Duggan

Petitioner is plaintiff in an action for dissolution and accounting of partnership assets and for compensatory and punitive damages for fraud. He seeks a writ of prohibition to prevent respondent from enforcing its order compelling the deposition of petitioner’s spouse Wilma, despite assertion of the marital privilege authorized by sections 970 and 971 of the Evidence Code. Petitioner contends that the order violates the marital privilege. We agree.

The question presented is whether the action brought by petitioner, which seeks to establish a 15 percent ownership interest in 7 parcels of real property acquired on behalf of the partnership and held of record by real parties in interest, defendants in the action, is prosecuted for the “immediate benefit” of petitioner’s spouse.

The privilege for marital communications is contained in section 980, which provides: “Subject to Section 912 and except as otherwise provided in this article, a spouse ... whether or not a party, has a privilege during the marital relationship and afterwards to refuse to disclose, and to prevent another from disclosing, a communication if he claims the privilege and the communication was made in…