Terms Used In Kansas Statutes 60-428

  • Conservator: means conservator as defined by Kan. See Kansas Statutes 60-401
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Judge: means member or members or representative or representatives of a court conducting a trial or hearing at which evidence is introduced. See Kansas Statutes 60-401
  • Property: includes personal and real property. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.

(a) General rule. Subject to Kan. Stat. Ann. §§ 60-437 and except as otherwise provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, a spouse who transmitted to the other the information which constitutes the communication, has a privilege during the marital relationship which he or she may claim whether or not a party to the action, to refuse to disclose and to prevent the other from disclosing communications found by the judge to have been had or made in confidence between them while husband and wife. The other spouse or either his or her guardian or conservator may claim the privilege on behalf of the spouse having the privilege.

(b) Exceptions. Neither spouse may claim such privilege (1) in an action by one spouse against the other spouse, or (2) in an action for damages for the alienation of the affections of the other, or for criminal conversation with the other, or (3) in a criminal action in which one of them is charged with a crime against the person or property of the other or of a child of either, or a crime against the person or property of a third person committed in the course of committing a crime against the other, or bigamy or adultery, or desertion of the other or of a child of either, or (4) in a criminal action in which the accused offers evidence of a communication between him or her and his or her spouse, or (5) if the judge finds that sufficient evidence, aside from the communication, has been introduced to warrant a finding that the communication was made, in whole or in part, to enable or aid anyone to commit or to plan to commit a crime or a tort.

(c) Termination. A spouse who would otherwise have a privilege under this section has no such privilege if the judge finds that such spouse while the holder of the privilege testified or caused another to testify in any action to any communication between the spouses upon the same subject matter.