When one spouse controls all the money in a marriage, the other spouse is left completely vulnerable. It costs money to live! If your spouse has all the money, how can you live? Does withholding money amount to financial abuse in an Illinois divorce? Financial Abuse Is Abuse In Illinois In Illinois, abuse is resolved by an order of protection. “If the court finds that petitioner has been abused by a family or household member…an order of protection prohibiting the abuse, neglect, or exploitation shall issue” 750 ILCS 60/214 An order of protection can only be granted if there is abuse. Abuse has a very broad definition in Illinois. “’Abuse’ means physical abuse, harassment, intimidation of a dependent, interference with personal liberty or willful deprivation” 750 ILCS 60/103(1) Withholding money could be considered harassment under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act. “’Harassment’ means knowing conduct which is not necessary to accomplish a purpose that is reasonable under the circumstances” Cancelling a spouse’s credit cards is not necessary to accomplish a reasonable goal under the circumstances (you’re in the middle of a divorce) More likely, withholding money from a spouse is probably ‘willful deprivation’ under the category of abuse “’Willful deprivation’ means willfully denying a person who because of age, health or disability requires medication, medical care, shelter, accessible shelter or services, food, therapeutic device, or other physical assistance, and thereby exposing that person to the risk of physical, mental or emotional harm”750 ILCS 60/103(15) Everyone, at every stage of age, health or disability requires “medication, medical care, shelter, accessible shelter or services, and food.” All of those items require money to purchase. While an order of protection is commonly associated with the power to keep one party away from another, an order of protection can also compel behavior from one party: such as ordering financial support or remuneration. An order of protection can “[o]rder respondent to pay temporary support for the petitioner or any child in the petitioner’s care or over whom the petitioner has been allocated parental responsibility, when the respondent has a legal obligation to support that person, in accordance with the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, which shall govern, among other matters, the amount of support, payment through the clerk and withholding of income to secure payment.” 750 ILCS 60/214(b)(12) Parents or friends often make emergency loans to cover expenses while a spouse is withholding money. […]
