MBE Rules · Evidence
Marital Communications Privilege
Marital communications privilege (common law)
The rule
Confidential communications between spouses during marriage are privileged in civil and criminal cases; either spouse may assert it, and it survives divorce as to communications made during the marriage.
In plain English
The Marital Communications Privilege protects private conversations between spouses from being disclosed in court. This privilege applies to both civil and criminal cases, and either spouse can invoke it, even after a divorce, as long as the communication occurred during the marriage.
Worked example
During their marriage, Alice confided in her husband Bob about her plans to start a business. After their divorce, Bob is called to testify in a lawsuit involving Alice's business, but he refuses to disclose what she told him, citing the marital communications privilege. The court upholds Bob's refusal to testify about Alice's confidential communication.
Memory hook
What’s said in marriage, stays in marriage—privileged and protected!
The trap
Exams may present scenarios where students confuse the privilege with other types of privileges or fail to recognize that it survives divorce. Watch out for questions that involve communications made after the marriage ends.
How examiners test it
Questions often involve a fact pattern where one spouse is called to testify about a conversation, testing whether the communication was confidential and made during the marriage.
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