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DIVORCE: GAMBLING AND OTHER MONEY PROBLEMS |
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Are disagreements over money a significant cause for divorce? |
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Where do you rank gambling as a cause for divorce? |
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You use the term "addictive" in regards to gambling. Is it an addiction? |
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How does gambling impact on a marriage? |
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What help is there for gamblers? |
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Is gambling a grounds for divorce? |
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Just like there are compulsive gamblers, are there not compulsive spenders, that is, people who are addicted to buying things they don't need? |
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What can I do about controlling my spouse's spending habits? |
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Can I be held liable for my spouse' s debts? |
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| Q: |
Are disagreements over money a significant cause for divorce? |
| A: |
Yes. money differences ARE among the top three causes for divorce. |
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| Q: |
Where do you rank gambling as a cause for divorce? |
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I see addictive gambling as a specific cause for divorce with increasing frequency, especially since the opening of the river boat casinos. Gamblers Anonymous states that 16% of Illinois Gamblers Anonymous members were divorced due to gambling. |
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| Q: |
You use the term "addictive" in regards to gambling. Is it an addiction? |
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Yes. The mental health community views gambling as potentially addictive or compulsive behavior, much the same as addictions to alcohol, food, tobacco etc. |
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| Q: |
How does gambling impact on a marriage? |
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First, financially. In a recent divorce case in which I was involved the husband refinanced the family home three times in order to pay off the wife's gambling debts and each time it was supposed to be the last. The second way gambling impacts on a marriage is much the same as adultery. Gambling is usually clandestine and requires lying, and the lies, when revealed, go to the core of the marriage. |
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| Q: |
What help is there for gamblers? |
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Pattened after Alcoholics Anonymous, is Gamblers Anonymous. Its websrite is www.gamblersanonymous.org, P. O. Box 1713, Los Angeles, CA 90017, phone 800/426-2537. Local psychotherapists also deal with gambling addictions. |
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| Q: |
Is gambling a grounds for divorce? |
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Not of itself. Grounds for divorce are contained in the Illinois Divorce Act and include adultery, mental cruelty, desertion etc. While gambling, as such, is not one of the specified grounds for divorce, it is possible that along with other factors which go along with gambling, it could be part of mental cruelty grounds for divorce. |
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| Q: |
Just like there are compulsive gamblers, are there not compulsive spenders, that is, people who are addicted to buying things they don't need? |
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Yes. We frequently see addictive spending as part of the reason for a divorce. |
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| Q: |
What can I do about controlling my spouse's spending habits? |
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Very little, usually. Yes, you can take away, or rip up, the credit cards, but the fact is that new credit cards come in the mail unsolicited. Usually the best you can do is to carefully monitor expenditures by keeping track of the checkbook and reviewing credit card bills. If there are divorce proceedings pending you can apply to the court for an injunction re use of credit cards. |
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| Q: |
Can I be held liable for my spouse' s debts? |
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It depends. Being held liable for a debt is usually a contract matter. If you signed for your spouse' s credit card, or if both of you signed, then as a matter of contract you are liable on the credit card. Aside from having signed for a credit card, you can be held liable for your spouse = s expenditures if they are for family necessities . Thus, for example, if you are the main breadwinner in the family and your spouse does not have enough money to pay for necessities, such as food and clothing, and charges these items, you could be held liable because these are necessities. On the other hand, if your wife bought a sable coat you would not be held liable because this is not a family necessity. |
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