Monmouth County Adultery Divorce Lawyer
Learning that your spouse has been unfaithful is a devastating and life-altering discovery. It is far from unreasonable to consider dissolving your marriage after such a damaging breach of trust. If you decide to pursue a divorce, the legal procedures in place may work a little differently than they would in a no-fault divorce, sometimes in ways that can benefit you as the filing party.
Proceedings like this can be sensitive and intensely emotional, but having a skilled family law attorney on your side can be vital to ensuring state law is followed and protecting your best interests while doing so. A Monmouth County adultery divorce lawyer can discuss your options in detail during a confidential consultation and diligently advocate on your behalf. To speak with a skilled divorce attorney about your case, call Moskowitz Law Group today.
Can Adultery Serve as Grounds for Divorce?
New Jersey recognizes a form of “no-fault” divorce for couples who want to dissolve their marriage due to “irreconcilable differences” without assigning blame to one spouse or the other. However, state law also allows New Jersey residents to pursue fault-based divorces based on specific grounds, such as extreme cruelty, drug or alcohol abuse, or willful desertion for 12 months or more.
Adultery is one of the grounds that a person filing for fault-based divorce may name as the reason they seek a dissolution of their marriage. It is unique among other fault-based grounds for divorce because there is no mandatory waiting period that prospective claimants must complete before they have legal standing to file for divorce. A Monmouth County adultery divorce attorney can further explain how fault-based divorce works.
How Adultery May Impact Divorce Proceedings
New Jersey law does not explicitly state that someone seeking a divorce based on adultery should receive more favorable terms in their divorce order. However, it is not uncommon for things to end up working out this way in court. For example, proof of adultery can be relevant during alimony proceedings, as a court may subsequently order the adulterous spouse to pay more spousal support or equitable distribution than they otherwise would have. Very importantly, however, the court will only consider adultery in the alimony or equitable distribution context if the cheating spouse’s adultery affected the parties’ finances. An example of this would be the cheating spouse spending significant sums of money on the person they were cheating with.
Adultery may also indirectly affect how child custody rights and child support obligations are split during a divorce. If the unfaithful spouse’s actions are considered dangerous or harmful to the child they share with the divorcee, the cheating spouse may receive less custody as a result, which can impact how much child support they owe. An adultery divorce attorney in Monmouth County can assess the situation and help determine what a fair divorce settlement would look like.
Seek Help from a Monmouth County Adultery Divorce Attorney
Divorces based on one partner’s adultery can be emotionally challenging to proactively pursue, especially if you were married for years beforehand. When faced with such a heartbreaking discovery, it may seem overwhelming to take legal action alone. Our attorneys are here to help and can guide you through the entirety of the divorce process.
A private conversation with a Monmouth County adultery divorce lawyer will clarify the next legal steps you should take. Call today to schedule your free initial consultation.
