If you’ve ever asked yourself “Should I divorce my gambling husband?” then you have a problem with a spouse addicted to gambling. This can be a significant issue that leads to divorce.
A spouse with a gambling issue will undoubtedly cause conflict in a marriage. Thus, read this complete guide to know what steps to take for a favorable outcome.
Why Should You Divorce Your Husband Who Is a Gambling Addict?
You should divorce your husband who is a gambling addict because your marriage may experience increased financial and emotional stress due to gambling. As the partner of a gambling addict, it’s crucial to realize the difficulties that could accompany a problem like this.
In certain situations, this stress can lead to the breakdown of a relationship. Here are some of the reasons to divorce your husband who is a gambling addict:
– Trust Issues
In gambling, the trust between a compulsive gambler and their partner is destroyed. Lack of trust can be attributed to a person hiding their addiction, lying about their income, or hiding the reasons they regularly leave the house.
Thus, hiding things on a regular basis could destroy the trust in the relationship and may create emotional stress and increase fights in a marriage.
– Financial Stress
A family’s financial stability can be destroyed by gambling addiction in an instant. Until notice of foreclosure or eviction is left on the door, the other partner may be unaware of the situation.
The spouse of a person with a gambling addiction needs to take total charge of the funds, even though every home situation and relationship is different. If they haven’t already, your spouse might rapidly deplete your joint finances, rack up credit card debt, or even jeopardize your home.
The non-gambling partner may be able to regain some of the lost funds if the other spouse has already lost the marital assets to gambling by petitioning the court to classify the lost funds as “dissipated assets.”
This means that the money that has been lost gaming will be regarded as part of the asset settlement that the gambling partner receives when the court renders the divorce final and divides assets out to each partner.
– Emotional Stress
Gambling addiction can have a catastrophic emotional impact on a partnership. The couple may withdraw from friends and relatives as a result of the concealment and the loss of their job or home due to embarrassment. The issue needs to be addressed head-on before the family incurs significant debt.
Similar to how alcohol, drugs, or even adultery can negatively impact a relationship, compulsive gambling frequently does the same. Due to the other spouse’s actions, spouses must deal with infidelity, money problems, and other marital difficulties.
The effects of gambling addiction can be devastating to your finances as mentioned above, your marriage, and your ability to build trust. This increases the occurrence of experiencing financial and emotional stress.
It’s time to get professional help when someone goes from occasionally gambling to compulsively gambling. Take note that your spouse might have a gambling addiction even if they don’t gamble every day or can manage to lose a little money. You can figure this out by the signs mentioned in this article.
Is Gambling a Ground for Divorce?
Some states do not specifically include “gambling addiction” as a reason for divorce, but in fault-based divorce cases, the category of excessive cruelty is frequently utilized by spouses whose partners have been found to have a gambling problem.
Extreme cruelty includes financial, physical, emotional, and/or mental abuse and is commonly present in situations where there is a gambling issue, making divorce justifiable.
It’s debatable if a gambler’s activity will damage their relationship in any negative way. Financial abuse, outbursts related to gambling, erratic behavior, and bursts of psychological or physical abuse are all great examples.
Even when gambling is a problem for one of the spouses, the pair will nevertheless petition “irreconcilable differences” as a ground for divorce.
– Is the Other Spouse Responsible for the Partner’s Gambling Debts?
Yes, but they might be able to persuade the court that they should be reimbursed for the gambling spouse’s wrongdoing depending on the amount of money that has been lost due to the careless gambling and what other assets are in the “matrimonial pot.”
– Marital Asset Distribution Family Laws
The couple’s assets and liabilities may be subject to “equitable distribution” in some states. The length of the marriage, the earning ability of each spouse, and other factors are taken into consideration in order to calculate a fair distribution of assets and obligations.
There are certain exceptions, but generally speaking, both spouses are responsible for debts incurred during the marriage.
– Start Gathering Evidence
Suppose it can be proven that the other party had no knowledge of the dishonest behavior. In that case, debts incurred by a spouse who gambles through dishonest means, such as identity theft, embezzlement, or other types of financial fraud, may be considered separate debts.
The non-gambling partner should collect as much proof as they can to show that the gambling actually occurred. This contains tickets, casino credit, hotel stays, and other documentation of gaming activity.
The non-gaming spouse’s case will be stronger if they have more proof, even though the other spouse will have to show that they did not spend down the marital assets.
– Recovery From the Gambling Loss
Depending on how long the gambling spouse has been doing so and whether the other spouse truly knew about it, they may be able to recover a certain amount of money.
The non-gambling partner may go back and seek up to three years’ worth of losses if they were aware of the gambling prior to filing for divorce. The healing period can go up to five years if they were unaware.
– Do I Need a Divorce Attorney if My Spouse Is a Gambler?
No, but an adept divorce lawyer can assist you in demonstrating how your spouse exploited joint assets as security for loans and other borrowings so they could support their addiction. Without an experienced lawyer’s assistance, this is considered wasteful dissipation and is difficult to prove.
Your attorney can undertake depositions and discovery to increase your chances of avoiding the burden of debts you did not incur.
– Helping in the Divorce Process
The preparation for a divorce requires extensive documentation in which your attorney can help. Bank statements, equity lines, investment accounts, loans, credit card statements, insurance policies, tax returns, pay stubs, and home costs can all reveal a gambler’s destructive path.
Closing those accounts after paying off credit card debt or other bills will prevent further debt accumulation. It is also wise to ask for a credit score research to determine whether the gambling spouse has any unforeseen debt that their partner is unaware of.
What Are Signs That Show Your Spouse Has a Gambling Addiction?
Continuously lying, always being distracted, expressing a huge amount of worry or anxiousness, or stealing money and other valuables are some signs that may indicate that your spouse is going through a gambling addiction.
While you may have suspicions about a problem or detect financial irregularities, many spouses find it difficult to tell the precise moment when a little harmless gambling has turned into a dangerous addiction.
One of the most pernicious issues is that gamblers frequently refuse to acknowledge that they have a problem and will do whatever it takes to defend (or hide) their actions.
The warning indicators of a possible gambling disorder are as follows:
- Lying about playing poker: This is one of the signs which starts breaking trust and makes you a compulsive gambler.
- Always being distracted: They might be using their phones or sneaking off to their laptop to place bets while you are out with the family.
- Expressing other indicators of worry and being obviously concerned when they cannot gamble: Within 24 hours, many obsessive gamblers exhibit emotional withdrawal symptoms. This may involve mood swings, anxiety, restlessness, and/or impatience.
- Persistent gambling in spite of the negative effects: Even after you challenge your spouse about their excessive spending, they still continue gambling.
- Financial difficulties: Gamblers require money to play, and once an addiction develops, they frequently run into financial difficulties. As a result, individuals face a loss of money and may start taking out loans or borrowing money from friends, co-workers, and family to support their habits. They might even steal or pawn household goods like jewelry to earn money.
- Not seeking treatment: Because they still believe they are in charge or that the “next big win” will fix everything, those who suffer from gambling addiction frequently choose not to seek treatment. Your spouse would need to be able to talk about the matter without getting defensive or upset in order to be prepared to receive treatment for the addiction.
- Feeling guilty but powerless to stop the gambling: Addicted gamblers may experience regret after a loss when they come to understand the consequences of their behavior. Your spouse can sob bitterly or plead for your pardon and tolerance. Despite this momentary period of awareness, you will know they are addicted if you see them gambling again.
- Obsession with gambling and finding new ways to earn money
- Needing to wager more money to have the same thrills
- The use of gambling to combat anxiety, powerlessness, or sadness
- Gambling with the intention of recovering lost funds.
- Putting in danger crucial relationships, education, or employment due to gambling
- Lastly, stealing to obtain funds for gambling
A gambling addiction can severely strain even the strongest of relationships. A spouse with a gambling issue is prone to being secretive, unable to account for where the family’s money is going, and even losing money. This secrecy increases the likelihood of divorce and puts both partners’ finances at risk.
FAQ
– What Are the Ways of Stopping a Spouse From Gambling?
A spouse may request a financial restraining order after filing for divorce in order to stop the other spouse from gambling. The restraining order has little influence on whether casinos allow someone in, so if the spouse who gambles suffers from a major addiction disorder, they may defy it.
If this is a problem, a judge might compel the spouse who has a gambling problem to enter their name on a casino’s “self-exclusion list.” This is where an individual and a casino have made an agreement that the casino will not permit them entry.
In order to prevent their assets from being lost to gambling during the divorce process, spouses can also request to have assets frozen. However, getting a divorce swiftly and leaving the marriage may be the safest course of action for the spouse who is seeking divorce from the spouse who is a gambler.
Conclusion
Children and spouses experience hardship when one partner has a gambling habit since a gambler can be difficult to divorce. There may be many disagreements, unpaid debts, lost employment, and budget adjustments, and in this circumstance, the best course of action is to speak with a lawyer about your options for immediately separating your finances from your marriage.
- When one person in the family gambles, everyone in the family suffers. Children are frequent witnesses to arguments, tears, and other difficult situations.
- Speaking with a specialist can guide you through the healing process and will help you find the right option for the gambling problem. It is important to be aware of the problem and accept that you will need help.
- You should convince the court that you are not accountable for your spouse’s debts if they accrued during your marriage as a result of their gambling addiction.
- In circumstances where one spouse engages in financial misconduct, the court may treat the distribution of property and debt differently.
- You could ask the court to restrain your spouse from gambling or entering gambling casinos.
Dealing with a gambling addiction can be stressful for the whole family, both financially and emotionally. Thus, follow the steps mentioned in this guide and take the appropriate steps accordingly; you can also consult an attorney for help.
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