Financial abuse in a family law setting

Divorcing spouses in Wisconsin and around the country are sometimes seeking to escape abusive relationships. Domestic abuse is often physical in nature, but spouses may also be trapped financially when they are denied access to money or information. Manipulation and intimidation are deliberate tactics, and they often leave victims unprepared for the challenges of the road ahead. Research has found that the overwhelming majority of abusers exert some form of financial control over their victims, and people who remain in unhappy marriages often do so due to financial fears.

Financial abuse crosses all racial, religious and socioeconomic lines. This kind of manipulation and coercion may begin during a relationship’s nascent stages or it may be triggered when one spouse asks for a divorce. When the abuse starts early, the perpetrators may conceal their intentions by making it appear that taking on the financial burden is an act of kindness. They often claim to be protecting their spouses from undue stress and allowing them to enjoy their lives more fully as a result.

Financial abusers often prevent their spouses from working or actively sabotage the careers of those who do are employed, and this form of abuse can cast a long shadow. Abuse may even continue after the victim has secured a divorce and moved on. Abusers sometimes continue to exert pressure by withholding child support or alimony payments, or they may pay only when legal action appears imminent.

When experienced family law attorneys are presented with a situation involving financial abuse, they are likely to approach the financial documents and asset disclosures of the couple concerned with a certain degree of skepticism. Concealing assets is a tactic commonly practiced by financial abusers, and attorneys may call upon forensic accountants to uncover hidden money trails.