Can I get alimony if my husband is committing adultery?
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Can I get alimony if my husband is committing adultery?
My husband is committing adultery and as a result has given me herpes; something I will have to live with the rest of my life. He has also secretly relocated his ex-girlfriend and their daughter to our state from MA and is paying her bills and letting the bills come here. What can I recoup? I retired at his urging, he said that I deserved it and that retiring would allow me to take care of my teenage daughter. I am going to need that money now and I only retired because he said it would work out. I never get to see any of his pay stubs and he only puts $200 in the bank a week.
Asked on August 7, 2011 Indiana
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
I am so sorry for your situation. Alimony - also called spousal support or maintenance - is based upon various factors that are generally set out in statute in your state. Although the trend is not to consider adultery as a factor when the court awards alimony or property distribution (they don't use fault based reasoning), they can consider it when the party committing adultery is dissipating marital assets (using the money to pay for things in the relationship). The factors are generally the length of the marriage, the ability of you to earn money, etc. Please go and seek help from an attorney in your area as soon as you can. Good luck.
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