Legal Question in Family Law in New Jersey
advice for a wife of pathological gambler
I want to divorce a gambler-he had commited check fraud repeatedly, but was never convicted (his parents paid most of the debts). He stole over $70,000 from my parent's line of credit and credit cards, but they did not file a police report. He is threatening to make me pay for part of his debts. We were married in NY, but lived in NJ afterwards. Where do we file? How can I protect myself from his debt? Will filing police report and taking him to jail help me? If so, how long will it take to go to court and get this money back? His parents are promissing to pay back the money, should I wait? Please help!
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: advice for a wife of pathological gambler
You can file for divorce if either you or he has resided in New Jersey for the past year. If one of you is not a resident of New York State an action for divorce can not be filed in that state.
He can not compel you to pay his gambling debts.
Whether you should file a police report or file a criminal complaint against your husband requires an in-depth analysis based on an office consultation.
His excessive gambling and the associated consequences are grounds for a divorce.
You need to hire an attorney in order to answer these questions appropriately.
Gary Moore, Esquire
Hackensack, New Jersey
www.garymooreattorneyatlaw.com
Re: advice for a wife of pathological gambler
You have an urgent, almost desperate situation. There are generally three things that I see which cause the victimized spouse to have to get the divorce to protect him/herself: adultery, violence and addiction of any type. I am sorry to hear that this has happened to you.
You also describe a fairly long time of you trying to work with him to fix this, with no good results.
Thefts and forgeries are crimes, even if committed by your son, son-in-law. I can not tell if he would be convicted.
You need solid legal advice. You need to get away from further harm. Things you did not discuss: do you have any children with him? Do you own a home? There are many other things to discuss.
If you would like, give me a call to set up an appointment; I am in northern New Jersey. My contact information can be obtained from the links below, just click on the Attorney Profile link. Let my secretary know you found me through LawGuru.
Disclaimer: you can not rely on the advice of an attorney given over the internet. The exact facts of your situation, including facts which you have not mentioned in your question, may completely change the result for your situation.
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