If your spouse had an affair and you’re going through a divorce, that infidelity can eliminate the cheating spouse’s right to receive spousal support (alimony).
Alimony is court-ordered financial support paid by one spouse to the other following a divorce or separation. It is designed to limit the economic strain for certain spouses, particularly where one earned significantly more or where one sacrificed career opportunities to support the household. Awards vary in amount, duration, and structure.
Georgia is one of a small number of states where adultery serves as an absolute bar to alimony. Under O.C.G.A. § 19-6-1, a spouse who commits adultery is not entitled to alimony if the adultery caused or contributed to the breakdown of the marriage. If a court finds that the requesting spouse committed adultery and that the adultery led to the separation, the alimony claim ends.
What Counts as Adultery in Georgia
Georgia defines adultery as voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than their spouse. Emotional affairs and conduct that falls short of intercourse generally don’t meet the legal standard, even if they were damaging to the marriage.
Of course, adultery requires consensual conduct, which leaves the door open to a spouse arguing the circumstances weren’t consensual.
Proving Adultery in a Georgia Divorce
Georgia courts allow a spouse to prove adultery through circumstantial evidence, specifically, proof of both opportunity and inclination. Opportunity means the cheating spouse had access to a cheating partner in circumstances where intercourse could have occurred. Inclination means there was a demonstrated romantic or sexual interest between them.
Evidence that often comes into play includes:
- Text messages and emails showing the nature of the relationship
- Hotel bills, gifts, or travel expenses
- Social media communications and posts
- Witness testimony from people who observed the relationship
- Photographs or video placing the spouses together in compromising circumstances
You don’t need surveillance footage to establish adultery. A combination of circumstantial evidence is enough to meet the standard.
The Causation Requirement
Georgia’s adultery bar doesn’t apply in every situation where one spouse cheated. The adultery has to have caused or contributed to the breakdown of the marriage.
If adultery occurred but the parties were already separated, living apart, or the relationship had irretrievably broken down, a court might find that the adultery didn’t cause the divorce.
If both spouses committed adultery, Georgia courts have discretion to award or decline to award alimony based on the facts of the situation. Mutual affairs don’t automatically cancel out. Judges examine which spouse’s conduct was more significant, the financial circumstances of each party, etc.
Other Factors in Georgia Alimony Cases
Even when adultery isn’t an issue, Georgia courts consider a range of factors in deciding whether to award alimony and in what amount.
Under O.C.G.A. § 19-6-5, these factors include:
- The length of the marriage
- Each spouse’s standard of living during the marriage
- The financial resources and earning capacity of each party
- Contributions to the marriage, including homemaking and child-rearing
- The age and health of both spouses.
Alimony in Georgia can be temporary while the divorce is pending or permanent, continuing after the divorce is finalized. Courts also consider whether alimony helps provide a lower-earning spouse time and resources to become self-supporting.
Contact an Experienced Alimony Lawyer at Crystal Wright Law for a Confidential Consultation
If your spouse had an affair, you may have grounds to block an alimony claim. If you are seeking alimony but committed adultery, your conduct must have actually caused the divorce to bar your claim.
Speak with an experienced alimony attorney at Crystal Wright Law to learn more about your rights and to develop a strategy for seeking a fair alimony outcome. Contact us today for a confidential consultation.
We have offices in Atlanta and Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Crystal Wright Law – Atlanta Office
1718-1720 Peachtree St NE Suite 920, Atlanta, GA 30309
(404)-594-2143
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Crystal Wright Law – Lawrenceville Office
440 S. Perry Street, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, GA 30046
(404)-649-5554
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