Financial Planning with Survivors of Domestic Violence

Building on the first webinar, this session helps financial planners adapt their professional expertise to support domestic violence survivors’ immediate safety, self-determined goals, and long-term financial well-being. Participants will examine how standard recommendations related to budgeting, saving, credit, insurance, retirement, separation, and estate planning may need to be modified when a client is experiencing or recovering from economic abuse.
The webinar will emphasize collaborative planning that presents options rather than prescriptions and translates complex financial issues into practical, manageable steps. Participants will consider how to support survivors at different stages, including preparing for safety, navigating separation, addressing credit damage, rebuilding assets, and establishing longer-term economic security. The session will also clarify the boundaries of the financial planner’s role and the importance of coordinated work with advocates and other professionals.

Learning Objectives

1. Adapt traditional financial planning strategies to account for survivor safety, agency, changing circumstances, and self-identified priorities.
2. Develop practical short- and long-term planning approaches related to budgeting, savings, credit, debt, insurance, benefits, retirement, and estate planning.
3. Use collaborative communication strategies that increase clarity, choice, confidence, and follow-through without directing or pressuring the survivor.
4. Distinguish between financial planning services and issues requiring legal, advocacy, mental health, or other specialized support.

Presenters: Erika Sussman, JD, LLM, Founder & Executive Director, Center for Survivor Agency and Justice

Katie VonDeLinde, MSW, LCSW, Expert Advisor, Center for Survivor Agency and Justice; Senior Lecturer, Washington University in St. Louis