Am I required to tell my spouse that I am divorcing that I have an STD?

Full question:

Is it required for a spouse to announce they have an std to the unknowing spouse throughout a divorce proceeding prior to bifurcating the marriage and signing off on continuing to support the infected spouse with medical insurance? And could it be construed as 'fraud' if found out after the bifurcation was set?

• Category: Criminal
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: California

Answer:

In California, an HIV-positive person who"willfully exposes" another person to HIV through unprotected sex may be charged with a felony and imprisoned for 8 years.

To be prosecuted under the law, you would have to do all of the following:

The law punishes exposing someone to HIV through sex. Your sexual partner does not have to actually become infected.

Know that you are HIV-positive. You cannot be prosecuted for sex that you had before you knew that you were HIV-positive.

Fail to disclose your HIV status. If you disclose before insertion, you cannot be prosecuted.

Fail to use a condom. Even if you do not disclose, you cannot be prosecuted unless you have "unprotected sex." The law defines "unprotected sex" as failing to use a condom. This means that every inserting penis has to be covered. Even if you are on the receiving end, you have a legal obligation to make sure that your partner wears a condom.

Have the "specific intent" to infect the other person.

For further discussion, please see:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/04/HIV.TMP

A false statement or significant omission in divorce proceedings may cause the resulting orders to be challenged in the future. Fraud may exist by an omission or purposeful failure to state material facts, which nondisclosure makes other statements misleading. The false statement or omission must be material, meaning that it was significant to the decision to be made. Fraud may lead to a claim for damages for the resulting harm, as well as punitive damages.