Legal Question in Criminal Law in Illinois

You can do a number of things related to filing for a divorce. Timing could be critical if you're subjected to physical or sexual abuse. You need to establish your own credit. If you take your own money you've done nothing illegal. Credit cards don't generally access cash -- debit cards do. If the accounts are joint you are equally entitled to what's in them. If they are solely in his name the law could state you've "gifted" him the money to control and you may run into trouble with him. If you are automatically depositing your funds into his account you can redirect them into your own account. If you are jointly on the account where the money is you can get your own debit card from the bank. Unfortunately without knowing more of the details of how the money is actually held and not what you may just think or have been told, it's very hard to say. But in the end your money is your money, until you contribute it to a joint account or "gift" it to an account only in his name.... Subject to what you think would happen however if you did so, the first thing you might want to do is redirect your earnings to a separate account in your name. If you're that afraid of his abuse, but it's not physical or sexual, document that you've spoken to professionals about it, or even called the police if necessary. And get yourself a good divorce attorney because it sounds like some planning is needed and you can't be slipshod about this. Being prosecuted may be the least of your problems, but present all the facts and paperwork you have to a divorce attorney in order to plan this whole thing out. Good luck.