BlondLace said:
What is the name of your state? California
My husband is withholding money, changing bank accounts, taking my name off - to gain control of me. He has gone the extra mile due to me changing and taking back what is mine, my soul. Can he legally withhold money. I have not worked in a few years due to illness and also permanent legally blind in one eye.
My response:
As a general rule, for so long as spouses are married and living together, they owe each other a mutual duty of support. [Ca Fam § 4300--"Subject to this division (Ca Fam § 3500 et seq.), a person shall support the person's spouse";
Marriage of Pendleton & Fireman (2000) 24 Cal.4th 39, 52, 99 Cal.Rptr.2d 278, 288; see also
Borelli v. Brusseau (1993) 12 Cal.App.4th 647, 652, 16 Cal.Rptr.2d 16, 18--"husband and wife assume mutual obligations of support upon marriage"]
Notwithstanding marital estate, the mutual spousal support duty during marriage operates independently of the parties' marital estate or financial circumstances. The parties' respective support obligations "are not conditioned on the existence of community property or income." [
Borelli v. Brusseau, supra, 12 Cal.App.4th at 652, 16 Cal.Rptr.2d at 18]
However, the statutory spousal support duty is tied to the parties' marital cohabitation:
• "[A] person shall support the person's spouse while they are living together . . ." [Ca Fam § 4301]
• On the other hand, neither spouse owes the other a duty of support when they are living separate from each other by agreement . . . unless the agreement stipulates to continued support. [Ca Fam § 4302]
The statutory duty to support one's spouse during marriage is enforceable by an independent civil action (Ca Fam § 4303).
IAAL
