what happens to PMs in a divorce?

Discussion in 'General Precious Metals Discussion' started by ego2spare, Nov 4, 2014.

  1. ego2spare

    ego2spare Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2013
    Messages:
    1,735
    Likes Received:
    38
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Location:
    Australia
    i have a new girlfriend and things are starting to get serious. i havnt told her about my obsession/investments yet and im wondering if i ever should. im 26, besides my metals i have nothing. well no other wealth or investments that anybody official would need to know of. and metals being outside of the system...i dont even have metals.... so if i tell my girlfriend now, or wife at the time of this pit of burning money i like to throw my cash into and later down the track we divorce...what happens to the PMs if she wants half...can i just say no?? can she run to her lawyer and they will send some guys around to count my stack? or find out if it even exists?
     
  2. Caput Lupinum

    Caput Lupinum Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2012
    Messages:
    4,656
    Likes Received:
    72
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Location:
    NSW
    If you're already concerned about these kinds of things, I'm wondering if marriage is the right play?
     
  3. ego2spare

    ego2spare Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2013
    Messages:
    1,735
    Likes Received:
    38
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Location:
    Australia
    its just good bidnis ;)
     
  4. long88

    long88 Member

    Joined:
    Jun 19, 2012
    Messages:
    755
    Likes Received:
    12
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Melbourne
    keep it secret..

    then you dont have to share it with anyone..
     
  5. ToDaMoon

    ToDaMoon Active Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2011
    Messages:
    435
    Likes Received:
    91
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    Bourke
    Disagree completely. I think you should always be aware of and plan around this sort of thing. Expect the best but plan for the worst! Maybe I am a cup half empty and you are a cup half full Caput? :)

    Won't try and be a legal eagle and advise though. Best to get proper advice there.
     
  6. Silver Soul

    Silver Soul Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2010
    Messages:
    1,772
    Likes Received:
    611
    Trophy Points:
    113
    No one needs to know..... Not even your mother :D
     
  7. Jislizard

    Jislizard Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2011
    Messages:
    7,518
    Likes Received:
    639
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Australia
    You need to tell her because if you don't you won't be able to have the fun arguments about how much money you have wasted buying coins, or the arguments about it losing value but you are still buying it. Or the arguments about how it has gone up by 10cents and why aren't you selling it? Then you would miss out on all the discussions about what inflation is and how it works etc.

    On the plus side once you tell her that you have some she will lose all interest and her eyes should glaze over, if not, try and explain the difference between an MS69 and an MS70, that should do it.

    Once she knows you have some, you will have no further troubles adding to the stack, one lump of silver looks very much like another and provided you can get it into the house without detection then you can do what you want with it. The only problems come when you say you need a new safe, or more cupboard space to keep the same amount of silver in.

    Never keep it all in one place either, for some reason my wife thinks I would like to keep all my silver in one place, instead of the pile for putting in albums, the pile for putting in 2x2s, the pile for chucking in the box, the pile for cleaning, the pile for sorting, the pile of damaged coins, the pile of coins that I need to find out more about , the pile of coins that I don't know what to do with. These should be distinct piles but every now and then I come in to find several piles have been amalgamated to make room on a table for something. Anyway, as long as she never finds all the piles you should be fine.

    If you are concerned about future splitting of the proceeds just make sure each purchase includes a piece of jewellery for her and an equal amount of metal for you, by price or weight. That way when it comes time to split she has already received her part. Or if you stick together, you still have plenty of cash in PM.

    I don't think you have to get married and divorced do you, just 12 months living together in common law should do it, I would keep quiet about it for a year or so, just in case, or at least, limit the amount you talk about it, you wouldn't go on about stocks and shares and expect anyone to be turned on by that, that's how some people feel about silver!
     
  8. JulieW

    JulieW Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2010
    Messages:
    13,064
    Likes Received:
    3,292
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Australia
    Average marriage is around 9 years from memory so it's a reasonable issue.

    She's entitled to half of what you have, you're entitled to half of what she has.
     
  9. House

    House Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    May 1, 2012
    Messages:
    9,527
    Likes Received:
    287
    Trophy Points:
    83
    Location:
    Stack City
    +1 on what Jis has said. Tell her you stack but never how much you have. Just say it's a hobby. They never really care all that much anyway.

    A member here is going through a divorce and has had to convert all his PM's into round 50's so he can hopefully claim the face value of the coins as opposed to the metal content. Great idea if it goes to plan.

    Only mistake I've made is telling an ex my forum name... She did a bit of reading and found out a lot about my filthy PM habit.
     
  10. SilverDJ

    SilverDJ Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2014
    Messages:
    3,935
    Likes Received:
    1,297
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Australia
    This would be a classic case for a private safety deposit box at a bank or some such.
    Although she might find out about the payments for the box.
    I don't think it's anyone place to say if telling your potential wife is a good thing or a bad thing, your call entirely.
    Although if something happens to you, who get the loot?
    And once you have kids, it changes the game entirely.
     
  11. Naphthalene Man

    Naphthalene Man Active Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Messages:
    5,150
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Hunter Valley, NSW
    Until it is official i don't see a need to tell her of your investment. But to be fair, you should tell her just as you would expect her to tell you of her money loss enterprises :p A pile of metal is a bit harder to keep quiet from the wife than a pile of share investments.
    When you do have the discussion she must know the value of keeping her trap shut or it may be stolen.
    I agree in not keeping it the one place if you don't store it offsite.

    And yep, she would be entitled to half as Julie mentioned which gives you more incentive to think the decision through carefully first and work through the difficult parts when they come along, more so if kids are involved.
     
  12. thatguy

    thatguy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 18, 2011
    Messages:
    5,805
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Brisbane
    PMs often take divorce hard and it can take a toll on them. Statistics show 9/10 coins that come from divorced homes develop milk spotting within 12 months. Do the right think for your PMs... become a hermit
     
  13. Jislizard

    Jislizard Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2011
    Messages:
    7,518
    Likes Received:
    639
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Australia
    I am pretty sure lawyers have people who go looking for hidden money, and a monthly payment to a safety deposit box is probably high on the list of things to check out.

    They would also probably get told if a load of holes opened up in the garden over night.

    I am a big fan of honesty in a relationship but it has to be from both sides or it doesn't work. There are a few issues not worth arguing over, the amount of silver you can buy instead of getting your hair cut and coloured is not an avenue I want to be going down, we all have different priorities when it comes to spending money. Which is fine if you have enough money to buy everything you need, if however you have to start choosing between purchases then it gets down to who values what the most. Even worse if the earnings are uneven, one partner feels they are subsidising the other's hobby at the expense of their own interests never goes down well but neither does one partner having to ask the other for money.

    It is a minefield but as long as everything is upfront to begin with then it might work, I have had a couple of relationships break down over constant money bickering but we both went into our marriage with a clear idea of how much we were earning, what the plans for the future would be etc. None of them have been followed but just the act of planning lets everyone know where they stand.
     
  14. SpacePete

    SpacePete Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2014
    Messages:
    12,433
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    48
    You need two stacks:

    1) a "public" stack that your GF knows about, and
    2) a secure, private stack.

    The public stack is explanatory and sacrificial. Your PM obsession would be suspicious if there was no stack at all, so the public stack provides an explanation, some evidence, to allay suspicion. It is also sacrificial should a legal demand be made on your wealth during a separation.

    Edit: your allocation across stacks is an individual decision.
     
  15. Holdfast

    Holdfast Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2009
    Messages:
    4,625
    Likes Received:
    1,124
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Australia
    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdImUIyDYio[/youtube]
     
  16. Andy28

    Andy28 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2013
    Messages:
    1,044
    Likes Received:
    80
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Location:
    Sydney
    Tell her you think you might start investing in PMs. Keep a track of everything you buy from then on. The previous stuff, no one has to know about.

    Edit: What SilverPete said.
     
  17. sammysilver

    sammysilver Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2011
    Messages:
    7,925
    Likes Received:
    6,515
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Sydney
    Immediately change your stack to round fifty cent pieces.

    Each has a third of an ounce of silver, but as it is legally, only decimal, circulating currency, it only ever need be valued at 50 cents on your balance sheet as cash.

    As an example, if you have 10,000 fifties, it is only $5,000 cash. not $80,000 in silver.

    Finally, it is better to have loved and lost, than to have ever loved and married.
     
  18. dccpa

    dccpa Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2010
    Messages:
    3,079
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    USA
    A week ago, a client brought me 24 1/10oz AGEs to sell for him. He said, I had 48 coins, then I got divorced. I can't compare US vs. AU divorce law, but in the US, the wife would likely get half of marital property.
     
  19. willrocks

    willrocks Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    May 10, 2012
    Messages:
    7,777
    Likes Received:
    7,199
    Trophy Points:
    113
    What PMs?
     
  20. SpacePete

    SpacePete Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2014
    Messages:
    12,433
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Or maybe they'll all suddenly turn out to be replicas from China ;)
     

Share This Page