Legal Question in Legal Ethics in Arizona

What rights do I have as the spouse of an attorney? It seems as if I cannot be a part of or partial owner

of the practice, as I am not a lawyer myself.... Even though this practice was started during our marriage. I can be sued along with my spouse for malpractice...and the IRS can come after me if the business owes them money...(AZ is a community property state) what claim, if any, do I have on the business itself? Does that answer change if it were known that my spouse started this firm in secret? Used marital assets to do so? Withheld IRS tax information from me in order to try and conceal this deception?


Asked on 4/25/12, 2:09 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Joyce Johnson-Stovall Johnson Stovall and Associates PLLC

In order to determine what rights you have as a spouse of the attorney who has a business practice, it will be necessary to review the operating agreement of that business. Generally, a person who is not a lawyer has no professional liability for malpractice, but in a community property state, it is commonplace to sue both spouses and that must be done to collect from the marital assets. In order to be more helpful, we would need to review the operating agreement and determine how the business is organized for tax purposes. If you would like to make arrangements with our office to have the documents reviewed and answer specific questions about your situation, please call Stephanie Coulter of this office at 602 462 1004 to make arrangements for a review and discussion.

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Answered on 4/26/12, 6:14 am


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