In cases where a spouse is unfaithful, you may be able to sue on the grounds of alienation of affections. In fact, if you can prove a third party encouraged the affair, you may be able to bring a lawsuit upon this party as well. What that means is that you might have the right to sue your spouse’s lover and his or her employer if the affair takes place with a colleague and continues despite the knowledge of other colleagues. This sort of suit is unique in that the spouse filing the suit has to make the case that the affair is the one and only cause of the failure of the marriage. This can be a difficult thing to determine, as sometimes people simply grow apart.

You must prove that the lover had designs on your spouse and lured him or her out of the marriage. There is little to gain financially from this sort of suit, as the damages paid do not cover emotional trauma or suffering. However, because these suits seem to imply little agency on the behalf of the unfaithful spouse, the psychological toll of the trial on the defendant can be great. The language of these lawsuits carries the implication that the unfaithful party is seduced and stolen away from the marriage and that the victim has suffered a loss of property more so than the loss of a partner. Due to the assumption of a lack of free will, these suits are brought upon women more often than on men.

As one might assume, these grounds for divorce are based on older laws which view the wife as the property of the husband.

This sort of suit brings the details of the spouse’s affair to light, and if the spouse’s lover is married, this can be a messy process indeed. In many cases, friends, colleagues, and employers can be subpoenaed, and as a result jobs and friendships can be lost or strained. These cases can bring a great deal of humiliation on the accused spouse and the lover when the details of the affair are outlined in the court.

There could be financial records detailing gifts, hotel visits, and more. This can be devastating to the unfaithful spouse and the lover, and more often than not, their relationship does not continue after the trial’s end. Any financial reparations that are made are based on actual monetary loss.

There is no compensation for being deceived, but you may be able to get back any money spent on gifts, dinners, and hotel visits. In addition, the loss of income that will result from the abrupt end of the marriage may entitle you to some amount of maintenance. In some cases, you may even be entitled to services like housekeeping, child-care, laundry, and grocery delivery. An alienation of affections suit is little more than revenge, as it reduces the spouse to a (usually quite small) monetary sum. However, the emotional suffering that results from learning of a spouse’s affair may warrant this response.

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Author Bio: www.EphraimLaw.com for uncontested divorce in Virginia. Visit our webpage on military divorce.

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