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Assuring Financial Stability For Survivors Of Domestic Violence: A Judicial Remedy For Coerced Debt In New York’S Family Courts, Megan E. Adams

Brooklyn Law Review

Domestic violence is a national crisis impacting more than one in three women and one in four men. Abuse is often experienced in nonviolent forms, including emotional, verbal and economic abuse. This note focuses on the harms of economic abuse and, specifically, coerced debt. As society’s understanding of the nuances of domestic violence deepens, many states, including New York, have recognized economic abuse as a unique harm and have empowered family courts to adjudicate such abuse. While promising, many states have yet to devise a suitable remedy for such harm. This critical gap leaves far too many survivors of abuse …