When one member of a marriage discovers the other is cheating on him or her, it is common for a divorce to follow. The technical term for the act of cheating is adultery. The question the spouse who has been cheated on usually has is simple – what kind of impact will the adultery have on the divorce? Legally, this answer is going to vary slightly depending on where you live. There are some states where adultery will have no impact at all and other states where it will have a huge impact.

How Will Adultery Impact the Distribution of Assets?

Today, adultery does not have a very big impact on how assets are distributed between the two spouses. The one big exception to this is when the spouse used some of the marital assets in order to support his or her love. For example, if the woman used some of the couple's savings to support her lover, this information would be used to determine how to split the money in a way that is fair to the husband in terms of compensated what the wife used on her lover.

What if Your Spouse Gets a Sexually Transmitted Disease?

Did you know that if your spouse cheats on you, gets a sexually transmitted disease, and infects you that you have grounds for a personal injury case?

Will It Weigh Into Your Child Custody Case?

No, the act of adultery will not have an impact on your child custody case. As long as the parent who committed the act of adultery is a good parent, the judge could care less about the adultery. Unfortunately, the parent has just as much of a right to see the children as you do.

Is it Considered Adultery if the Partner Was of the Same Gender?

Legally, adultery is defined as sexual intercourse between a man and a woman when either the man or woman is married. Whether or not your spouse can be labeled as an adulterer depends on where you live. In New York, for example, adultery is not restricted to being intimate with the opposite sex. It is, however, difficult to prove. In other states, however, a man can cheat on his wife with another man and not be charged with adultery because the law does not see intimacy between members of the same gender to be the same as members of the opposite gender.

For more information, contact LaCroix & Hand PC or a similar firm.

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