Legal Information Database-international lawyers-top lawyers-find lawyers

Are one or both spouses required to work outside the home?


No. While the husband and wife are married and living together, a court is not going to get
involved in private family decisions of who works and who does not. That's left to the husband
and wife to sort out. Today, more than half of married women--including women with
preschool-age children--work outside the home. A husband or wife cannot, as a matter of law,
force his or her partner to work.

If the wife and husband separate or divorce, can a court require them to work
outside the home?

No, not directly. If a wife and husband separate or divorce, a court still cannot directly order
one or both of them to work. The court can, however, declare that one or both parties owe a
duty of financial support to the other party or to the children. A duty of financial support means
that person who is supposed to pay support must come up with the money somehow -- usually
from work or from savings. If the person who is supposed to pay support does not pay the
money and does not have a good excuse why the money has not been paid, that person could
be held in contempt of court. The possible penalties for being held in contempt of court include
payment of fines and incarceration. Payments of child support and alimony will be discussed


Are there legal remedies if a husband or wife refuses to have sexual relations with
his or her spouse?


In some states, the refusal to have sexual relations with a spouse is a specific ground for
divorce or annulment of the marriage. In other states, refusal to have sexual relations could be
considered a ground for divorce because it is an "irreconcilable difference" or "mental cruelty."
A court, of course, would not order a person to have sexual relations with his or her spouse. In
fact, in many states, a spouse who forces sexual relations with a partner can be charged with
rape under the state's criminal laws.


What is loss of consortium?

Loss of consortium refers to the loss of companionship and sexual relationship with one's
spouse. (The concept also can apply more broadly to the loss of companionship and affection
from other family members such as a child or parent.) In personal injury actions, plaintiffs may
seek monetary damages for loss of consortium in addition to payment for other losses such as
medical expenses, lost wages, and physical pain and suffering. For example, if a man is injured
in an auto accident caused by a negligent driver and the man is unable to have sexual relations
with his wife for two years because of the accident, both the husband and wife may seek
damages for that loss.