Much of modern family life is now managed through phones, laptops, and online accounts. Couples may share things such as passwords, cloud storage, payment applications, social media profiles, and smart-home systems without giving much thought to who controls them or who will retain access after separation.
This creates two distinct problems; some digital assets have a measurable financial value and must be considered as part of a divorce settlement, while others may not be worth money but contain personal information, photographs, messages, or location data that one spouse could misuse. As a result, digital assets at risk should be identified at an early stage rather than treated as a minor administrative issue to be addressed once the divorce is complete.
What counts as a digital asset?
It can include things such as:
- Bitcoin and other crypto and non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
- Balances held through online payment services
- Income accumulated on digital platforms
- Domain names, websites, and valuable online gaming accounts
- A content creator might have monetised social media channels, digital royalties, subscriber lists, and a library of commercially valuable photographs or videos
Other accounts have little resale value but remain personally important, including family photographs stored in the cloud, digital music or film libraries, airline miles, hotel points, gaming purchases and electronic records. A spouse may also control the email address through which password resets are sent for banking, shopping, and investment accounts.
Not everything accessible online is legally owned by the user, and there are many digital products held under a personal licence which cannot be sold or transferred. A collection of purchased films, for example, may appear to be an asset, but the platform’s terms could provide only a limited right to view them through a particular account. By contrast, a cryptocurrency holding, profitable website, or monetised YouTube channel may have an identifiable capital value.
The Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 confirms that an object may attract personal property rights even though it does not fall within the traditional categories of a physical object or an enforceable legal right. This is particularly relevant to crypto-tokens and NFTs, which the Law Commission identifies as capable of being recognised and protected as property.
Why are digital assets at risk following separation?
During a marriage, password sharing may be a matter of convenience; one spouse might set up the household broadband, streaming services and cloud storage, while the other manages online banking, utility accounts and family photographs. Problems arise when access remains shared after trust has broken down, and they become another battle ground.
An individual who knows the password to their former partner’s email account may be able to reset passwords for numerous other services. They might see private correspondence with a solicitor, monitor financial activity, or access personal photographs. Where smart technology is installed in the home, an ex-partner might retain access to cameras, doorbells, heating controls, digital locks, or location-sharing services.
The danger is not confined to deliberate misconduct; for example, a spouse might close a shared cloud account without appreciating that it contains the only copy of years of family photographs. They could remove the other person from a business page, cancel a subscription used by the children, or replace the recovery telephone number on an account that both parties previously used.
The concept of a digital divorce has therefore emerged to describe the process of separating two people’s online lives. A recent discussion of digital divorce warned about the prospect of digital lingering, where a former partner continues to have access to accounts and connected devices after the relationship has ended.
Distinguishing ownership from access
The fact that one spouse knows an account’s password does not establish ownership. Equally, the fact that an account appears in one person’s name does not necessarily mean that its value should be ignored within the divorce.
Consider Maya and Robert, who jointly developed an online craft business. The marketplace account and domain name are registered to Robert because he completed the original application, but Maya designs the products, responds to customers, and produces most of the marketing content. Robert cannot fairly assume that the entire business is his simply because the login details are attached to his email address. Its ownership and value must be examined in the context of how the business was created and operated.
The opposite can also occur; a personal social media profile may belong to one spouse even though the other frequently appeared in its content. The court is unlikely to transfer a personal account merely because it has emotional significance, and may instead consider any income or commercial value associated with it.
Family photographs require a more practical approach. One spouse may own the cloud account, but both may reasonably want copies of photographs of the children. Agreeing to create duplicate separate archives can prevent the loss of irreplaceable material without requiring an argument about the ownership of every image.
Protecting accounts without destroying evidence
Anyone separating should carry out a careful audit of their online life. The immediate priority will usually be the main email account because access to it may allow somebody to reset many other passwords. Recovery email addresses, telephone numbers, and trusted devices should also be checked.
Location sharing may remain active through phones, vehicles, photographs, or family-tracking applications. Access to smart locks, security cameras, Wi-Fi routers, and home assistants may also need to be reviewed, particularly if there are concerns about harassment or controlling behaviour.
Care is required where an account is genuinely joint or contains relevant financial information. Changing the password to a personal email account is different from locking a spouse out of a jointly operated business, transferring cryptocurrency, or deleting records. Security should not become an excuse for disposing of assets or obstructing disclosure.
If personal safety is a concern, independent protective steps may be necessary. Otherwise, the separation of shared services can often be managed transparently, with both spouses given an opportunity to download personal information and establish replacement accounts.
Identifying digital assets at risk protects not only financially valuable property but also privacy, security, business continuity, and family memories. Early legal advice can help distinguish between assets that must be valued, accounts that require immediate protection and services that simply need to be separated sensibly.
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