• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Wife stole 30k worth of phisical silver bullion

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

masimo125

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

My wife and I still live together. Today I did an overview of where our stuff is and shokingly noticed that she must have taken ~$30k worth of phisical silver bullion to hide is somewhere to keep. I did find the rest of it though.

How does this affect division of our assets upon divorce? I mean there are no traces of this act. I can't prove anything. She could as well acuse me of stealing all I know. I may be able to dig out records of what and when diverent bullion silver bullion was bought with some serious forenzic effort but that's al I have besides she said I said. What could I do about it and how to protect myself going forward? Should I stole the rest of it and hid it someplace too or what?!? I mean for all I know she could have taken that silver and sold it little by little for cash with 0 records whatsoever?!?
 


mistoffolees

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

My wife and I still live together. Today I did an overview of where our stuff is and shokingly noticed that she must have taken ~$30k worth of phisical silver bullion to hide is somewhere to keep. I did find the rest of it though.

How does this affect division of our assets upon divorce? I mean there are no traces of this act. I can't prove anything. She could as well acuse me of stealing all I know. I may be able to dig out records of what and when diverent bullion silver bullion was bought with some serious forenzic effort but that's al I have besides she said I said. What could I do about it and how to protect myself going forward? Should I stole the rest of it and hid it someplace too or what?!? I mean for all I know she could have taken that silver and sold it little by little for cash with 0 records whatsoever?!?
You'd better start looking for your records.

What will presumably happen is that your attorney will depose her and ask her under oath if she took some silver bullion. If she admits it, you're home free (although if you bought it during the marriage, she's probably going to get half - unless it was a gift or you bought it with an inheritance). If she denies it, your attorney may try to trap her with the documents you find.
 

penelope10

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

My wife and I still live together. Today I did an overview of where our stuff is and shokingly noticed that she must have taken ~$30k worth of phisical silver bullion to hide is somewhere to keep. I did find the rest of it though.

How does this affect division of our assets upon divorce? I mean there are no traces of this act. I can't prove anything. She could as well acuse me of stealing all I know. I may be able to dig out records of what and when diverent bullion silver bullion was bought with some serious forenzic effort but that's al I have besides she said I said. What could I do about it and how to protect myself going forward? Should I stole the rest of it and hid it someplace too or what?!? I mean for all I know she could have taken that silver and sold it little by little for cash with 0 records whatsoever?!?

I would certainly speak to an attorney in regards to this. Exactly how much silver bullion do you guys have? I take the bullion somewhere and have an accurate, official accounting done for the remainder. Let your spouse know that you are going to do this. Then I'd think about having it secured somewhere else other than my home. Since this sounds like may be a community asset you can't just take off with it. However, you could certainly have it in a secured location such as a bank safety deposit box--perhaps in your name only until the property was divided in the divorce. Or perhaps have it secured under the name of your attorney if he or she is willing, put it on loan to a museum, etc.

As I said you really need to speak with an attorney before removing this from your home so that you cannot be accused of stealing the property yourself.
 
Last edited:

masimo125

Junior Member
We have ~$100-180k worth of bullion depending on the day - silver is highly volatile, felt ~50% in value over the last 2 months. She took -$30k of it.

This takes a lot of space, and to illustrate, weight ~500lbs, etc.
I can go to an attorny to safegueard the rest (although not sure how to accomplish that, this deosn't fit in any safety deposit box) but what can I do about the part she took? I haven't confronted her about that yet. I though about taking the remaining silver too but I don't know where to store it - I mean I could get robbed and then what...
 

masimo125

Junior Member
You'd better start looking for your records.

What will presumably happen is that your attorney will depose her and ask her under oath if she took some silver bullion. If she admits it, you're home free (although if you bought it during the marriage, she's probably going to get half - unless it was a gift or you bought it with an inheritance). If she denies it, your attorney may try to trap her with the documents you find.
Thank you! The thing is even if I found all the records of us purchasing the silver bullion years ago (when we were already married), which I doubt, it doesn't say anything about what happened to the bullion after. So if she lies she lies and that's it. Gosh:(
 

mistoffolees

Senior Member
Thank you! The thing is even if I found all the records of us purchasing the silver bullion years ago (when we were already married), which I doubt, it doesn't say anything about what happened to the bullion after. So if she lies she lies and that's it. Gosh:(
It's not quite that simple.

Let's say you find the records that you purchased 10,000 ounces of silver. You assert that you never sold any of it (or you sold 1,000 ounces, or whatever). If you sold a small amount, you provide the documents of the sale.

Now, you go to court and accuse her of taking the bullion. You provide the evidence of purchase and the statement that you didn't sell it (or you sold a limited amount). If she says you sold it and not her, the judge will ask her for evidence - which she won't have.

Further, you provide 10 years (or whatever) of bank statements which show that there was never a sizable deposit from the precious metals trading form.

Your attorney is then going to ask her to produce her bank statements - which are likely to show a $30 K deposit which she is going to have a hard time accounting for.

It's not clear cut and there's still an element of your word against hers, but there's a chance. The better your paper trail, the better your chances.

Meanwhile, for the benefit of anyone else reading this, keeping $100+ K in precious metals lying around the house is a terrible idea for all sorts of reasons. There are companies which will keep it for you for a modest fee.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
All this however assumes that she didn't sell it little by little over the years and has spent the money. If she did, then its not an issue in the divorce.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top