Currently in the Relationship:

• If you are considering leaving the relationship, calculate what it would cost you to live on your own, and consider starting to set aside your own money in a safe place, even if it is just a few dollars at a time.
• Get a copy of their credit report online through Equifax or TransUnion and try to monitor their credit regularly.
• If you are still in a relationship, call utility companies (electricity, water), cell phone providers and financial institutions to secure their private financial information with PIN codes and passwords. It’s essential to ask such companies to authenticate one’s identity using identifiers other than a Social Insurance Number (SIN),) date of birth or mother’s maiden name, in other words, things an abuser would not know or have access to.
• Reach out to victim services or intimate partner violence resources to discuss the options available in your province or territory of residence.  
• Compile an emergency evacuation box with copies of your family's important records and documents.
• Keep copies of car and house keys, extra money and emergency phone numbers in a safe place.
• If you use the internet to explore domestic violence issues or research how to regain financial independence, make sure your abuser cannot trace your activities.
• Take a financial inventory, listing assets and liabilities.

When Leaving the Relationship

When leaving an abusive relationship, you should consider doing the following:

Gather essential documents or photocopies

• I.D. documents such as passports, birth certificates, status cards, and immigration papers (permanent resident card, work permit) for the victim-survivor and any children. If you cannot get the original copies, try to get photocopies of 2 pieces of ID
• Marriage certificate
• Driver's license, registration, insurance
• Social Insurance Number (SIN) card 

Having at least one, at best two pieces of I.D. is an essential requirement for many administrative processes such as opening a bank account, and applying for any financial benefits, credits, and credit reports. 

If it is not safe for a victim-survivor to obtain an I.D., photocopies or snapshots of the originals would help. Remembering one’s Social Insurance Number (SIN) by heart is also an advantage.

Additional tips 

• Avoid using credit and debit cards that can enable an abuser to track your whereabouts
• Keep your personal and financial records in a safe location. Leave copies with a trusted friend, relative, or in a bank safety deposit box to which your abuser does not have access.
• If your partner controls the money, look for ways to find out more information about his/her income, financial property, real property and debts.

Gathering financial information

• Any debit cards, credit cards, and cheque books
• Bank statements, and statements on financial products like mortgages, lines of joint credits, and other loans (or if otherwise not safe, just remember the name of the bank that the abuser uses for their financial assets)
• If making copies of financial documents or bank statements is not safe, it can be already useful for you to note and remember incoming mail from banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, utility companies etc. 
• Document how you are spending funds, and hold onto receipts, as you may be asked to verify this at a later date. 
• Keep a hold of all of your legal, medical and financial records such as bank statements when you leave; these will help in getting a hold of your accounts at a later time.
• Call the financial institutions you bank with, and understand whether you have your name on any joint accounts. Try to understand if you can remove yourself from a joint account without the permission of the other person. 
• If you are able to remove your name without the other person, take your name off any joint accounts you have with your partner with the help of your financial institution. 
• If you need your partner to sign off on an exit, take no action, and ask your financial institution to keep this attempt confidential, and not let your partner know.

If you have an individual bank account

• Open up a new bank account at a different bank than you currently have. Your partner may have your account number or PIN to access the account online. 
• Once you open the new account, make sure to change any of the direct deposit information for any payments that come to you - for example, the Canadian Child Tax Credit.   

If you do not have your own bank account

• If possible, contact a different bank than your partner to open a new account. 
• Once this is done, change all of the direct deposit information and PIN numbers for accounts your partner has access to. 

Actions to Secure Finances

• Set up a new email address with a password that was never used before and change any PIN numbers or passwords of phones, bank accounts and any other personal accounts that an abuser might have access to.
• Change the PIN and passwords on all of your own bank, Canada Revenue Agency accounts, or other financial accounts (this includes, phone, internet, utilities). 
• Take up to half of all joint funds immediately upon leaving, and up to 75% of joint funds if also supporting one or more children. 

Talk to a lawyer to assist you in finalising the financial details of your separation.  See Legal.