Cheating Spouse
Finding out that your spouse has been cheating is very upsetting. Addressing trust issues often is the cause of many divorces. If your spouse has been cheating or you suspect cheating, here are the top considerations:
First, if you suspect cheating, it's likely happening. Most divorce lawyers work closely with private investigators. Private investigators are always able to prove cheating when the spouse suspects the worse. 100% of the time. Therefore, your gut instincts are probably accurate. This is why most divorce lawyers will advise you not to hire a private investigator. If you feel that it's happening, then it's probably happening.
Second, your best option to address the cheating is your lawyer will file a dissipation claim against your spouse and their significant other. A dissipation claim is a common legal claim that one spouse can make against the other spouse during a divorce alleging that money and other resources were used on things unrelated to the marriage. These claims can sometimes be financially significant. These questionable expenditures may include costs of romantic evenings, hotel costs, meals at fancy restaurants, travel and flights, intimate apparel, and gifts including jewelry.
Actually proving the funds were used for the significant other is not required to make the claim. You only have to show money is missing to make the claim. Once you have made the claim, the legal burden shifts to your spouse to prove that the money was not used on the significant other. If dissipation is determined by the Judge to have happened, the consequences are harsh - your spouse must reimburse the marriage for all of the expenditures sometimes totaling tens of thousands of dollars or more.
As punishing is the discovery process to determine your dissipation claim, where your lawyer can take the deposition of the significant other, and even later issue a subpoena to obtain all the bank records of the significant other. This is a very stressful and painful process for the significant other, and oftentimes results in the cheating spouse wanting to settle quickly to protect the now very upset significant other.
Third, you may have right to file a lawsuit against the significant other. Illinois used to be one of only 5 States that allowed a claim for what was called "Alienation of Affections." I have personally filed a few of these lawsuits and all of them settled to my clients' satisfaction. 100% of the time. However, in recent years, the Illinois legislature banned this type of lawsuit. But there is one more option - "loss of consortium."
Loss of Consortium refers to the loss of benefits in a relationship such as the loss of companionship, intimacy, or moral support. A loss of consortium claim must be accompanied by another claim. So, you may have an option to file for "emotional distress" and provided you have sufficient evidence to prove emotional distress (and financial damages), then you may also have a claim for loss of consortium. While I do not suggest this type of lawsuit because it has been largely untested as of yet in the Illinois court system, and it could be very expensive to pursue, but it nevertheless could be an option to address cheating.
You may have other claims for dissipation as well, like gambling, addiction, or drug use. If during your divorce process, you find massive amounts of ATM withdrawals that appear to be money that was socked away to hide from the divorce, that too would give rise to a dissipation claim.
If you feel that you have or may have a dissipation claim, call Mr. Nordini today for your free consultation about how to best handle your claim.