Infidelity is one of the leading causes of divorce. People who might otherwise stay with their spouses permanently may feel like they have to leave for their safety or mental health after discovering an affair. In some cases, the cheating spouse is the one who files for divorce, possibly because they have dreams of moving in with or marrying their affair partner.
Those whose spouses have proven unfaithful often hope for justice when they take the matter to family court. What can those divorcing due to extramarital affairs expect during the legal process?
Fault-based divorce might occur
The vast majority of divorces, even those that begin with adultery, are no-fault divorces. The spouses don’t want to prove that they qualify for fault-based divorce and instead move forward with a no-fault divorce. However, in scenarios where one spouse feels strongly about holding the other accountable, they can theoretically pursue a fault-based divorce on the grounds of adultery if they have adequate evidence. The courts can potentially affirm that one spouse caused the divorce by cheating.
Divorce outcomes might be different
Generally speaking, adultery does not affect how the courts distribute marital resources or parenting rights. During equitable property division proceedings, the courts usually don’t consider bad behavior during the marriage.
Wasted money spent while conducting an affair is one of the exceptions to that rule. Hiding an affair from a spouse isn’t cheap. Some research estimates that people spend, on average, roughly $450 per month. People pay for hotel rooms, vacations, meals at restaurants and gifts for their affair partners.
They may also acquire a second mobile phone that they have to pay for every month to limit their risk of getting caught. The more that someone spends on their extramarital affair, the stronger the potential case to make a claim of dissipation.
If one spouse can prove that the other significantly damaged the marital estate by wasting money on an affair, the courts can hold them accountable for that financial misconduct. They can allocate more property to the spouse who did not cheat, or the courts can also exclude certain debts from the marital estate.
Adultery often has minimal impact on divorce outcomes unless there is evidence of financial waste. Spouses with realistic expectations can focus their efforts on the best future possible rather than seeking punishments that the courts are unlikely to impose. Discussing the circumstances that led to a divorce filing with a skilled legal team can help spouses pursue the best outcome possible.