Does debt pass to spouses in the US?

Generally, no, especially debt that occurred before the marriage.

That said, California is a community property state, which means that income and debts that are incurred during the marriage are considered the joint property of both spouses. Again though, Holmes debt and her husband's wealth were acquired before their marriage, so in that case it's easy to keep these separate.

> Holmes debt

Is only being incurred now, at the verdict.

> husband's wealth

Acquired before marriage, and would have to have been mind bogglingly stupid, knowing the risk of a liability finding, not to protect that with a prenuptial.

> Is only being incurred now, at the verdict.

IANAL but that's generally not how it works. The timing of when the debt was incurred here would be considered when the conduct occurred that resulted in the verdict.

> not to protect that with a prenuptial

Would probably want a prenup for other reasons, but wouldn't be necessary here. Just need to ensure his pre-marriage assets weren't commingled with community property during the marriage.

Is the fact that he married and had a child with Holmes evidence that he is in fact "mind bogglingly stupid"?

if her husband is a beneficiary of a trust (i.e. as I'd assume many heirs are). would any future disbursements (if they exist, there might be none) be considered 50% hers and hence have to the settlement?

No

No, that's separate property. That's his as long as trust funds are not commingled with community funds.

I'm going to guess no, given that this has all been coming down the pipe since before they got married - and I'm fairly certain no-one is foolish enough to do something like that under those circumstances.

Also, I can't imagine his family would have jumped for joy over it either without consulting several lawyers ahead of time.

My understanding is that the date of sentencing/verdict is the date of record, since until that point you have not been found guilty/liable.

I guarantee there's a prenup.

Surely there must be. It makes no sense otherwise - this outcome has been widely predicted for a loooong time.

It's not that debt goes from one spouse to the other.

When you marry someone you become some sort of combined entity where assets/liabilities now belong to the husband-and-wife-estate figure and not by any of them individually (obv. disregarding the effects of prenups and similar clauses).

That's not the case in any state for assets and liabilities acquired before the marriage, including community property states.