10 Things You Should Know About Adultery / Infidelity and How it Relates to Divorce in Ohio

1. In Ohio, adultery (infidelity) is one of the statutory grounds for divorce.  Incompatibility, gross neglect of duty, extreme cruelty, and habitual drunkeness are also grounds for divorce in Ohio.  None of these grounds are more legally significant than any of the others – they will all suffice to allow the court to find that there are grounds to terminate the marriage.
2. In Ohio, as in most states, adultery is not legally relevant to custody matters.  In the eyes of the law, a person can be a bad spouse and that has nothing to do with whether they are a bad parent.
3. In Ohio, adultery has no legal relevance to the division of property.  A court will not give one spouse more property than they other in order to punish the spouse who has been unfaithful.  In Ohio the primary purpose of the divorce court is to divide things and end things.
4. In Ohio, one spouse’s commision of adultery does not automatically mean that the other spouse will be awarded the marital home in the divorce.  If the one spouse asks the other to leave as a result of adultery, the faithful spouse will not be any more entitled to have the house than he or she would have been if adultery were not an issue.
5. In Ohio, just because the marriage is ending after adultery, that does not mean a court will fail to consider shared parenting. 
6. Once the marriage is over, the court will rarely enter an order requiring separation between the “object of affection” and the children.  Unless a court finds a parent unfit, that parent will have the right to make their own child care arrangements.
7. When one spouse is leaving a marriage because of adultery, the other spouse may unnecessarily prolong divorce litigation in order to maintain a connection.  While adultery is not legally relevant, it is not unusual for divorce litigation to confuse the feelings surrounding infidelity with the legal issues surrounding the end of the marriage.
8. If one of the parties alienates the children by disclosing the other parent’s infidelity, or worse, by stating the infidelity as the reason for the end of the marriage, a court may find that the disclosing parent is unable to put the needs of the children before their own need for vindication.  A pattern of such behavior, with no regard to the strain it causes on the children, could result in custody of the children being awarded to the party who committed adultery, rather than the party who chose to discuss the adultery with the children.
9. In Ohio, the court does not care if you were a good spouse to the unfaithful party, and you did not cause the end of the marriage.  The court only cares that the marriage is ending and things have to be ended and divided.  You will not be awarded any more spousal support (alimony) than you would received otherwise, and the court is not going to order the leaving party to “find a way” to let you maintain the exact same lifestyle that you lived before the end of the marriage.  The court is going to expect you to live as if the income available to the parties is now being divided among two households. 
10. Be honest with your lawyer about infidelity – it is never a good thing for your lawyer to find out about any relevant information by surprise.

The information provided in this web site is applicable in the state of
Ohio and is provided as a public service. While Virginia Cornwell is a Columbus Ohio Divorce Lawyer, Columbus Ohio Custody Attorney, and an Ohio Grandparents Rights Attorney, and a Child Custody Jurisdiction Attorney, viewing the information in this web site does not constitute an attorney-client communication, and acting upon information obtained from this web site does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you would like to discuss the application of the law to your fact situation, or if you would like additional information, please call the Law Offices of Virginia C. Cornwell at 614-225-9316 to schedule a  consultation.

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