Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: When being sued is my husband included in the law suit

When you are residing together....community would be liable for the rent..

Re: When being sued is my husband included in the law suit

If your mother-in-law sues only you, then you would be the one initially on the hook. You could cross-complain against your husband and bring him into the case; in addition to protecting your rights to partial indemnification, this would put some pressure on his mother to go easy on you. It might be possible to wait until the case is over and then go after him, but I am not an expert in this area of law. My hunch is that you would need to include him the first time around.

While the two of you were living together, your rental obligations belonged to the marital community and not to either of you individually (unless you structured an unusual financial arrangement with a pre-nuptial agreement). The community ceased to exist -- at least temporarily -- once the two of you separated, and all rental obligations after that will be yours alone unless and until a court orders your ex to pay a portion of it.

None of this will happen automatically, however. You need to take some legal action to put your ex on the hook. I strongly recommend consulting with a local family law attorney about this.