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Money

Financial and economic abuse — and what to ask a solicitor

Controlling your money is abuse in law, not just unfairness. If you share a house, a mortgage or a bank account with him, there are steps that protect you before anything is sold, emptied or run up in your name.

Information only. This is not legal advice. Court procedures and the law change. Always confirm with a solicitor, Citizens Advice, or a domestic abuse advocate before acting.

In plain English

  • Economic abuse is named in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. It counts as domestic abuse in its own right.
  • You can be a joint owner and still be forced out — and you can be forced out and still have rights over the house.
  • Register your interest in the property before he tries to sell it. This is usually free or very cheap and can be done quickly.
  • Debt in your name from his coercion can sometimes be written off or challenged. Do not just pay it quietly.

What financial abuse actually looks like

Common patterns

If money is being used to keep you in place, that is the abuse.

  • Giving you an 'allowance' and asking for receipts.
  • Taking your wages or your benefits, or controlling the account they go into.
  • Stopping you working, sabotaging job interviews, or turning up at your work.
  • Putting bills, loans, credit cards or a car in your name — sometimes without you knowing.
  • Running up debt on your account, or refusing to pay the mortgage so your credit is damaged.
  • Refusing to pay child maintenance, or paying late on purpose to keep you asking.
  • Damaging your things, or selling your things.
  • Threatening to sell the house, remortgage it, or change the locks.
  • Dragging out court so your legal costs mount up — sometimes called litigation abuse.

The legal detail

  • s.1(4) Domestic Abuse Act 2021 defines economic abuse as behaviour that has a substantial adverse effect on someone's ability to acquire, use or maintain money or other property, or to obtain goods or services.
  • Where the behaviour is repeated and controlling, it can also be the offence of controlling or coercive behaviour under s.76 Serious Crime Act 2015 (as extended by s.68 Domestic Abuse Act 2021 to former partners and non-cohabitants).

If you share a house together

This is the part people get wrong, and it is the part that costs the most. Take this list to a solicitor.

Ask the solicitor these questions

  • Whose name is on the title, and am I a joint tenant or a tenant in common? What difference does that make if one of us dies or wants to sell?
  • If I am not on the title, do I have home rights, and can you register them so he cannot sell or remortgage without me knowing?
  • Should I register a restriction or a notice at the Land Registry, and can you do it this week?
  • Can I get an occupation order so I can stay in the house and he has to leave — and can it be paired with a non-molestation order?
  • If I have to leave, does that harm my claim on the house later?
  • Who has to pay the mortgage while this is going on, and what happens to my credit file if he stops?
  • Can the court order him to pay the mortgage or rent as interim support?
  • If we are married: what does the financial remedy process look like, and how are the children's needs weighted?
  • If we are not married: what claim do I actually have — under trusts law, or under Schedule 1 Children Act 1989 for the children's housing?
  • Can I get a freezing order or an order stopping him disposing of assets if I think he is hiding money?
  • What happens to debts in joint names, and to debts in my sole name that he made me take out?
  • How do I stop him emptying the joint account today?
  • What will this cost, can I get legal aid, and can the costs be recovered from him?
  • Is there a risk he asks the court to make me pay his costs, and how do we protect against that?

Watch out

  • Do not sign anything transferring your share, agreeing a sale, or 'just to keep the peace' before you get advice. It is very hard to undo.
  • Take a copy of the mortgage statement, the last three months of bank statements, payslips and any loan agreements before you leave, if it is safe to do so.

Protecting the house — the legal names for it

The legal detail

  • Home rights: s.30–s.31 Family Law Act 1996 give a non-owning spouse or civil partner a right to occupy the family home, which can be registered against the title.
  • Occupation orders: s.33–s.38 Family Law Act 1996 can regulate who lives in the home, and can require one person to leave.
  • Married couples: financial remedy proceedings under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, where s.25 sets out the factors, with the welfare of any child as the first consideration.
  • Unmarried couples: claims under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, and housing provision for children under Schedule 1 Children Act 1989.

Debt, benefits and practical money steps

Do these soon

  • Open a bank account in your sole name at a bank he has never used, with statements going paperless or to a safe address.
  • Get your credit report from all three agencies — it shows accounts opened in your name you may not know about.
  • Ask lenders about 'economic abuse' policies. Many now write off or pause coerced debt. Surviving Economic Abuse has specialist guidance.
  • Tell benefits and tax credits that you have separated, and ask for split payments if you are still living together.
  • Change passwords and check for shared logins, joint app access and family phone plans that show your location.
  • Keep a running list of money taken, dates and amounts — it becomes a schedule for court.

Where to go next