Divorce and Infidelity
Adultery
or infidelity is a difficult topic when it comes to divorce. If your spouse has
cheated on you, you probably want them to be punished for the wrong they have
done in violating the sacred marital relationship. While child support, child
custody, and division of property cannot be impacted by adultery, the payment of alimony
can be affected.
In
Georgia, where a spouse has committed adultery, that spouse is barred from
receiving alimony, if the parties' separation was caused by that spouse's adultery.
So, if your spouse cheated on you and that infidelity was the cause of your
separation, you cannot be required to pay alimony to your spouse.
Define Adultery
Georgia
law defines adultery as sexual intercourse with a person other than his or her
spouse. The law does not apply to intimacy, as sexual intercourse must occur.
However, adultery does apply regardless of whether the infidelity committed was
a heterosexual or homosexual relationship.
Proving Adultery
An
adulterous relationship does not have to be proven 100% true. Georgia law requires
a standard that adultery be proven by a preponderance of the evidence. This
means the evidence must show that it is more likely than not that your spouse
committed adultery and the adultery led to the separation.
Exceptions
There
are a few exceptions to the rule which bars alimony from a cheating spouse. As
mentioned above, in order to bar alimony, the discovery of infidelity must be the
parties' reason for separation. Furthermore, if there is evidence that the
cheating spouse apologized and was forgiven by their spouse, or if the spouse
was given permission to cheat, the bar for alimony would not apply.
Click
here if you would like to learn more about alimony, or click here if you would
like to schedule a free telephone consultation to speak with one of our experienced family law
attorneys.
Written
by: Rebekah Ann James