Financial Abuse
Financial abuse is the use or misuse, without the partner’s freely given consent, of the financial or other monetary resources of the partner or of the partnership.
Common examples of financial abuse include:
- Forbidding the partner to work
- Jeopardizing the partner’s employment by such tactics as excessive calls to work; creating conflict with co-workers, supervisor or clients; creating scenes with co-workers; forcing the partner to miss work through threats, injuries or coerced substance use
- Refusing to work, yet contributing to expenses
- Controlling shared resources, including bank accounts and common property
- Demanding the partner sign over paychecks or denying access to liquid assets, like mutual funds
- Demanding the partner account for all the money he spends
- Coercing the partner to pay for all expenses, including rent, food and utilities
- Stealing the partner’s property, such as valuables or assets
- Destroying or threatening to destroy the partner’s property as a means of affecting his financial situation
- Using the partner’s identity to charge expenditures to partner
- Taking credit cards, money or checkbook
- Forging the partner’s signature on financial documents
