My wife has a just starting recovery but…

There has been a lot of damage done. I’m posting here, and I hope that’s OK, because I need to understand this addiction better and I need advice.

Over the past 5 years, my wife has drained our bank account of over $100K. We didn’t ever have a full $100K in the account at one time, but in small amounts, she would gamble what was supposed to go into savings and told me that the reason why we weren’t saving is because as a family we were overspending.

I just found out last week that she was in debt. About $40K. Apparently she applied for multiple credit cards and charged them up gambling.

After she told me, she attempted to take her life, which put her in hospital on an involuntary hold. She came home yesterday.

I had a brief discussion with her to get information about our accounts so I could take them over for now, before reintegrating her into it so we could handle them together. That’s when I found out the worst part. And this is where I need advice.

She told me she drained the money from my kids 529 plan, which i was told was a college savings plan that couldn’t be accessed by anyone but the named student and ONLY for college bills and purposes. Apparently, it’s more like a 401K. You can pull cash out at any time, but with a penalty. She took $38,100 out of both kids accounts, leaving nothing left.

I will help get the debt down, but the college fund and our bank accounts are just gone. I can handle her taking my wages, but I need to make my kids whole again. Their future shouldn’t be derailed because of this.

My question is, is there a program that can help? I make too much for financial aid and student loans only cover $5K. I’m lost and grasping at straws.