Relationships/Money
When My Husband Was Financially Unfaithful, It Hurt More Than If He Had Actually Cheated
The $20,000 secret that ended a marriage.
My then-husband and I were refinancing our home mortgage. The last thing I needed to send over to the lender was a copy of his credit card statement, the only one I didn’t have access to. He was weirdly evasive about getting it to me, but he finally handed it over a week later.
Once I had a three-page statement in my hands, I scanned it and e-mailed it to the lender. I had no idea that those three little pieces of paper would later end up on the desk of a divorce attorney.
We all know what infidelity is. It’s the late-night text messages, the hotel room visits, the red lipstick on the white collar, or that trace scent of strange perfume on a blazer. Most of these metaphors are specific to men cheating, but it’s women too. It could be Facebook messages or DMs. Infidelity can be anything we wouldn’t want or feel comfortable with our partner knowing what we’re doing or saying with another person we’re attracted to.
However, financial infidelity is less widely known. In fact, when I would say, “My ex-husband committed financial infidelity,” a lot of people would look at me blankly.
