Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Dividing Digital Assets In Divorce?
An anonymous reader writes "I am a long time Slashdotter and currently find myself in the beginning of a divorce process. How have you dealt with dispersing of shared data, accounts and things online in such a situation? Domains, hosting, email, sensitive data backups and social media are just a few examples."
How have you dealt with dispersing of shared data
If only there were a way to make multiple copies of digital information...
That was the most round-about way ever of saying "My parents are throwing my 38 year old ass out of the basement."
Trolling is a art,
Can't you simply make copies?
I'm only saying this so that others may learn from your mistake.
So says Forever Alone guy! Yes, it's a mistake to trust anybody. By trust nobody you can ensure your heart remains perfectly safe and you, perfectly alone. This guy decided to take a risk, and yes, maybe in this one case it didn't work out for him, but at least he tries to have someone in his life who's last name isn't JPEG.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
I mean even the RIAA and MPAA isn't going to sue for sharing with your wife.
Yet.
This implies that your spouse is OK with the idea of making these backups in the case of potential divorce.
Implying that it could/might happen is dangerous, my friend.
Misery loves company. Online misery loves unsuspecting random strangers.
Some (possibly obvious) points for you to consider:
If the "digitial assets" have significant monetary value: ask your lawyer. (the "digital assets" probably have low monetary value, or you wouldn't be asking about them here.)
If the "digitial assets" have significant sentimental value: burn yourself a copy, hand them over to your future-ex, and sincerely say "Thank you for the wonderful memories."
(Just out of curiosity on my part, what kind of advice did you expect to get without actually describing the nature and value of the "digital assets"?)
Lastly, consider this: how important is it for you to win?
Divorces can be ugly. I've seen friends destroy each others sanity and inflict long-term damage on their souls in order to "win" and "be right"
Five years from now, would you rather be busy enjoying a new chapter in your life or sipping daily from a nasty glass of old & bitter resentments?
You get all the 1's - she gets all the 0's
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Because I have other shit to do.
It depends on whether there was a marriage contract or not, and also when the assets (for example, the domain names) were acquired, as well as their purpose.
Domains that were acquired as a hobby and have no pecuniary value go with the person who is listed on the whois, unless that person was listed just for conveniences' sake - then they should go to the real owner.
Domains that have a financial value that were acquired before the marriage generally stay with the person who brought them into the marriage, same as other assets generally (YMMV, of course, depending on local laws, etc).
Domains that are worth $$$ that were acquired during the marriage in the course of business stay with the business. So, it's all about how each party is compensated for their contribution to the business. Does one party buy the other out, or just get a share of the business itself if it's a multi-million-buck operation (not likely)?
WARNING: Many places have special laws concerning copyrights staying with the original author even if the material was created during a marriage (it does not become part of the "partnership" assets)! The question rarely came up in previous decades, so most divorce lawyers are totally clueless about this.
I have to question that statistic, however. Isn't 50% for ALL marriages? That doesn't apply to everyone. If you're in your first marriage, you don't care how many total marriages end in divorce, you only care how many first marriages end in divorce. I do remember reading that the failure rate for marriages goes up with the marriage number; i.e., the number of failures for 2nd marriages is much higher than first marriages, the number for 3rd marriages is higher still, and 4th marriages, well you might as well not bother if you couldn't make it work with the first three. If you're in your first marriage, you don't care that some losers on their 4th and 5th marriages are almost certain to get another divorce, because that's a different group of people from you. First marriages are the most likely to succeed (not that that number is all that high, but it's still better than the failure rate for all marriages).
If your partner is so self-deluded that they can't imagine they'd be in one of the 50% of marriages that end in divorce, you chose poorly. Mature people understand that things change, people change, and they can grow apart through no fault of anyone. Do you really want to base the most important relationship of your adult life on denial?
There so much sad and self-defeating about that statement that I don't know where to start. When I got married, I made a commitment, a promise, to always love her. Even if I feel tired of her. Even if she's changed. That's not denial, that's mature people realizing that there's a whole lot more joy in working through hard times and ending up with a stronger relationship as a result, than being one the 50% of people who just give up and throw in the towel when it gets hard. I'm not preparing for divorce because I've made a promise that I won't. I intend to keep that promise, even if one of us changes. THAT is what mature people do.
(I'm happily married to my first wife, so I have only the experience of others to draw on.)
Word to the wise, don't let her hear you calling her your first wife!
Eclectic beats from Leeds, UK
handmadehands.co.uk