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Cracking financial assets on divorce

06 June 2019 / George Williamson , Katie Alexiou
Issue: 7843 / Categories: Features , Profession , Divorce , Family , Technology
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Cryptocurrencies have added an additional layer of complexity to the division of matrimonial assets, say George Williamson & Katie Alexiou

  • Litigation funding can play an important role when it comes to getting the help and advice needed to prevent the financially stronger party from putting assets out of reach of the less fortunate spouse.

As if it wasn’t already challenging enough, cryptocurrencies have come along to make it that bit harder to identify and recover all the assets in financial proceedings on divorce.

Cryptocurrencies have been around since 2009 when Bitcoin was first released but have really entered mainstream consciousness in the last couple of years. There are now over 4,000 ‘altcoins’ or alternative versions of Bitcoin. Perhaps predictably, cases involving this type of asset are starting to filter through to divorce lawyers, presenting a new layer of complexity in the already painful process of disclosure and division of matrimonial assets.

Tracing ‘paper’

Although there will be a traceable record right at the outset of the transaction when

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Writing in NLJ this week, Sophie Ashcroft and Miranda Joseph of Stevens & Bolton dissect the Privy Council’s landmark ruling in Jardine Strategic Ltd v Oasis Investments II Master Fund Ltd (No 2), which abolishes the long-standing 'shareholder rule'
In NLJ this week, Sailesh Mehta and Theo Burges of Red Lion Chambers examine the government’s first-ever 'Afghan leak' super-injunction—used to block reporting of data exposing Afghans who aided UK forces and over 100 British officials. Unlike celebrity privacy cases, this injunction centred on national security. Its use, the authors argue, signals the rise of a vast new body of national security law spanning civil, criminal, and media domains
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