I cheated on my husband. Will this affair impact my divorce proceedings?

In a divorce, adultery can have a significant influence over the divorce proceedings, but this generally occurs in a very limited number of divorce cases. For the most part, divorce laws in most states do not require proof of fault to file divorce. However, in a limited number of cases, filing a fault divorce may prove beneficial in terms of obtaining assets, alimony payments, and other divorce resolution issues that tend to arise. The following issues may arise in cases involving adultery in a divorce proceeding, including:

• Pending state laws, fault based divorces (using adultery as grounds for fault in dissolution of the marriage) can proceed more quickly than no-fault based divorces

• In a limited number of states and situations, fault based divorce proceedings may ultimately influence the divorce proceeding in the following manner, including alimony amounts, child support amounts, child custody or visitation, and asset distribution amounts

• On a case-specific basis, the existence of a pre or post-nuptial agreement may determine when and how much an instance of infidelity may influence the outcome of a divorce proceeding

In practice, the only definitive method of determining whether your affair will impact any ensuing divorce proceedings will be through consulting with a divorce lawyer in your state of residence. A number of items need to be determined, including the intentions of each spouse, the existence of a pre or post nuptial agreement, the assets and income of each party, and the number and needs of dependants are the most common, but again, divorce cases can essentially bring about any issue into dispute. Having legal counsel throughout the entire process will help.