Financial abuse and its impact both before and after separation in 2026

A new report has highlighted the devastating impact of economic (financial) abuse by a current or ex-partner. The charity Surviving Economic Abuse (Sea) found that in half the domestic homicide reviews (DHRs), over half the deaths from murder or suicide had economic abuse cited in the review. In this updated article, Director Rita Gupta explains why economic abuse has so much impact, and how it is often hidden from view.

A recent report "Hidden risks, fatal consequences: Economic abuse in Domestic Homicide Reviews" looked at over 400 DHRs and found that, from 2012-2024, a victim of abuse had died every 19 days in cases that involved economic abuse and domestic violence.

Sadly, this figure does not surprise me. As a family lawyer specialising in complex divorce, I deal with cases of abuse in relationships every day. I find financial manipulation and abuse as the heart of most if not all cases of coercive control.

I also see just how far-reaching economic abuse is, and how it can affect anyone regardless of ethnicity, class, and economic standing. It is also not gender-specific: men may be subject to crippling demands, excessive spending, etc as part of economic abuse.

What's more, as the report points out, victims are not older people, but:

"Significantly younger, with a mean age of 41 compared to an average age of 52 in cases that did not feature economic abuse from a current or ex-partner."

With increasing forecast of higher energy and food costs as a result of world events, I fear that financial control and abuse will become even more of a danger to those already surviving on what limited funds their abuser chooses to provide them with.

No funds to get out

Once one partner has taken over financial control, the victim is often effectively trapped with no access to funds to leave the relationship. As the Sea report states:

"Economic abuse is really what prevents victims from escaping a dangerous situation, so it really is what keeps them tied to an abuser. And that’s why it’s such a dangerous form of abuse, as well as it being continued long after a victim may have got away from a perpetrator.” (1)

In 2026, the domestic abuse cases I deal with continue to be less about physical abuse, and more about other more subtle levels of abuse, including:

• Coercively controlling behaviours
• Manipulation
• Isolation
• Pressure

The report also cited another level of control: economic sabotage. An abuser may seek not just to restrict access but if the relationship ends, to ensure the victim will struggle to establish themselves financially again. This can include running up debt in their name after separation, closing accounts, and even making false accusations to financial organisations such as HMRC.

As the report says:

"As (economic abuse) does not require physical proximity, abusers can continue, escalate and begin abuse following the end of a relationship." (1)

No way out?

All of these behaviours contribute to the ways that financial abuse can make victims feel helpless and with no way to escape, and drive them towards suicidal thoughts as their seemingly only option. I would say right now that there is always a way out, and that the law is on your side, along with the police and agencies that can and will help you.

What is financial abuse?

Economic/financial abuse is defined in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 as:

"Any behaviour that has a substantial adverse effect on (a victim’s) ability to (a) acquire, use or maintain money or the other property, or (b) obtain goods or services" (5)

That makes it sound very straightforward. In my experience, it is anything but. Economic abuse includes a wide range of controlling activities that separates a victim from access to the finances they would need to escape from an abusive relationship, and for their future life.

Many of our clients have failed to recognise that financial abuse has in fact been happening for a number of years. They have been in denial or found it just too difficult to face. Similarly, they may not need to have considered it, as everything has been paid for. Sadly, on separation, that can lead to financial ignorance, extreme dependence and even not having any credit history if assets have been in their partner’s name.

Three years on from our original article on economic abuse, I am still seeing a rise in high performing professionals who are almost living a double life. They appear to be successful and powerful to the outside world but are virtually powerless at home.

Whilst the statistics would support the case that women are more likely to be abused, men can be victims too, and the harm caused is just as damaging.

How financial abuse ‘works’

The primary aim of any financial abuse is to create an uncertain economic situation such that the victim becomes reliant on their abuser for all things financial.

This isn’t just about withholding cash or access to bank accounts. An abuser may also:

• Place all assets in their name and have complete financial control
• Misrepresent the parties’ financial position
• Enter into financial agreements in the victim’s name, such as credit cards, loans, phone contracts or leasing a car
• Coerce their partner into signing over property or assets
• Sell possessions or property without their partner’s approval
• Close joint accounts and cancel credit cards
• Only give the victim an ‘allowance’ and demand a breakdown of all expenditure
• Spend a lot on themselves but allowing limited expenditure for the victim and the children

Financial control also enables abusers to trap their victims in abusive relationships through fear of being left financially destitute if they leave. Economic abusers are often very skilled at covering up their abuse, often saying they are being helpful by “managing the family finances”. They can also make outward displays of generosity to others to hide the situation.

The result of this abuse heavily impacts on everyday life. According to a 2019 report by Women’s Aid:

“A quarter of respondents did not have access to money for essentials during abusive relationships.”

 

Post-separation financial abuse

Financial abuse can also continue long after a couple are divorced or separated.

It can start when victims of abuse who want out so desperately have failed to reach any definite arrangements for children and / or money, or have reached arrangements that are not in their interest. They also may not have made child arrangements with protection around financial arrangements, to provide them with security and regular payments.

Even with an agreement in place, an abuser can make life financially difficult for their ex-partner by:

• Withholding funds
• Concealing information and failing to provide financial disclosure
• Refusing to pay child maintenance or withholding it to manipulate the victim
• Using money as threats of means to control

Another method is litigation abuse. Through repeated applications or conduct that can increase the victim’s legal fees whilst they continue to be able to pay for their solicitors. This leads to a huge imbalance of power.

There have been cases where the abuser has stayed in the shared home with the children, without contributing anything financially or refusing to pay child maintenance following a separation.

For male victims, their main concerns around post-separation financial abuse include:

• Fear that they will be left with nothing: no home and no ability to rebuild their future
• Financial recklessness / excessive spending by their ex-partner
• Accruing debts to fund their single life
• Unreasonable expectations by their ex, including refusal to seek even part time employment
• Unreasonable positions on who pays school fees which is no longer possible due to the same income now running two households
• Fear of being presented negatively to their children

 

Coerced debt and the Economic Abuse Toolkit

One of the stressful results of pre and post-separation economic abuse might be financial institutions chasing victims for debt run up by their partner in their name. As HM Treasury explains:

"Forcing or coercing someone into debt is a common form of economic abuse– this is called coerced debt."

As a result of concerns over coerced debt, the government Fairness Group produced an Economic Abuse Toolkit that enables these institutions to:

"Put in place policies and processes for identifying economic abuse. Ideally, these processes should involve:
• Enabling front-line staff to identify signs of potential economic abuse
• Having clear processes in place to support a customer following a disclosure
• Creating a safe space where disclosure can take place"(3)

 

Not just partners

Financial abuse can occur in any close relationship, not just with spouses and intimate partners. The National Centre of Domestic Violence lists:

• Boyfriends and Girlfriends
• Ex-husbands, ex wives, ex boyfriends, ex girlfriends.
• Carers or paid support workers
• Adult Children
• Parent, Guardian or other family member
• Other people you live with or see often (4)

 

Financial abuse - how LGFL can help

As a boutique family law firm, our primary role is to focus on what happens next once you are in a place of physical safety (as far as is possible).

If your separation or divorce has not led to an end to your financial / economic abuse, there are legal measures we can put in place to help you, including:

• • Your options for funding legal fees
  • Protective orders or injunction to secure the safety of you and your child or children
  • An order to exclude a person from a property
  • Securing arrangements for children, or protective orders to address any threat of them being removed from a parent’s care. This puts a framework in place around when your children will see the other parent and the process of safe handovers.
  • Financial orders, interim and long term to protect financial security and a common way in which coercive control is asserted
  • Payment of maintenance mortgages and even school fees

To book your initial reduced fee consultation:

- Call us

- Email us

- Request your consultation online

Rest assured, we will listen, we will advise, and we will take action as required.

 

About the author

Rita Gupta is Co-founder and Managing Director of family law firm LGFL Ltd, serving family law for clients in the Reading and Thames Valley area, across the UK and for international clients involved in UK divorce cases. She has featured as a family law expert on national TV and radio, including BBC Radio 5 Live with Nicky Campbell, LBC, GB News with Darren McCaffrey and local TV and radio.

• Legal 500 Recommended Lawyer
• Listed in Chambers and Partners
• Listed Leading Lawyer at Wiselaw
• Member of Resolution

 

SOURCES

(1) Surviving Economic Abuse. (2026, March 5). At least one economic abuse victim dies every three weeks. https://survivingeconomicabuse.org/news/every-three-weeks/

(2) Crown Prosecution Service. (2026, February 6). Domestic abuse. https://www.cps.gov.uk/prosecution-guidance/domestic-abuse

(3) HM Treasury. (2025, March 18). Economic abuse toolkit. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-sector-toolkits/economic-abuse-toolkit-html

(4) National Centre for Domestic Violence. (n.d.). Financial abuse support toolkit. Retrieved March 9, 2026, from https://www.ncdv.org.uk/financial-abuse-support-toolkit/

(5) Domestic Abuse Act 2021, c. 17, § 1 (U.K.). https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2021/17/section/1