30 million won in coin debt without my husband’s knowledge… What should I do if I want a divorce?

Photo = Getty Image Bank Attention is focused on the story of a woman who invested in virtual assets without her husband’s knowledge, suffered a large loss, and was on the verge of divorce after being discovered hiding the fact that she had received cash from her parents. The lawyer who heard the story believed that loss of trust from the spouse could be grounds for divorce.

According to the story introduced on the YTN radio program ‘Attorney Jo In-seop’s Counseling Center’ on the 17th, Mr. A suffered a large loss after investing 100 million won gifted from his parents in virtual assets, and took out a loan of 30 million won to make up for the loss. The problem is that Ms. A’s husband, who was unaware of this fact, learned the inside story regarding the loan Ms. A received to recover her losses.

In addition, the 100 million won that Mr. A received as a gift was part of the money from selling his parents’ apartment, which was in Mr. A’s name. Mr. A’s parents had poor credit, so they bought an apartment in Mr. A’s name, and sold the apartment and gave it to Mr. A’s siblings as a gift to help them return to their hometown.

After finding out about this, Ms. A’s husband is said to have asked for a breakup, saying he could not trust Ms. A, who hid the gift of 100 million won and the debt.

In the story, Ms. A said, “I don’t want to break up with my husband,” and “My husband insists that even his parents’ apartment is subject to property division, so I feel upset. “What should I do?” he asked for advice.

Park Kyeong-nae, a lawyer at Shinsegae Law Firm who appeared on a radio program, explained the story, saying, “Loss of trust can be an exceptional ground for divorce.” If the spouse loses trust due to not being honest with the spouse about the status of the property, it falls under ‘exceptional grounds for divorce under Article 840, Paragraph 6 of the Civil Act.’

However, attorney Kyeong-nae Park added that the fact that his parents purchased the apartment in Mr. A’s name and gave some of the money from selling the apartment to Mr. A cannot be considered grounds for divorce in themselves.

In particular, regarding the debt of 30 million won without the spouse’s knowledge, Attorney Park said, “The plaintiffs are a dual-income couple, and the two of them own considerable assets, but the 30 million won debt owed without the spouse’s knowledge is causing immediate problems in their livelihood. “If not, it is difficult to establish grounds for divorce in itself.”

In response to A’s husband’s claim that the apartment purchased by A’s parents was also subject to a gift, Attorney Park said, “The 100 million won received from the parents after marriage can be considered joint property of the couple.”

He added, “A wife can also claim contribution to an apartment inherited by her husband.” Ms. A’s husband had inherited an apartment from his parents who died before marriage.

However, it is highly likely that the value of Mr. A’s virtual assets has recovered significantly recently. This is because the prices of virtual assets, including Bitcoin, soared after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s presidential election victory. According to Upbit, as of 3 p.m. on this day, the price of Bitcoin is fluctuating at around 127 million won per piece. On the 5th, before the results of the US presidential election were announced, the price was around 96 million won per piece, but it rose by more than 30% in just over two weeks.

Reporter Han Kyung-woo, Hankyung.com case@hankyung.com