Divorce Adultery Child Custody

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The family court maintains the doctrine of ensuring the 'best interests of the child.' Consequently, these courts demand considerable proof that the extra marital affairs of a parent have resulted in harm to the child or have the potential of harming the child. Usually, divorce adultery might impact a child custody decision depending on the following 3 factors.

• The laws of the state
• The facts unique to each case
• The personal inclination of the judge

Interrelationship of Divorce Adultery Child Custody

In a child custody case, the presence or absence of adultery has gained importance due to the following reasons.

• The state laws may mention that adultery has nothing to do with child custody. However, in each and every case, the judge makes the final decision. It may happen that the judge is not offended by presence of adultery. However, certain judges might dislike parents, who engage in adultery. Such judges are reluctant to award custody and/or visitation rights to such parents

• A divorce obviously terminates a marriage. However, the relationship between the parents concerning the topics related to minor children continues after the divorce for many years. It follows that cooperation between the parents is essential even after the divorce. Certainly, if one parent has practiced adultery before the divorce, then his/her spouse would have harsh feeling for the adulterer. There is also a probability that the spirit of cooperation between the parents seeking divorce would be poisoned. The requirement of negotiation after the divorce is unavoidable. Negotiation with a friend is generally easier as compared to negotiation with an enemy

• In every child custody or visitation case, the issue of child support is interlinked. Initially, the amount of child support is determined by application of the Guidelines. However, the court is free to deviate from this amount, if it finds that the circumstances are conducive for a deviation. As an example, let us consider that the custodial parent was practicing adultery and after the divorce is residing with his/her lover. Due to the presence of this new person in the residence, the requirements of the child related to fixed costs are decreased. These costs can be water, natural gas, electricity, housing or other utilities. Consequently, the court might decrease the support amount

• It has been observed that before a divorce is finalized, if a person begins a new relationship, he/she usually comes across as a failure in this relationship. When the child knows about this failure, he/she suffers another loss. Another observation is that if a child suffers such relationship losses frequently, the child develops a tendency to become unwilling for close relationships

Case Study of Divorce Adultery Child Custody

A mother had adulterous relation with a man residing in the neighborhood, during her marriage. When the mother's husband was outside the house, but their child was in the house, this mother and the man were frequently present in the woman's bedroom. Due to this situation, the child had to suffer a stressful situation.

Sometimes, the wife of the neighbor approached the mother's house and asked the child what his/her mother and her husband were doing in the bedroom. This increased the stress on the child. The judge concluded that the divorce adultery of the mother had a detrimental impact on the child. Hence, the mother lost custody of the child.

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