How to Deal With a Cheater in a Divorce
- 1). File a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, alleging infidelity, if your state is not a no-fault state. If your spouse abandoned you, you must also allege abandonment. You may ask for extra assets or alimony. If the requests and allegations are not present in the petition, you cannot add them later without leave from the court (special permission), which is usually difficult to obtain.
- 2). Serve your spouse with the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. Your spouse has a certain number of days to file a response to the Petition. The response might be an Answer and Counter Petition or it might be a Motion to Dismiss. The number of days is determined by the rules of civil procedure for your state. The rules of civil procedure can be found at the local law library.
- 3). File an Answer to Counter Petition. An answer simply agrees or denies the allegations in the spouse's counter petition. The court will order you to provide additional documents, including a financial affidavit, child support guidelines, if children are involved, and discovery. Both parties must provide discovery to the other party. Discovery includes copies of all financial documents (assets and liabilities) and any proof of the allegations in the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage.
- 4). Attempt to settle the divorce via mediation or on your own. If you and your spouse cannot come to an agreement on division of assets, custody, visitation, alimony and child support, you must attend a final hearing (called a trial in some states). The court will review all documents and hear testimony from the parties. If the court determines that the infidelity caused the breakdown of the marriage, it will order relief accordingly, depending on state statutes and case law for your state.