Insights

How to divide Ningbo divorce game account and virtual currency.

The list of joint property of husband and wife has long been more than just houses, cars and savings. A short video account that has been in operation for many years, a set of expensive equipment, and a batch of digital assets hoarded in a wallet may be worth more than the car at home. However, they have no title certificate, no unified quotation, and even have to argue whether they are property or not.

Can 1. virtual property be counted as joint property of husband and wife?

Article 127 of the the People's Republic of China Civil Code clarifies that if the law provides for the protection of data and network virtual property, it shall be in accordance with its provisions. Article 1062 also includes other jointly owned property acquired during the marriage relationship into the scope of common property. The combination of the two, with property value, can be controlled and transferred network virtual property, can usually be included in the division.

The Divide Between Protected and Unprotected

the core of the judgment is three points: whether it has realistic economic value, whether it can be exclusively dominated by a specific subject, and whether there is room for circulation. Where all three are available, the court generally recognizes its property attributes.

Qualitative differences between the four common types of virtual property in 2.

Also called virtual property, the legal treatment varies greatly and cannot all be treated according to the same set of rules.

1. Account Type and Recharge Type

self-media accounts and live broadcast accounts with stable income bring continuous cash flow, which is close to operating assets. The income during the existence of the marriage relationship is generally recognized as common property. The dispute between the game account and the equipment lies in the user agreement. Most platforms only grant the right to use and prohibit the transfer. In practice, the top-up principal and the actual transaction market are usually used as value references.

2. The virtual currency category should be explained separately.

China's supervision of virtual currency-related business activities is clear, such transactions are illegal financial activities, and the losses caused by participation in investment shall be borne by itself. Reflected in divorce proceedings, the court generally does not make a judicial determination of its value, and the direct request for division is not supported. The feasible idea is to state it as part of the property situation and strive for balance in the overall division ratio.

3. valuation conundrum: what to do without a public offer

virtual property rarely has an authoritative market price, the two sides quoted dozens of times is the norm. The valuation method is chosen incorrectly, and the subsequent segmentation scheme is meaningless.

Three operational valuation calibers

the first is the cost method, which is the easiest to obtain evidence according to the accumulated investment of recharge and purchase records, but will underestimate the account number that has been operating for many years. The second is the income method, which is converted by multiplying the average monthly income of the account number in the past year by a reasonable multiple, and is suitable for accounts with commercial cash. The third is the market comparison method, referring to the listing and transaction prices of similar accounts on public trading platforms. If the dispute is large and the amount is high, you can apply for a commissioned assessment.

4. division is mainly based on discount compensation.

Virtual property is often tied to real-name authentication and personal trust, and hard half-and-half points are neither realistic nor allowed by the platform, so the most common treatment in the referee is to belong to one party and pay a discount to the other party.

Who obtains, how to make up, how to prevent default

attribution is usually awarded to the party that actually operates, uses it on a daily basis, or is more closely associated with the personal attributes of the account. Compensation is proposed to agree on a one-time payment. For accounts where the proceeds continue to be generated, it can also be agreed to distribute the proceeds proportionally within a certain period of time, but this type of arrangement is more difficult to perform, and those that can be settled once will be settled as much as possible.

5. evidence and preservation: this type of evidence is the most vulnerable

the data of virtual property is held by the platform. A password modification and a cancellation application may return the evidence to zero. Evidence collection must be ahead of negotiations instead of waiting for the hearing.

Self-fixing and with the help of the court each section.

Can be fixed by itself, including: account background income screenshots and settlement records, top-up consumption details, binding bank cards and third-party payment flow, fan volume and work data. What needs to be used by the court includes: obtaining real-name information, complete settlement data and cash withdrawal records from the platform, which can be realized through investigation and evidence collection application or investigation order. At the same time, you should apply for preservation as soon as possible, request to freeze the account withdrawal or restrict the change of binding information.

6. case proof

in practice, the court usually determines that the operating income of a short video account that is operated and continuously realized during the marriage relationship belongs to the joint property of the husband and wife, and the account itself is awarded to the actual operating party, who pays the discount compensation. Taking the case of converting the average monthly income of 30,000 yuan in the past year as an example, it is determined that the value is mostly in the range of 300,000 yuan to 400,000 yuan, and the other party can get compensation of about half of that amount. In similar cases, the amount of division or compensation is usually in the range of $100000 to $3 million, depending on the size of the property and the circumstances of the evidence.

In practice, if one party claims to divide the virtual currency held by the other party, the court generally does not determine and divide it, but if the other party transfers a large amount of joint deposit to purchase such assets before and after the lawsuit and cannot explain the whereabouts, it is often recognized as the transfer of the joint property of the husband and wife, and the division of other property is less divided. Game account type requests are mostly based on the top-up principal as discretionary compensation, the amount is usually in the thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.

7. Risk Alert

  • negotiation before evidence collection: A reminder may result in the other party canceling the account or changing the binding. Once the data is cleared, it cannot be recovered.
  • Only screenshots are not notarized: ordinary screenshots are easily questioned, and key data should be notarized or fixed with trusted timestamps.
  • The misconception is that virtual currencies can also be divided: requests for the division of such assets are usually not supported, and hard requests slow down the overall progress.
  • Ignoring user agreements: Most platforms prohibit account transfer, and the terms of mandatory transfer in the scheme are often unenforceable.
  • Single valuation method: only based on the amount of recharge, will significantly underestimate the stable liquidity of the account.
  • Compensation instalments are unsecured: there are no liquidated damages and accelerated maturity clauses, making subsequent enforcement difficult.

8. FAQ

the other party's game account is worth tens of thousands of yuan. Can you divide it during divorce?

Can claim, but usually not directly sub-account. Most platforms prohibit transfer, the court generally awarded to the actual use of the party, with reference to the top-up principal and similar transactions to determine the value, by which it pays the other party discount compensation.

Since the media account was made by the other party alone, can I share the income?

Can. The operating income during the existence of the marriage relationship belongs to the joint property of the husband and wife, and has nothing to do with who appears and who operates. The account itself is generally awarded to the operator, and the other party obtains a discount at the determined value.

Virtual currency in the wallet, the court will not determine the value?

Generally not. The relevant transactions are not protected in our country, and direct requests for segmentation are often rejected. It is feasible to prove that the purchase funds come from the common property and advocate that the other party transfer the common property and share less in the division.

How to prevent the other party from canceling the account during the lawsuit?

Apply to the court for property preservation as soon as possible, request to restrict account withdrawal, prohibit change of binding information or cancellation, and apply to the platform for real name and settlement data, and fix the key information in the file first.

Practical Experience of 9. Lawyers

game accounts, equipment, short WeChat Channels, and digital assets in wallets have long been part of the divorce property list, but they have no title certificate and no unified quotation, making it more troublesome to deal with than houses and cars. To be included in the division, the premise is that it does have property value and can be disposed of and transferred. Therefore, the first step is not to calculate the money, but to find out "what, who and how much it is worth": whose name is the account number, whose mobile phone and real name are bound, and what transactions or income records can reflect the value.

The biggest risk of such property is that it disappears faster than the evidence. The account number can be canceled, the password can be changed, and the assets inside can be transferred or realized. When you react, there is often no way to trace it. Therefore, at the beginning of divorce, the account information, binding relationship, recharge record, income flow and transaction screenshots should be fixed, notarized and recorded, so as to prevent the other party from emptying in advance. Evidence collection methods should also pay attention to legal, unauthorized login, change the secret, invade the other party's equipment, but may let oneself into a passive.

Valuation is another difficulty. Without a public offer, it is easy for both parties to say their own words. A more feasible approach in practice is to try to find comparable transaction price or earnings data to determine its approximate value, and then deal with it mainly at discount compensation-the party who knows more about the operation or needs it more continues to hold it, and the other party is compensated at the agreed value. This kind of property is often used as an add-on during negotiations, but if you can put out the evidence of its value, it can become a valuable bargaining chip in the overall plan, and don't give it up as something indifferent.