Legal Question in Criminal Law in Massachusetts
my husband owes restitution (money) and is currently on probation. He is unemployed and now his probation officer (courts) is asking for my salary information. Do I have to provide this information? And would I be required to pay the money that he owes?
1 Answer from Attorneys
You are not on probation, and you are not the defendant's parent (in some instances, parents are held accountable for the monies owed by their children). You do not have to provide the probation officer any information. You are not the one on probation, and the court has no authority to compel you to do anything. Similarly, you are not required to pay your husband's restitution; only he is the required to pay restitution. On a practical note, your husband's failure to pay restitution will be a violation of his probation, however, and any violation of probation opens the defendant up to the possibility of being sent to jail so you may want to consider paying the restitution anyway to avoid the violation of probation and risk of incarceration.
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