My husband would probably jokingly say that my weekly Amazon packages on the front porch may justify financial misconduct in our marriage but in reality, financial misconduct in marriage is and can be a real form of abuse.
Within the realm of divorce law, it is a factor in determining whether alimony is warranted and can be a weighing factor in equitable distribution of assets. In the actual day to day life of couples, it can cause emotional, mental, and even physical strain on couples and families as spouses work additional hours or more than one job in order to make up for the abusive spouse’s actions or inactions. Financial abuse in marriage can take many forms such as:
Financial Infidelity
- Obtaining credit individually or jointly on behalf of a non-consenting spouse for whom you have the required credit information and submitting the same electronically without their permission or knowledge
- Increasing credit lines or requesting cash advances on existing credit lines either owned jointly or individually by the other spouse without their consent
- Obligating the spouse as a co-guarantor on obligations that they have not consented to either intentionally or by means of establishing a marital account
- Contracting for work to be done on a marital asset for which a lien can be placed without the consent or knowledge of the spouse
- Having employers withhold additional funds or divide payroll into separate direct deposit accounts
Financial Sabotage
- Favoring paying off individual debts of one spouse over accounts of the other
- Favoring paying down costs of one spouse’s children over the other spouses children for blended homes
- Paying minimum payments on a spouse’s credit while paying large payments on your own
- Misdirecting funds from payroll checks (or portions) to separate retirement or investment accounts owned by one spouse
- Sabotaging business endeavors or credit by failing to pay credit matters timely
- Withholding financial information in marriage
- Limiting access to money or requiring complete accountability for money from spouse
- Coercing financial decisions by exploiting vulnerabilities of spouse
- Forcing a spouse to become economically dependent by creating insurmountable debt that avoids separation because of a lack of ability to financially leave the marriage
Sophisticated Financial Abuse
- Asset Protection Devices
- Complex corporate and financial structures
- Asset Dissipation
- Falsification of Financial Reports and Records (Business)
I have a business degree, ran a retail store, ran a large law firm and a small one, and I’ve seen and heard a lot of stories, but the financial abuse ones are always the most complex. Sadly, by the time they are discovered, the innocent spouse is typically in no financial shape to hire the forensic accountant, lawyer, and CPA to straighten it all out.
If you see any of these things happening in your marriage, they don’t generally go away. Keep records and know that even your ability to access the online accounts may be being obscured so make sure that you have joint access to all accounts and have the ability to call in or go online and check if payments are made. Check your credit score often. Pull a free credit report at least once a year to make sure nothing has been opened in your name without your permission. If you are concerned that someone may try to do so or if you are separated, you can freeze your credit reports so that you get an alert if someone is trying to access your credit file. Money can always be replaced but money and credit are hard to duplicate at the same time.
