In many states, such as Arizona, it is a crime to commit adultery. However, in California there is no crime committed if one spouse has sex with another person while they are married. Not only is it not a crime in California but it is not even a “legal ground” for a divorce in California. What this means is that if you find out your spouse is “cheating on you” that does not give you any advantage if you then file for divorce. California is a “no fault state” when it comes to divorce. This means the court system could care less why you want to divorce your spouse. You can successfully divorce your spouse for any reason, even if most people would think it is a silly reason. The other spouse cannot prevent you from divorcing them.

In addition, even if your spouse is cheating on you it normally will not have any impact on “child custody issues” in your divorce. What this means is that the court looks at what is in the “best interest” of your children in deciding how much time your kids should live with each parent. Unless you can prove that your spouse had sex with another person “in front of the children”, the fact that he or she cheated on you will not gain you an advantage when it comes to child custody.

Finally, there is no “financial penalty” if one spouse cheats on the other. This means the family law court will not award either spouse any additional money during the divorce case because one spouse was unfaithful to the other.

It is very interesting that in some states a person can go to jail for cheating on their spouse, but in California there is no legal penalty for doing so.

We would like to know how you feel about this interesting legal issue.