Legal Question in Employment Law in Arizona

Re: Non-compete

You are living with a dilemma that the law did not forsee. There is no law that limits the ability of one spouse to compete in business with another spouse. In fact, I think sitcoms have been based around this tragi-comic idea. The only limitations on what your spouse can do would be contractual. For example, if your spouse was a signator to the original franchise agreement, your spouse may be subject to the terms of that agreement. If your spouse ever signed a non-compete agreement with that company, your spouse would be subject to the non-compete agreement.

This sounds like a double-whammy - a marriage-threatening and income-threatening proposition. Your dilemma may be an ideal candidate for mediation. Mediation is a tool to help people get past conflict and problem-solve. It uses a trained neutral who can help two people work out a satisfactory solution to their problems, and is designed to keep the negative aspects of conflict to a minimum. For this reason, it is a really good process for family disputes, where people must maintain a long-term relationship, despite the conflict they are experiencing. If you would like to know more about mediation, please feel free to contact me, or check out my web site at www.yesmediation.com. Good luck to you, and if all else fails, perhaps you can write a screen play about your experience.