Exposing Economic Abuse: A New Frontier in Family Law

The following article appeared in The Florida Bar Family Law Section Commentator, Volume XLVI, Issue 3, 2026. You can read the issue here.

Exposing Economic Abuse: A New Frontier in Family Law

By: Margo Cook, CFP®, CDFA®, CAP, John Dame, Esq., CDFA®, and Dr. Adrienne Adams

Introduction

Have you ever had a client who insisted they had no access to their family's bank accounts, tax returns, or even a credit card in their own name? Perhaps you have represented someone who appeared embarrassed about not knowing anything about their financial picture or claimed that their spouse incurred debt in their name without their consent or through coerced consent. Maybe you have had a client pressing you to pursue a legal theory that was not frivolous but seemed designed to drain the other spouse's resources through mounting attorney fees. Many family law practitioners can recall circumstances just like these situations in their cases, which often point to something deeper at play.

In recent years, economic abuse has gained recognition in legal circles throughout the United States as part of the broader dialogue on domestic violence. Legislatures have noticed and adopted new statutes, and attorneys are quickly incorporating the concept into their legal and factual arguments in court. In 2022, the U.S. Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act ("VAWA") Reauthorization Act, which included the following definition of economic abuse:

The term "economic abuse", in the context of domestic violence, dating violence, and abuse in later life, means behavior that is coercive, deceptive, or unreasonably controls or restrains a person's ability to acquire, use, or maintain economic resources to which they are entitled, including using coercion, fraud, or manipulation to---(A) restrict a person's access to money, assets, credit, or financial information; (B) unfairly use a person's personal economic resources, including money, assets, and credit, for one's own advantage; or (C) exert undue influence over a person's financial and economic behavior or decisions, including forcing default on joint or other financial obligations, exploiting powers of attorney, guardianship, or conservatorship, or failing or neglecting to act in the best interests of a person to whom one has a fiduciary duty. [1]

The definition's inclusion in VAWA marked a step forward in the acknowledgement of economic abuse as a serious form of intimate partner violence. Further, the definition's reference to behavior that is ". . .coercive, deceptive, or unreasonably controls or restrains a person . . ." strikes at the heart of the issue's relevance to family law matters.

For the family law practitioner, recognizing economic abuse is not only critical to protecting a vulnerable client, but also to avoiding becoming an instrument of the abuse itself. By definition, economic abuse does not occur in isolation. Economic abuse signals broader patterns of abuse that shape the litigation and the client's long-term financial stability. Thus, understanding how to identify, substantiate, and present economic abuse in court is essential to effective advocacy.

How Can We Spot Potential Economic Abuse?

Determining whether economic abuse is present in a relationship requires drawing a fine line: Is the person engaged in abusive behavior, or simply problematic financial management or isolated acts of financial infidelity? We often assign roles in marital relationships. In malignant circumstances, a spouse's assigned role as a financial manager may depart from the average case and cross the line into abuse.

Establishing whether economic abuse is present rests on the means and the outcomes of the financial arrangement in the relationship at issue. If the couple's financial dynamic is imposed through force, coercion, fraud, sabotage, and/or manipulation, and/or the distribution of the financial gains and losses are imposed to one person's benefit (financial, psychological, or other), economic abuse is present. For example, economic abuse may manifest when one spouse unilaterally dictates how income is earned, how money is spent, and how assets are managed, with the result that the other spouse bears disproportionate losses or lives at an imposed lower standard.

While the outcomes of the relationship's financial dynamic are a significant component of the two-pronged analysis, the means a person uses to obtain financial control can distinguish problematic financial management from a deliberate pattern of control that deprives the abused spouse of autonomy.

An attorney may use the Revised Scale of Economic Abuse (SEA2) [2] to start a conversation about a client's possible exposure to economic abuse. The SEA2 requires a client to respond to a series of questions on a 0 to 4 scale, with 0 meaning "Never" and 4 meaning "Very Often." Some examples from the SEA2 [3]:

-   How often did your partner keep you from having the money you needed to buy food, clothes or other necessities?

-   How often did your partner keep financial information from you?

-   How often did your partner make you ask him or her for money?

-   How often did your partner keep you from having a job or going to work?

An attorney can then utilize the results of SEA2 to determine next steps for the client and their case.

The harms of economic abuse, particularly in a family law context, can be profound. An economically abused spouse is often left with significantly reduced access to resources, limited financial literacy, and many years without a record of employment. Further, an economically abused spouse may be left with damaged credit and absent a method to pursue relief through the abusive partner, credit bureaus, and/or creditors. This type of abuse often persists post-separation, through manipulation of child support and spousal support, extraction of legal fees, and/or employment sabotage that impacts earnings and/or job prospects.

Thus, it is critical for the family law practitioner to understand the concept and how to identify economic abuse.

Developments in the Law

Economic abuse is a hot topic in legislatures throughout the United States. As noted previously, federal law codified a definition of economic abuse in the VAWA Reauthorization Act in 2022. That same year, California passed legislation providing relief for victims of coerced debt, which is a specific type of economic abuse:

A person shall not cause another person to incur a coerced debt. A person who causes another person to incur a coerced debt in violation of this subdivision shall be civilly liable to the claimant for the amount of the debt, or portion thereof, determined by a court to be coerced debt, plus the claimant's attorney's fees and costs. [4]

New York City recently revised the definition of "victim of domestic violence" under the city's Human Rights Law to recognize economic abuse as a form of domestic violence. [5] The State of New York also passed legislation in 2025 to assist victims of coerced debt. The legislation "establish[es] a procedure for victims to dispute coerced debts with lending institutions. If the debt is determined to be coerced, the debtor would no longer be liable for paying the debt and their credit would no longer be impacted. Further, the bill enables lenders to bring civil cases against the abusers to collect debts that are owed." [6] Texas amended its definition of identity theft to include debts incurred through coercion to provide a path to relief for coerced debt victims. Maine passed legislation that prohibits the collection of debt resulting from economic abuse. The District of Columbia amended its equitable distribution and alimony statutes to include financial abuse as a factor for the court's consideration: "[The] circumstances that contributed to the estrangement of the parties, including the history of physical, emotional, or financial abuse by one party against the other (emphasis added) [.]" [7]

These legal developments intersect with Florida's recently enacted Greyson's Law, which requires courts to evaluate any evidence of domestic violence in parenting determinations, effectively permitting admission of evidence on patterns of behavior related to domestic violence, such as coercive control and economic abuse. [8] The law also requires a court to consider "[w]hether either parent has or had reasonable cause to believe that he or she or his or her minor children or children are or have been in imminent danger of becoming victims of an act of domestic violence . . . or sexual violence . . ." [9]

Economic abuse occurs in ninety-nine percent (99%) of abusive relationships [10] as finance represents a key weapon for abusers to gain and maintain control over their partner. While a finding of physical abuse may often depend on a credibility determination as to the testimony of both parties, economic abuse is evidenced through the flow of transactions. Examining a spouse's financial behavior, particularly with the support of an economic abuse expert, can shift a case from borderline domestic violence to substantiated proof of domestic violence.

While Florida law may not contain any direct reference to the term economic abuse, economic abuse is relevant to a court's equitable distribution and spousal support determinations. Florida Statute § 61.075 (Equitable Distribution) includes certain factors relevant to economic abuse including, but not limited to:

-   1(b) The economic circumstances of the parties;

-   1(d) Any interruption of personal careers or educational opportunities of either party;

-   1(e) The contribution of one spouse to the personal career or educational opportunity of the other spouse; and

-   1(i) The intentional dissipation, waste, depletion, or destruction of marital assets after the filing of the petition or within 2 years prior to the filing of the petition.

Florida Statute § 61.08(2)(b)(3)(e) ("Alimony") discusses "[t]he earning capacities, educational levels, vocational skills, and employability of the parties, including the ability of either party to obtain the necessary skills or education to become self-supporting or to contribute to his or her self-support prior to the termination of the support, maintenance, or alimony award."

These Florida Statutes provide an opening for attorneys to incorporate economic abuse into their evidence and arguments in family law matters. If a practitioner chooses to present a case of economic abuse, the client may have an advantage in the Court's ultimate analysis of parenting time, division of property, and award of spousal support. The result depends, of course, on the persuasibility of the jurist and the nexus of the evidence to the articulated statutory factors.

How Do You Prove Economic Abuse?

The first and most effective step when economic abuse is suspected is to obtain the client's credit report. This readily available document can reveal debts unknown to the client or created through coerced consent and can provide an initial foundation for further investigation.

Thereafter, in formal or informal discovery, an attorney may find evidence of dissipation, hiding or concealing of funds, coerced debt, undisclosed income or accounts, and/or a history of misleading communications from one spouse to the other spouse. If a prima facie case of economic abuse is developing, a practitioner may consider the use of third-party subpoenas to financial institutions to round out the documentary evidence.

An attorney may supplement the documentary evidence with interrogatories or a request for admissions:

-   Have you, at any time during your relationship, suggested, implied, or imposed a limit on the amount of money that your spouse accesses?

-   Have you, at any time during your relationship, suggested, implied, or imposed a limit on your spouse's access to financial accounts or credit?

-   Admit that you imposed a limit on your spouse's access to financial accounts.

-   Describe how you and your spouse managed your financial affairs, specifically which spouse: (1) had access to your financial accounts, and the frequency with which each of you would access those financial accounts (itemize the accounts); (2) interfaced with financial professionals, specifically any financial advisor, mortgage professional, or tax professional; and (3) prepared and reviewed any tax returns or debt applications.

Once sufficient evidence is obtained, the decision tree re-routes to the courtroom and best practices for presentation. In the courtroom, an expert witness must qualify under Florida Statute § 90.702.

Multiple empirical studies have established that economic abuse is a distinct form of intimate partner abuse. [11] Economic abuse is perpetrated in conjunction with other forms of abuse, including physical, sexual, and/or psychological abuse, but it has distinct characteristics and consequences for victims. Just as the psyche and body are the targets of psychological and physical forms of abuse, economic resources such as income, assets, property, and personal human capital are the targets of economic abuse. Just as mental and physical health are directly affected by psychological and physical abuse, economic abuse has direct economic consequences for victims, including, for example, lost wages, the accumulation of involuntary debt, credit damage, material deprivation, and abuse-related expenses. [12]

To form a judgment about whether economic abuse occurred in a relationship, an expert witness would first need to establish that the relationship was abusive and then determine whether the abusive conduct extended into the economic domain of the victim's life. On the first point, an expert witness would need to determine if one spouse engaged in a pattern of abusive conduct that effectively secured power and control over their partner. Several standardized instruments exist for assessing the presence of domestic violence rooted in power and control. Examples include the Composite Abuse Scale, the Women's Experiences with Battering Scale, the Coercion in Intimate Partner Relationships Scale, the Psychological Maltreatment of Women Inventory, and the Intimate Partner Violence Fear 11-Scale.

If the relationship is shown to be abusive, the next step would be to assess for economic abuse. The assessment would focus on whether the perpetrator engaged in abusive behavior that targeted the victim's economic resources, restricting their individual agency and resulting in economic harm. An expert witness could use, as a starting place for this assessment, a research instrument developed to measure the frequency of economic abuse in an abusive relationship. The original instrument, the Scale of Economic Abuse (SEA), and the recent Revised Scale of Economic Abuse (SEA2) were developed and subjected to psychometric testing to establish their factor structure, reliability, and validity. The SEA and SEA2 were published in a leading peer-reviewed journals, Violence Against Women and Psychology of Violence, respectively. The instruments include instructions for scoring, and the scale development studies are widely cited as an authority on economic abuse. An expert witness on the topic who bases their knowledge, at least in part, on the SEA and SEA2 may be able to qualify under Florida Statute § 90.702 and Daubert.

In addition to validated instruments, practitioners may find employing structured case-planning tools that track specific client-reported and document-verified behaviors useful. We created a tool that organizes indicators into categories such as control of income (e.g., refusing to allow a spouse to work or requiring them to ask for money), controlling spending behavior (e.g., demanding receipts, limiting access to necessities), dissipation (e.g., using marital funds for non-marital purposes), financial isolation (e.g., restricting access to bank accounts or professionals), and misinformation (e.g., concealing or falsifying information about assets). While not designed to meet evidentiary standards on its own, this tool might serve as an effective practice aid and demonstrative exhibit. This tool helps attorneys systematically capture client reports, highlight patterns that may otherwise be missed, and provide experts with a roadmap for targeted discovery and analysis.

In presenting a case on economic abuse before a court, documents are the most vital piece of evidence. These documents can then be relied upon by your expert witness, and your client can supplement the physical evidence and expert testimony by credibly telling their story.

As with any case, preparation of your client to put on such a case is critical -- which is why you might consider bringing in a team of professionals to assist -- specifically, a therapist, a financial planner, and an organizer may be helpful. This team can help an economically abused spouse recover their independence before during and after a divorce.

While the concept of economic abuse is not new, its legal relevance continues to expand. Meeting the evidentiary standards of Florida Statute § 90.702 and the Daubert framework is not assured, but advancing arguments and presenting evidence of economic abuse remains essential. Such evidence enables a court to understand the underlying dynamics of the marriage and to evaluate the parties' conduct and financial circumstances within the proper context.

Practice Pointers

-   Obtain your client's credit report early to identify undisclosed or coerced debts.

-   Use the SEA or SEA2 informed questions to assess whether patterns of financial control are present.

-   Employ structured case-planning tools to track specific client-reported and document-verified behaviors.

-   Subpoena bank, employment, and credit records to confirm concerns of concealment or dissipation.

-   Consider engaging an expert witness to frame findings within recognized research and legal standards.

-   Be wary of overextending the concept of economic abuse in Court. Applying the label too broadly---for example, to ordinary dissipation claims or poor financial management---can dilute its meaning and undermine your credibility with the judge.

Endnotes

1. 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(13)

2. A.E. Adams, M.R. Greeson, A.K. Littwin & M. Javorka, The Revised Scale of Economic Abuse (SEA2): Development and Initial Psychometric Testing of an Updated Measure of Economic Abuse in Intimate Relationships, 10 Psychol. Violence 268 (2020), .

3. Id.

4. Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.97.2 (2023).

5. Mayor Adams Signs Two Pieces of Legislation, Taking Action to Protect Victims of Domestic Violence, Promote Environmental Justice by Improving Air Quality, N.Y.C. Office of the Mayor, (Mar. 6, 2023) .

6. Linda B. Rosenthal, Bill to Shield DV Survivors from Liability for Coerced Debts Passes Assembly, N.Y. State Assembly (June 11, 2025), https://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/Linda-B-Rosenthal/story/114349.

7. D.C. Code §§ 16-910(2)(L), 16-913(d)(5).

8. Florida Statute § 61.13

9. Id.

10. A.E. Adams, C.M. Sullivan, D. Bybee & M.R. Greeson, Development of the Scale of Economic Abuse, 14 Violence Against Women 563 (2008).

11. Adrienne E. Adams, Cris M. Sullivan, Deborah Bybee & Megan R. Greeson, Development of the Scale of Economic Abuse, 14 Violence Against Women 563 (2008); Stylianou, A. M., Postmus, J. L., & McMahon, S. (2013). Measuring abusive behaviors: Is economic abuse a unique form of abuse? Journal of interpersonal violence, 28(16), 3186-3204; Adrienne E. Adams, Megan R. Greeson, Angela K. Littwin & McKenzie K. Javorka, The Revised Scale of Economic Abuse (SEA2): Development and Initial Psychometric Testing of an Updated Measure of Economic Abuse in Intimate Relationships, 10 Psychol. Violence 268 (2020).

12. Adrienne E. Adams, Cris M. Sullivan, Deborah Bybee & Megan R. Greeson, Development of the Scale of Economic Abuse, 14 Violence Against Women 563 (2008); Adrienne E. Adams, Angela K. Littwin & Melissa Javorka, The Frequency, Nature, and Effects of Coerced Debt Among a National Sample of Women Seeking Help for Intimate Partner Violence, 26 Violence Against Women 1324 (2020); Adrienne E. Adams, Angela K. Littwin, Amy C. Kennedy & Melissa Beeble, Describing Coerced Debt Created in Abusive Marriages (manuscript under review, J. Interpersonal Violence); Alexandra Hetling, Amanda M. Stylianou & Jill L. Postmus, Measuring Financial Strain in the Lives of Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence, 30 J. Interpersonal Violence 1046 (2015); Jill L. Postmus, Chien-Chung Huang & Amanda Mathisen-Stylianou, The Impact of Physical and Economic Abuse on Maternal Mental Health and Parenting, 34 Child. & Youth Servs. Rev. 1922 (2012); Sarah Shoener, The Price of Safety: Hidden Costs and Unintended Consequences for Women in the Domestic Violence Service System (Vanderbilt Univ. Press 2017).

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