Unfortunately, in today’s society, many marriages end in divorce due to adultery. Your whole world may have been upended if your spouse has been unfaithful. During this emotional time, you may wonder whether you can cite adultery as grounds when filing for a divorce in New York. Additionally, you may wonder how your spouse’s marital affair will affect other aspects of your divorce, such as the division of assets, child custody, child support, and spousal support. Please continue reading to learn whether you can get a divorce if your spouse has committed adultery in New York, and discover how a skilled Garden City Divorce Lawyer can help you dissolve your marriage.
Can I cite adultery as grounds for a divorce?
Fortunately, you can get a divorce based on fault or no-fault reasons. With a no-fault divorce, you can file for divorce for virtually any reason. If you pursue a fault-based divorce, you must cite a specific reason and provide proof that your spouse’s actions caused the marriage breakdown. You can cite adultery as a potential ground when filing for a divorce. Therefore, among the fault-based grounds, you can get a divorce if the court finds that your spouse has committed adultery.
However, in some cases, spouses do not own up to their extramarital affair. If your spouse does not admit to the court that they have committed adultery, you must provide convincing evidence proving that your spouse has committed adultery. Fortunately, you do not need to catch them in the act. Instead, you can provide hard evidence such as phone records, hotel recipes, and other proof that they committed adultery.
How else can infidelity impact a divorce?
Adultery can affect other aspects of your divorce, including property division, child custody, child support, and spousal support. If your spouse used your marital assets in the commission of adultery, the court will likely consider that when determining how property should be divided. New York is an equitable distribution state. This means that marital property, any assets accumulated during the marriage, are divided fairly between a divorcing couple. However, that does not necessarily mean an even 50/50 split. Property division is up to the court’s discretion on what they deem fair. Therefore, you may be granted a more significant portion of your marital property due to your spouse’s infidelity.
Furthermore, although adultery doesn’t generally impact child custody and support, the court can consider it. This is often the case when a spouse’s act of adultery goes against the child’s best interests. Adultery may also be considered when determining what a spouse is entitled to pay or receive for spousal support. The payment of spousal support can be impacted by infidelity. However, this is usually the case when there is a significant discrepancy between spouses earning capacities.
Learning that your spouse has been unfaithful can be emotionally overwhelming. Don’t navigate this difficult time alone. Allow our dedicated Garden City divorce lawyers from the Law Offices of Eyal Talassazan, P.C. to provide you with quality legal support.
