Adultery doesn’t just break trust. It often makes people wonder whether their spouse’s infidelity will matter when it comes to money. If you’re going through a divorce where someone cheated, you’ve probably asked yourself whether that affair will affect spousal support. The answer isn’t simple, and it depends almost entirely on where you live.
Our friends at The Spagnola Law Firm discuss how different jurisdictions handle these sensitive matters. A spousal support lawyer can explain how your specific circumstances might influence what happens in court.
How States View Adultery in Alimony Cases
States don’t agree on how to handle adultery when determining spousal support. Some allow judges to consider who did what during the marriage. Others couldn’t care less about fault and focus purely on finances. Fault-based states let courts weigh marital misconduct, including affairs. A cheating spouse might get less alimony or none at all in these places. Sometimes the wronged spouse receives more of the marital assets as a form of compensation. No-fault states ignore why the marriage failed. These courts care about financial need and ability to pay. You could have ironclad proof of an affair, and it still might not change the support calculation.
What Courts Actually Consider
Even when adultery is allowed as a factor, it’s rarely the deciding issue. Courts want to see the full financial picture before making support decisions. Money matters come first:
- How long were you married
- What each person earns and could potentially earn
- The lifestyle you maintained together
- Your ages and health conditions
- Who contributed what during the marriage
The affair only becomes relevant if it had a real financial impact. Did your spouse drain the bank account buying gifts for someone else? Was this a short marriage where the misconduct happened early? Those details can change how a judge views things.
When Adultery Makes a Difference
Certain situations make adultery more important in spousal support cases. Suppose the unfaithful spouse spent thousands on the affair partner. We’re talking gifts, trips, maybe even paying their rent. Courts view this as wasting marital money, and it can reduce what that spouse receives or increase what they owe. Timing changes the equation too. An affair that happened after decades of marriage carries a different weight than one that started in year two. Judges evaluate long marriages differently from short ones when deciding whether misconduct should affect support. How the affair impacted the other spouse financially matters as well. Maybe the betrayal caused such distress that you couldn’t work for months. Perhaps you needed therapy that cost real money. Some judges factor these consequences into their decisions.
The Economic Reality Test
Many courts have shifted toward pure economic analysis regardless of who did what. They ask basic questions. Can one spouse pay their bills independently? Does the other have money to contribute? What kind of life did you build together during the marriage? This approach recognizes something important. Punishing someone through reduced alimony doesn’t serve the actual purpose of spousal support, which is helping a financially dependent spouse become independent or maintain a reasonable standard of living.
Documentation and Evidence
Think adultery should affect your case? You’ll need proof. Courts don’t work on suspicion or accusations. Text messages help. Financial records showing mysterious expenses help. Witness testimony helps. You need concrete evidence that the affair actually happened, but proving it happened isn’t enough on its own. You’ve got to show how it connects to the money side of your divorce. This gets complicated quickly, which is why legal guidance matters.
Understanding Your State’s Approach
Every state handles these situations differently. Some states won’t allow any alimony for a spouse who committed adultery. Period. Others give judges flexibility to weigh it alongside other factors. A few ignore it completely unless marital funds are wasted. Local precedent matters too. So does the individual judge assigned to your case. You could have two nearly identical situations in the same state that end up with different outcomes based on how particular judges interpret the law. Getting clarity about your rights starts with understanding how your state treats marital misconduct in support cases. An experienced attorney can look at what actually happened in your marriage and explain what role adultery might play in your specific situation.