Your spouse had an affair. You found out about it and told them immediately that you wanted to get a divorce. You are naturally very hurt and angry by what has happened.
As you go to court, you feel like you were in the right. Your spouse is the one who did something wrong and caused the divorce. Is this going to have a financial impact? Maybe you’re thinking that the court will reward you a larger share of the marital assets because your spouse was unfaithful.
The reason for the divorce usually doesn’t impact the finances
The truth is that, while you can declare a reason for your divorce, finances are generally not going to be impacted much by this decision. Marital conduct is usually not considered when deciding how money should be divided between two people during a divorce. The court is going to try to divide things in a manner that is consistent with state law, regardless of what you or your spouse did while you were married. Divorce court is not a place for handing out punishments to unfaithful individuals.
Exceptions
There are some rare exceptions. For instance, maybe you can prove that your spouse gave significant assets to their new romantic partner. In a situation like that, it may be seen as the dissipation of marital assets, and you could claim that some of those assets should go to you. This can help you get a larger percentage of the property. But, again, the affair itself usually won’t do this. It’s just the fact that your spouse gave money to a third party.
You are likely in for a fairly complex divorce if you’re asking these types of questions, so be sure you know about all of your legal rights.