Short answer. No. Article 123 of the Family Code makes gambling losses the personal burden of the spouse who lost, not a charge against the conjugal partnership, whether the gambling was legal or prohibited. Any winnings, by contrast, do form part of the conjugal partnership property.

What the law says

Whatever may be lost during the marriage in any game of chance or in betting, sweepstakes, or any other kind of gambling whether permitted or prohibited by law, shall be borne by the loser and shall not be charged to the conjugal partnership but any winnings therefrom shall form part of the conjugal partnership property.

Family Code, Article 123 — Gambling Losses and Winnings. Read the full provision →

Losses stay with the spouse who lost

Article 123 states the rule for losses directly: whatever may be lost during the marriage in any game of chance or in betting, sweepstakes, or any other kind of gambling ... shall be borne by the loser and shall not be charged to the conjugal partnership. The losing spouse absorbs the loss personally. The conjugal partnership's funds are protected from that loss under this article — your spouse's gambling losses are not something the shared partnership property is made to answer for.

It does not matter whether the gambling was legal

The article covers gambling whether permitted or prohibited by law. This closes off an argument that might otherwise seem available — that losses from illegal gambling should be treated differently from losses at a licensed casino or a legal sweepstakes. The article applies the same rule to both: the loss is borne personally by the spouse who lost, regardless of whether the gambling itself was lawful.

Winnings, however, go the other way

Article 123 treats winnings differently from losses: any winnings therefrom shall form part of the conjugal partnership property. So the rule is not simply that gambling activity is walled off from the conjugal partnership altogether — losses are personal to the spouse who incurred them, but winnings from that same activity become shared conjugal property. The asymmetry favors the partnership: it shares in the upside without bearing the downside.

What this means if losses are being charged to shared funds

If gambling debts or losses are being paid out of, or charged against, conjugal partnership funds, Article 123 gives you a basis to object to that being done on the partnership's account — the loss belongs to the spouse who incurred it. This article addresses the source of the loss and where its burden falls; it does not itself describe procedures for recovering conjugal funds that were already used to cover such a loss, which would depend on the broader rules governing the partnership's liquidation and accounting.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.