Crypto assets in divorce and inheritance cases
The asset most easily left off an affidavit, and among the hardest to value.
For family lawyers, executors, and administrators in Cyprus and Greece. We find crypto holdings from the traces they leave, establish what was held at the dates that matter, follow anything that moved, and report it in a form a court can rely on. Cyprus courts already deal with it: in 2024 the Limassol Family Court froze half the value of listed assets, cryptocurrencies among them, in a property dispute.
Why Crypto Is Different in These Cases
Four things make crypto harder than a bank account or a property, and each one is something the evidence has to answer.
It can sit outside every statement
Crypto in a self-custody wallet appears on no bank statement and in no account a spouse or executor can request. What usually shows is the edge of it: a bank transfer to an exchange, an exchange statement, an address in an old email.
Control means the keys, not the paperwork
Whoever holds the private keys can move the funds, whatever a court order or a will says. Keys lost on death or withheld in a dispute can put the assets beyond anyone’s reach, and the European supervisors list lost keys among the main ways people lose crypto.
The value moves with the date
Cyprus measures the property at the date cohabitation ended or a date the court fixes; Greek courts value a contribution claim at the date the action is filed. With an asset that can halve or double in months, the choice of date is a large part of the dispute.
It can move after the separation
Funds can be sent to new wallets, swapped into other assets, or bridged to another chain in minutes. The chain keeps the record, which is why disposals that look invisible can usually be traced.
What We Deliver
Evidence work, scoped to the questions your case turns on.
Identifying holdings
From the documents you already have: bank transfers to exchanges, exchange statements, addresses in disclosure or correspondence. We work out which wallets belong together and what they held.
Balances at the relevant dates
Holdings read from the chain at the date that matters, separation, filing, or death, with a documented price source, and at any other date the court or the parties need.
Tracing disposals
Where assets went after a cut-off date: to new wallets, through swaps and bridges, or to exchanges where they were cashed out, with each step tied to a transaction.
Points for disclosure requests
The exchanges and service providers the trail leads to, so your requests and applications name the right institutions and the right accounts.
A report for the court
Methodology, findings, and limits set out so the other side can test them and the court can rely on them, with expert evidence at hearing if required.
Where the Evidence Meets the Law
The provisions that make the evidence matter, as they read in the primary texts.
Cyprus
- A spouse who contributed in any way to the increase in the other’s property can claim the share deriving from that contribution, presumed to be one third unless a greater or lesser contribution is proved (Law 232/1991, s.14).
- The court can order a sworn affidavit describing the property held at the date cohabitation ended or another date it fixes; where assets were later disposed of, the respondent must prove it (s.14A). False or incomplete information is an offence (s.14B).
- An administrator must collect the estate with reasonable speed and file an inventory with the court (Administration of Estates Law, Cap. 189, ss.40 and 41).
- In 2024 the Limassol Family Court barred a respondent from disposing of 50% of the value of listed assets, cryptocurrencies among them, in a property dispute (E.R. v P.R., App. 45/2023).
Greece
- A spouse who contributed in any way to the increase in the other’s property can claim the share deriving from that contribution, presumed to be one third (Civil Code art. 1400, as quoted by the Areios Pagos in 1731/2025).
- The Areios Pagos treats the claim as a monetary debt of value, measured on the increase between marriage and the date the claim arises, with the filing of the action the critical time for valuation.
- On death a person’s property passes as a whole to the heirs (Civil Code art. 1710). We found no published Greek court decision that deals with crypto in an estate.
We are forensic analysts, not lawyers. Translations from Greek are ours; your lawyer should confirm how each provision applies to your case.
Divorce & Inheritance FAQ
Can crypto be hidden in a divorce?
It can be left off a statement, but it is hard to make it disappear. Crypto bought with money from a bank account leaves a transfer to an exchange; exchange accounts produce statements; and every on-chain movement is permanently recorded. In Cyprus the court can order a sworn affidavit of the property held at the relevant date, and false or incomplete information is an offence. Our work is to connect the edges that do show, transfers, statements, addresses, to the holdings and movements behind them.
How is crypto valued in a divorce in Cyprus or Greece?
At the date the law or the court makes relevant, and that date matters more for crypto than for most assets. In Cyprus the property is described as at the date cohabitation ended or another date the court fixes. Greek courts value a contribution claim at the time the action is filed. We read the holdings from the chain at each date that matters and price them from a documented source, so the parties argue about the date, not about the numbers.
Can an executor recover crypto from an estate without the keys?
It depends where the crypto is held. Assets on an exchange or with a custodian sit in an account the provider controls, and the provider has its own process for estates, so the executor’s task is to find the account and evidence the right to it. Assets in a self-custody wallet can only be moved with the private keys; without them no one can move the funds, including us. We can still establish what the deceased held and where, which matters for the inventory and the distribution.
What do you need from us to start?
Whatever you already have that touches crypto: bank statements showing transfers to or from exchanges, exchange statements or emails, any wallet addresses, and the dates that matter in the case. We confirm at the outset what can be established from those, what further disclosure would help, and what cannot be established at all.
Do you give legal advice?
No. We are forensic analysts, not lawyers. We find, trace, and value crypto and report on it in a form a court can use; the legal strategy, the claims, and the applications stay with your lawyer, and we work alongside them. The legal provisions on this page are context for the evidence work, quoted from their sources, and your lawyer should confirm how they apply to your case.
Sources
The regulations, guidance and registers this page relies on. Check them directly.
- CyLaw: Law 232/1991 on the property relations of spouses (in Greek)
Section 14 (contribution claim, one-third presumption), 14A (affidavit of property), 14B (false information).
- CyLaw: Administration of Estates Law, Cap. 189
Sections 40 and 41: the administrator’s inventory and duty to collect the estate.
- CyLaw: Wills and Succession Law, Cap. 195
Estate defined as the movable and immovable property held at death.
- CyLaw: E.R. v P.R., Limassol Family Court, App. 45/2023, 19 August 2024 (in Greek)
Interim order covering listed assets including cryptocurrencies.
- Areios Pagos: Judgment 1731/2025 (in Greek)
Quotes Civil Code art. 1400 and sets out how the contribution claim is measured and valued.
- Areios Pagos: Judgment 849/2025 (in Greek)
Quotes Civil Code art. 1710 on succession to the estate as a whole.
- European Supervisory Authorities: Joint warning to consumers on the risks of crypto-assets (March 2022)
Price volatility and the loss of assets through lost private keys.
Related Reading
Crypto somewhere in the case?
Tell us what you have: a transfer to an exchange, a statement, an address, the dates that matter. We will tell you plainly what can be established from it and what cannot, before any work starts.
- Holdings identified from the traces they leave
- Values at the dates your case turns on
- A report the other side can test and the court can rely on
Last reviewed: October 13, 2026