Bitcoin and Divorce: What Needs to Be Settled?

In a divorce, bitcoin count as assets just like a bank account or a securities account. In Germany they go into the equalisation of accrued gains (Zugewinnausgleich), in Austria into the division of marital savings, in Switzerland into acquired property (Errungenschaft). You mainly need to settle three things: which coins are divided at all, on which day and at which price they are valued, and whether you transfer coins or pay money.

This article is a general overview, not legal advice. Family law depends heavily on the individual case. In a real separation you need a family lawyer, and with larger holdings also a tax adviser.

Why bitcoin are special in a divorce

Three properties make bitcoin harder to deal with in a divorce than a bank account:

• They fluctuate strongly. Separation and judgment are often one to two years apart. In that time the price can halve or double.
• They seem easy to hide. Twelve words on a slip of paper are invisible in any household. The purchases behind them are not.
• Whoever knows the key has the coins. If your ex-partner knows the seed phrase, they can send everything away at any time.

How to talk about bitcoin in a relationship while things are going well is covered in Discussing bitcoin with your partner and family. This article is about the case where the marriage ends.

Germany: bitcoin in the equalisation of accrued gains

Without a marriage contract, married couples in Germany live in the community of accrued gains (Zugewinngemeinschaft, § 1363 BGB). Each spouse remains the owner of their own bitcoin. Only at divorce is it compared who gained how much wealth during the marriage:

1. Initial assets (Anfangsvermögen): what each spouse owned on the wedding day (§ 1374 BGB). Inheritances and gifts received during the marriage are added here.
2. Final assets (Endvermögen): what each spouse owns on the cut-off date (§ 1375 BGB). Bitcoin count at their value on that day, whatever wallet or exchange they sit on.
3. Accrued gain (Zugewinn): final assets minus initial assets (§ 1373 BGB).
4. Equalisation: whoever gained more pays the other half of the difference (§ 1378 BGB).

Important for bitcoin holders: bitcoin you already owned before the marriage can also add to the accrued gain. They enter the initial assets only at their value on the wedding day. If the price has risen since, that rise is accrued gain and is shared.

The cut-off date in Germany

For final assets, the relevant day is the day the divorce petition is served on the other spouse (§ 1384 BGB). Not the day of separation and not the day of the judgment. On that day it is fixed how many bitcoin you have and what they are worth.

The equalisation claim is a money claim in euros. If the price falls afterwards, you still owe the amount from the cut-off date. If it rises, you keep the gain.

How far the price can fall in such a period is shown by comparing all past bear markets:

Austria: division of marital savings

In Austria, the default without a marriage contract (Ehepakt) is separation of property (§ 1237 ABGB). In a divorce, assets are still divided, under the Marriage Act (§§ 81 ff. EheG): the marital assets in use (eheliches Gebrauchsvermögen) and the marital savings (eheliche Ersparnisse).

Bitcoin bought during the marital partnership are as a rule marital savings: investments of any kind intended to be realised later (§ 81 (3) EheG). It does not matter in whose name the exchange account is held or who has the seed phrase.

Not divided are, among others (§ 82 EheG):

• bitcoin a spouse brought into the marriage,
• bitcoin a spouse inherited or received as a gift,
• shares in a company, unless they are a mere investment.

There is no fixed formula. The court divides according to equity (Billigkeit, § 83 EheG) and considers what each spouse contributed, including through housework and childcare. Half each is often the starting point.

Cut-off date and deadline in Austria

Which bitcoin are divided depends on the holdings when the marital partnership ended, usually at separation. According to case law, however, they are valued at the time of the division. Price swings until then therefore affect both spouses.

You must apply for the division within one year after the divorce becomes final (§ 95 EheG). After that, the claim is gone.

Switzerland: acquired property or separate property

In Switzerland, the default marital property regime is participation in acquired property (Errungenschaftsbeteiligung, Art. 181 ZGB). Each spouse has two pots:

• Separate property (Eigengut, Art. 198 ZGB): what they brought into the marriage, what they inherited or received as a gift, and what replaced these assets.
• Acquired property (Errungenschaft, Art. 197 ZGB): what was acquired for value during the marriage, above all from earnings.

Only acquired property is divided. Each spouse receives half of the other's surplus (Vorschlag), meaning acquired property after deducting debts (Art. 210 and 215 ZGB).

For bitcoin this means: coins you bought before the marriage remain your separate property, even if their price has risen since. Coins you bought from your salary during the marriage are acquired property.

Cut-off date in Switzerland

In a divorce, the marital property regime is dissolved as of the day the divorce petition was filed (Art. 204 (2) ZGB). That day determines which bitcoin belong in which pot. Their value, however, is the market value at the time of the division of marital property (Art. 211 and 214 ZGB). As in Austria, both spouses share the price risk until the division.

The three countries compared

Proving holdings: what has to be disclosed

In all three countries, spouses must inform each other about their assets. In Germany, each spouse can demand information as of the day of separation and the cut-off date, with supporting documents (§ 1379 BGB). Anyone who gives false information can be compelled to affirm it under oath.

For bitcoin there are several ways to prove holdings without giving the other side access:

• Exchange and bank statements. The exchange's transaction history shows purchases, sales and withdrawals. Bank statements show the transfers to the exchange.
• Watch-only wallet via the xpub. The extended public key (xpub) shows all addresses and movements of a wallet but does not allow spending. An expert or lawyer can use it to check the holdings on the cut-off date.
• Signed message. A signature from an address proves that you control its key, without handing the key over.
• Tax records. In Switzerland, bitcoin appear in the securities schedule of the tax return; in Germany and Austria, sales appear in the tax return.

Hiding coins: illegal and usually futile

The thought is tempting: the coins are on a hardware wallet, nobody knows about them, so they are "gone". That is a mistake, legally and practically.

Legally: In Germany, concealing assets in divorce proceedings can be punishable as procedural fraud, and so can a false affirmation under oath. Assets that someone gives away, squanders or moves aside shortly before the divorce with the intent to disadvantage the other spouse are added back to final assets (§ 1375 (2) BGB). If assets on the cut-off date are lower than at separation, the holder has to explain why. Switzerland (Art. 208 ZGB) and Austria (§ 91 EheG) also add such transfers back.

Practically: Almost everyone buys bitcoin on an exchange with identity checks and pays by bank transfer. Those traces remain. Since 2026, crypto providers in the EU also report customer data to tax authorities (DAC8). And the blockchain forgets nothing: anyone who knows where a withdrawal went can follow the coins from there. The excuse "lost in a boating accident" does not help when the withdrawal to a private wallet is documented and no sale is.

Splitting: transfer coins or pay money?

In the end there is a figure in euros or francs. How it is settled, you can agree between you:

In Germany, the equalisation of accrued gains is by law a money claim. Coins instead of money are possible by agreement. A court can order the transfer of specific assets only in exceptional cases (§ 1383 BGB). In Austria and Switzerland, a division in kind is more common, with a balancing payment for the rest.

If you transfer coins, set out exactly: how many bitcoin, at which price from which source (for example the daily close of a specific exchange on a specific date), to which address, by when, and who pays the network fee. "Half of the bitcoin" leads to the next dispute when the price moves.

Dissolving shared wallets

If you have a shared wallet, or your ex-partner knows your seed phrase, passphrase or where your backup is kept, a split is only complete once the coins sit in new wallets:

1. Each sets up their own new wallet with a seed phrase the other has never seen.
2. You send the agreed amounts there, starting with a small test amount.
3. Old backups are destroyed, and the other's multisig keys are removed from the setup.
4. Emergency letter, will and beneficiaries are updated. How, is shown in Bitcoin inheritance.

Tax on the transfer: a general overview

The tax consequences depend on the country and on whether the transfer counts as a gift or as consideration. Roughly (as of November 2026):

• Germany: If you transfer bitcoin to settle an equalisation claim, tax law generally treats this as a transaction for consideration, i.e. a disposal. If you bought less than a year earlier, the gain can be taxable (§ 23 EStG). For the recipient a new holding period starts. The equalisation claim itself is not a gift (§ 5 ErbStG).
• Austria: Bitcoin bought after 28.02.2021 are subject to 27.5 % capital gains tax (KESt) when sold. Whether a transfer as part of the division counts as a disposal depends on how it is structured. Clarify this before signing.
• Switzerland: Price gains on private assets are tax-free, and the division of marital property generally does not trigger income tax. After the transfer, the bitcoin belong to the recipient's taxable wealth.

If you give bitcoin voluntarily beyond the equalisation, the gift rules apply. They are covered in Giving and inheriting bitcoin: tax consequences. The details per country are explained in Bitcoin taxes in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Prevention: settle bitcoin in a marriage contract

The simplest approach is to settle bitcoin in advance, especially if one spouse already holds a lot before the marriage.

• Germany: A marriage contract requires a notary (§ 1410 BGB). A common choice is a modified community of accrued gains: certain assets such as existing bitcoin, including their increase in value, are left out of the accrued gain, and everything else stays as it is.
• Austria: A marriage contract (Ehepakt) requires a notarial deed. Agreements made in advance about marital savings also need this form (§ 97 EheG).
• Switzerland: A marriage contract must be publicly notarised (Art. 184 ZGB). You can, for example, choose separation of property or agree a different split of the surplus.

A marriage contract records what you both consider fair while you agree. Courts do check, however, whether it puts one partner at a one-sided disadvantage, for example when one gives up income because of the children.