Financial Abuse

If you are trying to leave an abusive relationship, it can be important to take your personal and financial records with you, either copies or the originals if it’s safe to take those. Some things you may want to keep a copy of include:

• birth certificates and Social Security cards for your whole family;
• insurance cards for your whole family;
• copies of your checking account, savings account, and credit card numbers;
• copies of any stock or mutual fund records;
• loan/mortgage information;
• your most recent credit report;
• tax returns for the past two years;
• car title;
• deed to your house or your rental lease;
• retirement plan statements; and
• photos of your family’s most valuable assets (e.g., nice cars, expensive jewelry, anything you think is worth a fair amount of money).

If you may be going through a divorce or child support case, you may also want to try to take copies of the following:

• how much the abuser earns, including salary, bonuses, money s/he gets from any rental properties, which may be in the prior year’s tax return;
• how much money is in all accounts: savings, checking, investments, retirement accounts; and
• how much money is owed on credit cards, the mortgage, car, etc.