It is no secret that slightly over fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. It is further no secret that as divorce statistics show, a big contributor to the current divorce rate is adulterous spouses who fail to keep their wedding vows in mind when it comes to pursuing extramarital affairs. In spite of all the shame and pain that a cheating spouse will ultimately cause his or her marriage, the question on most people’s minds is as follows: “will this situation make a difference in my divorce outcome and the manner in which the family law judge views my divorce case?” In the grand scheme of things, the overall answer is “no” – the offense of adultery committed by one spouse will not cause the divorce judge to award more to the scorned spouse as punishment to the cheating party. The family law process does not work the same way in every state. The United States features both “fault-based states” and “irreconcilable differences states” when it comes to divorce, and the type of state the divorcing spouses reside in will therefore dictate the kind of dissolution they ask for on their petition document. A fault-based state operates in two ways, based on the divorce circumstances of the spouses. To start, if the parties simply can’t get along anymore and no amount of time or counseling will save their marriage, a fault-based state requires them to participate in a twelve-to-eighteen month separation period (depending on the state) with each spouse living at a different residential address than the other, before they are able to file their divorce documents with the court. On the other hand, a fault-based state also allows the spouses to file their divorce petition immediately, without having to endure the lengthy state-imposed separation period, if they are using a fault as the reason for their marital dissolution. As long as they can successfully prove their claim to the divorce judge, the filing parties may use any of the following scenarios as the ‘fault’ for their divorce: •alcoholism or drug abuse which makes it impossible to continue the marriage; •the verbal, physical, or both kinds of abuse from one spouse to the other; •abandonment where one spouse leaves the marital residence with no intention of ever returning; •the issue of one spouse’s refusal to engage in sexual relations with their partner for one year or more (sexual abandonment; •one spouse’s severe mental illness (diagnosed “insanity”; •and of course the dreaded adultery situation. In addition to the “fault-based state” there is also the “irreconcilable differences state” which uses the theory of “we just can’t get along anymore” as the reason for the divorce. A California divorce is based on irreconcilable differences. This means that California follows what is called the no-fault rule – to qualify for a divorce, either one of the spouses simply needs to show that there are irreconcilable differences and the divorce will then be granted, no questions asked. Californians are therefore not subjected to the mandatory separation period and as a result can freely use the “we just can’t get along” reason without having to wait before filing for divorce. Though this phenomena may seem unfair to those who must file in a fault-based state, California has decided that the Courts are not in the business of deciding who is responsible for the breakup of the marriage, but instead are concerned with dividing marital property, establishing spousal support and/or child support payments, scheduling child visitation and making sure that everyone’s welfare is protected. For those in an irreconcilable differences state such as California, this explains why the victim of a cheating spouse cannot hope to recover more in the divorce as the punishment the divorce judge gives to the adulterer. In other words, the judge does not have any interest in why the two spouses are getting a divorce, and simply cares about its aftermath to make sure all parties involved stay in agreement and follow their final judgment for divorce. Hence, the one instance where adultery will influence the divorce proceedings is when the spouses live in a fault-based state and are able to show the judge that the cheating scenario took place, thus speeding up their divorce timeline a bit.

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