Handling situations of abuse

A journalist covering a murder trial hears testimony about a controlling husband who was both physically and financially abusive toward his wife, who he is suspected of killing. It reminds the journalist of a similar situation, and she sends her friend a short but powerful text:

“This is your husband,” she wrote. “You have to get out.”

That friend, a high-profile investigative reporter, started skimming $30 each week off her grocery budget to buy gift cards from local supermarkets so she would have money to spend on groceries after she left her husband. Even after she left, the stress contributed to a stroke and adult-onset epilepsy.

This reporter was one of the people Amanda Cassar, AFP, Dip FP, a seven-year MDRT member from Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Australia, interviewed for her book “Financial Secrets Revealed.”

“She came into the relationship with property and money in the bank, and by the time she left the relationship, she had nothing,” Cassar said. “It sparked a fascination in me: How often does this happen, and how can we help people in this situation?”

Based in an area where many retirees move, Cassar has two businesses: a traditional financial planning practice for families and small businesses, as well as a secondary outfit specializing in strategies for people moving into residential care facilities. She cites a U.S. study from the National Coalition of Domestic Violence that up to 99% of victims of domestic violence also suffer financial abuse like the reporter Cassar interviewed.

“I started asking questions, if people had ever heard of cases like this,” she said. “Everyone went, ‘Yeah, I know someone this has happened to.’”

So what can you do as an advisor if you suspect that a prospect or client is in an abusive situation?

See two steps you can take in this Round the Table article