Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: A judgement against husband, if legally separated is wife's assets protected

Your question is a bit mixed. If the judgment is truly against a "corporation," and only the corporation, there would be no entitlement to the assets of any one individual defendant absent a "piercing of the corporate veil" claim. However, if you have a judgment(s) against anyone individually, you may or may not be entitled to seek the assets of the wife. It all depends on the judgment received, the wife's status relative to that judgment, and the assets involved. You really should consult an attorney to get a better answer on this, and to flesh out the particular facts of your situation.

Re: A judgement against husband, if legally separated is wife's assets protected

First, corporations (technically speaking) don't have partners. They have officers, shareholders and directors. But I think I understand what you mean.

Next, as a preliminary observation, almost anyone can be named in a lawsuit as a defendant, so even if the facts show you're not liable, you may still be forced to defend. Hopefully you would be able to gain dismissal at an early stage if there is no basis to believe you could be liable.

Here, however, it sounds as though the lawsuit has been concluded and you're wondering about enforcement of the judgment against you. My feeling is that if you are truly legally separated by court decree, and the court has divided the marital property (or the couple has divided its property and the court has approved the division) you will not be affected.

It is important to read the judgment itself and also the decree of separation and any property settlement attached to or incorporated into it. A separation requires a division of the couple's assets and liabilities. If this liability was not allocated to you, and you are not named in the judgment, I think you are pretty safe.

If there are assets such as real property that are still in both your names, your interest could be indirectly affected by a judgment lien.

Finally, the type of business problem that caused the suit and judgment in the first place may have some impact. If it was about ordinary business debts you're a degree safer than if the company or its insiders were engaged in fraudulent activities or something outside the normal course of permissible corporate activity. Finally, if environmental pollution is involved, get legal help right away.

Re: A judgement against husband, if legally separated is wife's assets protected

Skipping the corporation issue, a Judgment against one spouse may be enforced against another spouse. Many factors are in play, time of act compared to seperation, decree of seperation, benefit to the community, etc.

Joel Selik

800-894-2889

www.4thelaw.com