforms, emails and text messages, cloud storage, passwords, airline points and miles, and even subscriptions to digital media streaming services or software products. Downloaded video games, in-game items or currency can also count.

Financial & Intellectual: Most individuals will consider cryptocurrencies to be a main type of digital asset. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) like digital art are also deemed to be digital assets, though their value tends to be more volatile. Online banking accounts, online businesses, online investments, intellectual property, patents, trademarks, copyrights and domain names can also be included here.

Why do digital assets matter? On their face, basic online accounts could seem trivial, and especially so when compared with more weighty issues like child and spousal support and custody. However, maintaining access to these accounts means that potentially sensitive financial or personal information stays in your domain. You can also retain key shared memories and access to services that you and your children regularly use. Neglecting to value these accounts could lead to exposed personal data, lost digital data, and end up compromising your peace of mind.

Certain assets, like cryptocurrency, are tricky to track and uncover. These investments can be stored anonymously in digital wallets and may require the help of a forensic accountant to uncover. Social media accounts that produce income for you and have scores of followers can also become a concern in the light of divorce and division of assets. 

In any divorce, even when the most collaborative approach is taken, there is usually an undercurrent of distrust and pain. This can lead to retaliation or aggression that shows up as denied access to key accounts. This is a personal matter, yes, but it is also a legal one, and our collaborative divorce lawyers can ensure that you retain ownership of your digital assets during divorce. Documentation is your best friend here, as a court can order sharing of passwords or the transfer of account ownership if they are aware of the various accounts that you and your ex-spouse have access to.

How To Begin Protecting Digital Assets

Working with your collaborative divorce lawyer, you can learn which accounts are yours and which you may share with your ex-spouse. You will also learn of any legal considerations before taking steps to secure your digital assets.

Once you are sure that you do have rightful legal ownership of an account, you can take the steps needed to change passwords so that no one else who may know your old login information can access your accounts. You may also want to back up important data that is hosted in a shared account. Uploading this to your personal cloud storage ensures that if this data is relevant to your divorce case, it will always be available to you. 

Depending on whether you are staying in or leaving the family home, you may need to update access settings for shared devices and accounts or detach devices and remove shared profiles altogether. It is also vital to be honest and upfront about disclosing any and all digital assets as part of valuation, and division of assets during divorce. Anything that hints at dishonesty could push the court to favor the opposing party in matters of valuation. This is especially relevant to cryptocurrency purchases that are admittedly far easier to conceal than other assets.

Evidence of digital assets needs to be preserved. Deleting or changing information, especially on shared accounts, can be seen as tampering with evidence. Instead, take plenty of screenshots to document accounts and save them in a personal file that does not allow third party access. Consult with your divorce attorney to determine if you can safely change a password or other account information. 

It may be a good idea to create a new email address at the start of the divorce process to use for legal correspondence, financial matters, and anything else that is potentially sensitive. It is also important to stay off of social media as much as possible during your divorce proceedings, as anything you post, share, or otherwise engage with can become evidence. Change settings so that you cannot be tagged in others’ photos and increase security so that unauthorized parties cannot log in to your personal accounts.

Digital Assets and Divorce In Ohio

Your divorce attorney in Cleveland, Ohio will likely advise you that state rules will typically label any digital assets acquired during the marriage as being marital property, making it subject to division as part of the divorce process. This general approach can mean that any of your digital assets could be equitably (fairly) divided and distributed between you and your ex-spouse. Of course any digital assets owned before the marriage or received as a gift or inheritance are considered to be separate property, and so may not be subject to division, or perhaps only partially, based on appreciation in value during the marriage. Your Ohio divorce lawyer will help you to determine what applies in your case.

At this point, you likely have a full list of all of your digital assets. Now is the time to assign them value. This will likely entail bringing in professional valuation experts, especially for digital assets like cryptocurrency or an online business, where things can quickly become complex. Documentation of ownership, revenue, expense records and related financial statements and emails is key to make the valuation process as smooth as possible. 

Once value has been assigned to your digital assets, then they can be equitably divided. Depending on what it is, this could mean selling the asset and sharing the profits between both parties. In some cases, if you do not wish to share a specific asset, it may be possible to buy out your ex-spouse’s share. There may also be specific tax implications to consider. However, your situation evolves surrounding your digital assets, it is vital to have solid legal advice at the ready to ensure fair and equitable division. 

Collaborative Divorce Lawyers In Cleveland, Ohio

Divorce in the digital age is far different than it was a few decades ago. While you still need to determine who will keep the house and car, assets today are so much more complex than they used to be. With reliable legal guidance from a trusted divorce lawyer in Cleveland, you can rest assured that digital assets are handled fairly. 

While we are on the topic of the division of digital assets in an Ohio divorce, it is worth noting that at times, a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement could also address the issues that arise, especially where a business is involved. While this is not helpful for those already involved in the process, anyone who is engaged or newly married may want to consider establishing an agreement with their spouse to mitigate conflict should things go awry.

The expert legal team at the Law Offices Of Cara L. Santosuosso, LLC can help you if you are facing divorce and unsure about the assets you and your spouse need to divide. It can be tricky to navigate this process, so speaking with an experienced Cleveland divorce attorney is a good place to start. Contact us today to learn more or schedule your consultation online.