Discovering your spouse has been cheating on you can be a major blow to your emotional and physical state. Your initial response might be to confront the cheater and lay it all out immediately. However, even though this may bring you short-term release, it is not always the best solution.
The first thing you need to ask yourself is whether you want to try to save your marriage. If so, then you should contact a qualified marriage counselor. Your therapist will also help you determine the most appropriate way to confront the cheater and find out whether they want to attempt to save the marriage, too, or not.
If you are unable to save your marriage, or simply have had enough of your spouse’s affairs, then your next step is to contact an experienced Las Vegas divorce lawyer. Nevada is a “no-fault” divorce state, and the courts do not care about the reasons why the marriage failed. Just because your spouse cheated does not necessarily mean you are going to walk away with a huge settlement.
For instance, if your spouse was a “stay-at-home” parent or did not work at all during your marriage, you could end up having to pay them spousal support. Even though they cheated, the courts do not care what occurred during the marriage.
However, in many divorces where cheating and infidelity were the underlying causes, it does matter in certain situations, when you can come to settlement agreements without the court and in situations like these:
Prenuptial/Marriage Agreements – If you took the time to draw up a prenuptial or marriage agreement, the provisions within this legally binding document could contain specific clauses about what occurs if a spouse is caught cheating and it can be proved. In some cases, it might be more spousal and/or child support, or, in other cases, it could be the cheating spouse has to give certain assets to the other spouse.
The Cheater Demonstrated Poor Behavior/Abuse – If the cheater flaunted their cheating toward their spouse and/or children, or was abusive, the courts could take this into consideration when establishing support payments and custody. For instance, if there is a range between $400 and $500 per child for child support payments, the court could lean more toward requiring the cheating parent to pay $500.
The Cheater Used Marital Assets to Support Their Affair – If the cheating spouse has sold or given away marital assets to the person they are having the affair with, or is spending money considered to belong to the married couple, as long as the other person can provide supporting documentation showing this, then the courts could require the cheating spouse to reimburse the other spouse their interests in those assets.
If you discover your spouse is cheating, you need to obtain legal advice from a qualified divorce lawyer at McFarling Law Group. Contact us today at 702-565-4335 to schedule a consultation appointment to get your questions answered.