Alimony and Fault

It is a familiar lament…my spouse cheated on me so it’s not fair for me to have to pay alimony.  The hurt spouse’s point is well taken.  The law, however, views fault as merely a factor among many others that may in rare, egregious cases be taken into account.

Fault is considered in very, very few cases when determining the amount of alimony to be paid.  The payer of alimony never has to pay more if he/she were at fault.  The recipient of alimony theoretically could receive less if he/she were at fault.

Almost all couples disregard fault in mediation.  They find that it is not helpful to reaching a lasting agreement.  They realize that in essentially every case it would be irrelevant in court so there is no reason to add it into the discussion in mediation.