Q: Do I have to answer personal relationship questions in a Deposition or in Court?

A: Generally, the questions you pose are not objectionable in a deposition. Whether a witness is in a romantic relationship with a litigant, or has children with a litigant, is likely relevant on the question of bias. A juror could easily conclude that a girlfriend, roommate, or friend might be willing to shade the truth to your advantage compared to a disinterested third-party with whom you have no relationship. A "friend with benefits" might be more likely to do so than a platonic friend. The nature and extent of your relationship with a witness is most likely fair game.

That being said, a judge may limit just how far those questions may go to protect intimate private details like specific sexual positions or acts as long as your answers are straightforward and you don't play "word games" like Bill Clinton did in his deposition. If you do, the judge is likely to give the questioner a lot more leeway in asking explicit details. If the witness is your roommate and didn't have any children by you, she should be prepared to testify that she is just your roommate, that you have never dated, that you have never engaged in any sexual activity, and that she has no children or who the father of her children is. If you have "fooled around" but do not consider yourselves boyfriend-girlfriend, she should just say so, e.g. "we have fooled around with each other in the past and have had sex a couple of times, but we have never been in a romantic relationship." Obfuscation destroys credibility. Encourage her to be honest and straightforward.

If you plead the Fifth in a deposition, you should probably also do so in court to protect yourself from prosecution for whatever crime is involved. But realize that "pleading the Fifth" in a civil case permits a jury or judge to make an adverse inference against you. This is very different than in a criminal case where a jury or judge cannot draw an adverse inference from your exercise of your Fifth Amendment right. And realize that you can only "plead the Fifth" to something that is a crime, not just something that could hurt your civil case.