Here’s a structured list of the main forms of financial abuse in domestic or family settings — especially where control, coercion, and hidden assets are involved.
đź’ł Direct Control of Money
- Taking partner’s wages, benefits, or pensions.
- Restricting access to joint bank accounts.
- Forcing partner to ask for money or “allowances.”
- Monitoring every purchase, demanding receipts.
- Cancelling cards or blocking access without consent.
🏦 Hidden Assets & Deception
- Hiding bank accounts, investments, or savings.
- Transferring assets into someone else’s name.
- Undisclosed offshore accounts or property.
- Funneling money through shell companies or business accounts.
- Withholding financial information during divorce/separation.
📉 Economic Sabotage
- Preventing partner from working (forbidding, sabotaging transport, causing them to lose jobs).
- Interfering with education or training to block career progress.
- Deliberately ruining partner’s credit rating (taking loans in their name, not paying bills).
- Running up debts in victim’s name (fraudulent credit, unpaid utilities).
🏠Property & Asset Control
- Forcing sale of property or valuables without consent.
- Putting assets (house, car, business) only in abuser’s name.
- Refusing to contribute to household bills while controlling other resources.
- Seizing inheritance or insurance payouts.
🧾 Manipulation of Legal / Financial Systems
- Using complicated trusts, companies, or offshore structures to hide money in divorce.
- Refusing financial disclosure in court proceedings.
- Using bankruptcy or tax loopholes strategically to deny fair settlement.
- Concealing pensions, stock options, or bonuses.
🍽️ Day-to-Day Financial Abuse
- Forcing partner to live on very little while abuser spends freely.
- Taking children’s savings, gifts, or benefits.
- Denying money for food, transport, healthcare, clothing.
- Forcing victim to sign documents they don’t understand.
⚠️ Key Finding (from research & case law):
- Victims often don’t realize the full scale until separation/divorce, when hidden assets, debts, or false financial disclosures surface.
- Financial abuse is one of the strongest predictors of whether a survivor can leave safely — without financial independence, many are trapped.
