“I have proof that my wife has been cheating on me with her gym trainer”. “My husband is a big gambler and womanizer and has used a lot of our money on prostitutes and gambling during our marriage.” Many times we get calls from spouses who want to file for divorce and want to know if this evidence can be used to their advantage in their divorce. They want to know if they can use such evidence of their spouse committing adultery, gambling, using prostitutes, etc. For example, a competitive advantage over their spouse in the on-going custody battle, with support issues, and with the division of assets and debts.

Much to the disappointment of these callers, the answer to this question in California is no. The reason is that California is a “no fault” divorce state. What this means is that neither spouse needs to show or prove wrong-doing by the other spouse in order to get a divorce. As such, it also means that a showing of wrong doing by the other spouse will not give a spouse an advantage in their divorce. Thus, evidence of adultery, gambling, using prostitutes, etc., during the marriage cannot be considered by the Family Law Judge.

Before California enacted its “no fault” divorce, a spouse had to prove or show fault by the other spouse. This was the only way that a divorce could be obtained. Thus, a spouse’s adultery, for example, would have been relevant in the past for obtaining a divorce and could have also been used as a basis to award more assets to a spouse, etc. However, such evidence now of wrong-doing by a spouse during the marriage has no bearing in divorce proceedings in California.
We hope this gives you some basic insight into California’s “no fault” divorce state. If you or a loved one needs help with divorce or any other type of family law matter, call Wallin and Klarich today. Wallin and Klarich has a team of highly skilled, aggressive family law attorneys ready to take your call 7 days week, 24 hours a day! Wallin and Klarich has been in the business of helping people with their family law matters for over 30 years and we would like to help you with yours! A qualified, experienced family law attorney from the firm will be able to evaluate your case when you call.