Legal Question in Family Law in Louisiana

Protecting yourself from a fiscally irresponsible spouse

To protect yourself without getting a divorce you can file to terminate your community property.This will require hiring an attorney and filinga petition with your local court so the judgecan make sure there are valid reasons for ending the community. After you end the community, yourearnings will belong totally to you and your husband'searnings will belong totally to him. You will not be responsible for his debts and he won't beresponsible for yours. When you end the community,you should also divide your property. Make sureyou get the house. Once it's all yours, he won't be able to mortgage it and his creditors won't be able to seize it.

Gambling Spouse

My appreciation is that a credit card company can't nail a spouse who's not on the account under the federal Fair Billing Act. However, I'm not an expert in the area and you should check this out with your credit card companies. Make sure that you take yourself off all joint accounts, if you haven't already. Under community property laws, living separate and apart with no intent to resume marital bliss will also trigger separate property debt. I would also suggest that you get counseling, regardless of whether your husband does. Finally, call Gambler's Anonymous.