Domestic Abuse & Divorce: How to Protect Your Finances, Home and Assets

What Is Domestic Abuse, and What Is Economic Abuse?

Domestic abuse is defined broadly under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 to include not just physical violence but also emotional, coercive, controlling and economic behaviour. The act applies to intimate partners and family members who are aged 16 or over.

Economic abuse (sometimes called financial abuse) refers to behaviour that has a substantial adverse effect on your ability to acquire, use or maintain money or other property, or to obtain goods or services. In practice, this can include:

• Controlling all household finances and refusing you access to money
• Preventing you from working or sabotaging your employment
• Taking out loans, credit cards or mortgages in your name without your knowledge or consent
• Forcing you to sign financial documents under duress
• Hiding assets, income or business interests from you
• Running up debt intentionally to leave you in financial difficulty after separation.

Economic abuse frequently occurs alongside other forms of abuse and can continue long after a physical separation. The financial harm it causes is often long-lasting and can significantly affect your position when dividing assets on divorce.

Under the Domestic Abuse Act (s.1) domestic abuse is any incident or pattern of behaviour between people aged 16 or over who are personally connected, where the behaviour is abusive. This includes physical or sexual abuse, violent or threatening behaviour, controlling or coercive behaviour and psychological or emotional abuse. It can be a single incident or repeated behaviour and it applies to people who are partners, former partners or family members.

Following the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, DP v EP [2023] EWFC 6 provides an example of the family court making findings of economic abuse against the wife, as well as conduct it deemed inequitable to disregard. Over the course of a long marriage, the wife bought and sold assets while deliberately concealing her actions from the husband, who was illiterate and had placed his trust in her to manage his affairs. Her conduct resulted in financially quantifiable consequences, which were reflected in the final award.

How Can Domestic Abuse Affect Your Financial Settlement?

When a court divides finances on divorce,  it must have regard to the factors listed in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. These include the financial needs of both parties, their contributions to the marriage, and their conduct.

Usually, parties must attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) before going to court. However, there is a domestic abuse exemption. If there has been domestic abuse and you do not feel comfortable sitting in a room with your abuser, you would need to confirm this in the relevant application form. You would also need to provide evidence of the abuse, such as evidence from criminal proceedings that have taken place, an occupation or non-molestation order made by the family court, or a letter or report from a health professional.

Alternatively, it is possible for mediation to take place on a shuttle basis where you and your former partner sit in different rooms, and the mediator moves between the two rooms to help you reach a resolution. In this situation, you would not need to come into contact with your abuser.

Conduct and the Courts

In most divorces, conduct is not something courts take into account when dividing assets. However, where the conduct is ‘inequitable to disregard’, the court take it into consideration. Financial or economic misconduct that meets this threshold can include:

• Deliberately dissipating assets to reduce the pot available for division.
• Fraudulently transferring property into a third party’s name.
• Running up significant debt in the joint or sole names during the marriage.
• Hiding income from a business or concealing assets from financial disclosure.

Non-financial conduct, including serious physical or psychological abuse, has historically been difficult to rely on in financial proceedings. However, recent case law and commentary suggest that where abuse has directly impaired one party’s earning capacity or financial position, the court can reflect this in the award.

In OG v AG [2020] EWFC 52, Mostyn J identified four types of conduct: gross and obvious personal misconduct requiring a financial consequence if it is to be reflected in the award; wanton and reckless dissipation of assets leading to add-back; litigation misconduct leading to a costs order; and non-disclosure leading to inferences being drawn about the extent of the assets.

It is very rare for the family court to find that personal misconduct ought to affect the financial award.  However, this was the case in H v H (Financial Relief: Attempted Murder as Conduct) [2005] EWHC 2911 (Fam), where the family court made an order leaving the husband, who had been convicted of attempted murder of the wife, with only a small portion of the assets

A further example is LP v MP [2025] EWFC 473, in which the wife was found to have subjected the husband to coercive and controlling behaviour and to have obtained substantial sums from him under false pretences. The family court reduced the wife’s share of the matrimonial assets to 30%, treated her as having already received part of her entitlement, and concluded that she should not be maintained at the high standard enjoyed by the parties during the marriage.

When Abuse Has Reduced Your Financial Position

Where economic abuse has left you with less than you would otherwise have had, the court has tools to address this. These include:

• Awarding you a greater share of the matrimonial assets to reflect the financial harm you have suffered
• Making orders to restore assets that were transferred away or dissipated
• Treating undisclosed assets as if they exist when dividing the pot
• Making costs orders against a party who has been deliberately obstructive or dishonest in their financial disclosure.

You will need to provide evidence of the abuse and its financial impact. This may include bank statements, correspondence or medical records. A family law solicitor can advise you on what evidence is most likely to assist your case.

Even where alleged domestic abuse may have financial implications, it will rarely be necessary to litigate those allegations, as the impact on the alleged victim will be reflected when the court considers the section 25 criteria, regardless of whether abuse is established. For example, behaviour that has affected your earning capacity or created additional needs, such as medical expenses will have an impact on the division of the assets.

How Abuse Can Affect Spousal Maintenance

Spousal maintenance (also called periodical payments) is a regular payment from one former spouse to the other to meet ongoing financial needs. It is most commonly awarded where there is a significant difference in income or earning capacity, or where one party has given up a career to care for children.

Where domestic abuse has affected your ability to earn, the court can take this into account when assessing maintenance. Relevant circumstances include:

• You were prevented from working or continuing your career during the marriage
• The abuse has caused you to suffer mental health difficulties that affect your ability to work
• You left the relationship with debts run up in your name that you did not consent to

Courts aim to achieve a ‘clean break’ where this is fair, meaning a once-and-for-all settlement rather than ongoing payments. However, where your earning capacity has been genuinely and significantly affected by the abuse, a clean break may not be appropriate and the court may award maintenance for a period of time to allow you to rebuild your financial independence.

The duration and quantum of maintenance will depend upon the impact that the abuse has had on the individual’s earning capacity, as well as their ability to work in the future. The court will always want to ensure that individuals can be financially independent in the future and therefore prefer to make a maintenance order for a set duration rather that for life.

Urgent Steps to Protect Your Assets

If you are concerned that your partner may move, hide or dissipate assets before or during financial proceedings, there are urgent steps you can take. It is important to act quickly, as assets can be moved very fast.

Step-by-Step: Protecting Your Financial Position

1. Speak to a solicitor as soon as possible. A family law solicitor can advise you on your specific situation and, if necessary, apply to court urgently on your behalf.
2. Gather financial documents. Collect as much information as you can about the family’s finances. This includes bank statements, payslips, mortgage documents, pension statements, tax returns and details of any business interests. Keep copies somewhere safe that your partner cannot access.
3. Register a restriction on property. If you have an interest in the family home or another property, your solicitor can register a restriction at HM Land Registry. This prevents the property from being sold or remortgaged without your knowledge or consent.
4. Protect your bank accounts. If you share a joint account, you may wish to consider removing your name or speaking to your bank. Your solicitor can advise on the best course of action depending on your circumstances.
5. Apply for full financial disclosure. In financial remedy proceedings, both parties are legally required to provide full and frank disclosure. If you believe your partner is hiding assets, your solicitor can apply for third-party disclosure orders or instruct a forensic accountant.
6. Apply for a freezing order. If you believe your partner is about to move or hide significant assets, your solicitor can apply urgently for a freezing injunction. This will prevent your partner from dealing with that asset without court permission.
7. Consider a non-molestation or occupation order. If you are also concerned about your physical safety, these injunctions can be obtained urgently and can include provisions about financial matters.

Housing, Safety and the Balance of Harm

Deciding who stays in the family home following separation is one of the most pressing practical concerns for survivors of domestic abuse. The law provides specific protections to help keep victims safe.

Occupation Orders

An occupation order is a court order that can:

• Give you the right to live in the family home, even if you do not own it
• Remove your partner from the family home
• Restrict where your partner can go in or near the home.

When deciding whether to make an occupation order, the court applies specific statutory tests and considers various factors.

The court must have regard to all the circumstances, including but not limited to:

• The housing needs and housing resources of you and your partner and of any relevant child.
• The financial resources of you and your partner.
• The likely effect of any order, or of any decision by the court not to exercise its powers to make an order on the health, safety or well-being of you and your partner and of any relevant child is a key consideration.
• The conduct of the parties in relation to each other and otherwise.

In addition, the court must apply the “balance of harm” test. This means where there is a risk of significant harm to you or a child, the court is likely to grant an occupation order even if this causes hardship to the other party. Safety takes priority.

What Happens in the Longer Term?

An occupation order is a short to medium-term measure. In the longer term, what happens to the family home will be decided as part of the financial settlement. Options can include:

• You remain in the home, and your partner’s share is transferred to you.
• The home is sold and proceeds are divided, allowing both parties to rehouse
• You remain in the home with the children until the youngest child reaches a specified age (a Mesher order), after which the property is sold

Where domestic abuse has been a feature of the relationship, the court may take this into account when deciding which outcome is appropriate, particularly where remaining in the area is necessary for you or your children’s safety, support networks and schooling.

Social Housing

If you are fleeing domestic abuse and do not own your home, you may have a priority need for social housing. Local councils have a duty to assist homeless people who are in priority need, and domestic abuse victims are generally considered to fall within this category.

You may also be able to transfer an existing social housing tenancy into your sole name if your partner is removed from the home.

If you are experiencing domestic abuse, you may be able to obtain support from Women’s Aid or Refuge. In addition, you should speak to a solicitor urgently to understand your rights.

Pensions, Existing Financial Orders and Domestic Abuse

Pensions on Divorce

Pensions are often the second largest asset in a marriage after the family home. If your partner has a significantly larger pension than you, perhaps because economic abuse prevented you from building your own pension, you may be entitled to a share.

The court can make a pension sharing order, which transfers a percentage of your partner’s pension into a pension in your own name. It can also make a pension attachment order, which directs that when the pension comes into payment, a portion is paid to you.

Where economic abuse has restricted your ability to make your own pension contributions, this may be a relevant factor when the court considers what is fair.

When dividing assets on divorce, it will be necessary to obtain a Cash Equivalent Value (CEV) of your and your partner’s pensions. A CEV is the value placed on a pension by the pension provider for the purposes of divorce. It represents the present-day value of  the pension benefits if they were moved to another scheme. All pension providers are required to provide a CEV on request, and in most cases the first CEV is free.

In addition, it may be advisable to obtain a report on the value and division of the pension assets. This report would need to be prepared by a Pension on Divorce Expert (PODE). While not always required, a PODE report is strongly advisable where both parties’ pensions are worth over £100,000, pensions are complex,  or there’s a significant defined benefit pension.

When to Seek Legal Advice

If any of the following apply to your situation, it is important to speak to a family law solicitor as soon as you can:

• You are currently in, or have recently left, an abusive relationship
• You are concerned that your partner has hidden assets or run up debt in your name
• You have been forced to sign financial documents or transfer assets under pressure
• You are worried about being made to leave the family home or about your partner refusing to leave
• You already have a financial order but believe it was agreed under duress or obtained by fraud
• You are struggling to access money to meet basic living costs because your partner controls the finances

You do not need to wait until a final decision has been made about whether you are leaving the relationship. Getting early legal advice can help you understand your options, take steps to protect yourself and ensure you are in the best possible position if you do decide to proceed.

If you are in immediate danger, please contact the police on 999. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is available 24 hours a day on 0808 2000 247.