For the above, I left out Barb's personal obligations.
Together, Barb and Chris share things like the mortgage and electricity and internet, etc. Chris absolutely should pitch for his half of the expenses.
Where things get tricky are their personal expenses. Privately, Chris and Barb each have their own sets of debt that they have to pay off. However, Barb's debt dwarfs Chris'. Like 3x or 4x or something.
Barb also has full access to Chris' bank account and credit cards and everything. If not in name, at least in spirit. (That is, the accounts might be in Chris' name, but if she screams at Chris, he'll sign whatever she needs him to.)
Chris' tugboat (and if he gets any new credit issued, that credit as well) frequently goes to help pay off Barb's debt.
Now, if Chris' bank account does go into the red when paying for Barb's debt, is he at fault, morally? If he bought some toys and then later went in the red when Barb tried to pay off her debt, is Chris the fuckup here?
Some would say that, yes, since Chris' name is on the account, he's responsible for it, no matter what. If he doesn't want to go into the red, he should buy less toys.
Other people might say that Barb is exploiting Chris, and even though he could technically tell her to fuck off, practically speaking, he's brainwashed. It's not really his fault.
I understand both arguments, but still, I have to go with the latter one. I don't think it's remotely fair for Chris to have to live like a monk, paying off Barb's debt, just for her to leave a pristine financial corpse when she dies.
If Chris was living on his own and screeching about how he can't pay his bills? Sure, I'd laugh my ass off about that. But when fatty is getting grilled because he has to make a choice between either covering for Barb's financial fuckups, or enjoying what little he can of his manchild life? That's less funny.
Who knows, maybe if we're lucky, we'll get the Barb bankruptcy saga.