Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: divorce

Maybe. Spouses owe each other a "fiduciary" duty to act in each other's mutual best interest. That has to be tempered by reality. As one old judge I appeared in front of many times used to say, "What do you want me to do, you chose him?" If she knew what you were doing, accepted it, etc., I think too bad for her. If it was secret, illicit, you could be held accountable. I have litigated this issue before, for a client who went to Vegas more than monthly, and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars -- he made good money and inherited money, so the ballpark amount was never accurately determined. The wife knew, went with him (but rarely) and never gambled, and the judge found no liability on his part -- not that another judge or that judge on another day couldn't have. What the other side never asked about was his illegal gambling. What they never thought through was that someone with that kind of gambling problem can't stop, and that if he is gambling that much legally in Vegas, it almost certainly extends beyond that. During the case, I actually got calls from his bookie enforcers in CA. Had that issue come out, I was sure he would have been hit for liability.