Cordell & Cordell Senior Litigation Partner Kelly L. Burris was recently quoted in a New York Times article detailing how divorce disputes over cryptocurrency are becoming more common.
Over the last several years, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether have grown more popular. Due to their digital nature, these assets tend to be much more difficult to track, leading to disagreements between divorcing spouses when it comes time to divvy up assets.
Oftentimes, spouses underreport their holdings or hide funds in online wallets that are difficult to access. However, transactions in the crypto world are recorded on public ledgers called blockchains, which has led many divorce attorneys to rely on an emerging industry of forensic investigators who track the movement of cryptocurrencies from online exchanges to digital wallets.
Ms. Burris, who practices out of Cordell & Cordell’s Austin office, has given many lectures in which she talks about the challenges of tracking digital assets. In the article, she noted that she has dealt with plenty of clients who try to think up ill-conceived plans to hide their cryptocurrency.
“They can be weirdly not creative,” Ms. Burris said. “They’ll be like, ‘I’ll give it to my brother for a dollar’ or whatever, and I’m like, ‘You can’t do that.’”
Read more: Kelly Burris Writes About Cryptocurrency and Divorce
Written by Joseph E. Cordell
Joseph E. Cordell is the Principal Partner at Cordell and Cordell, P.C., which he founded in 1990 with his wife, Yvonne. Over the past 25 years, the firm has grown to include more than 100 offices in 30 states, as well as internationally in the United Kingdom. Mr. Cordell is licensed to practice in the states of Illinois and Missouri and received his LL.M. from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Joseph E. Cordell was named one of the Top 10 Best Family Law Attorneys for Client Satisfaction in Missouri.
