As a Tampa Divorce Attorney, this is a question often raised by folks going through a divorce, who are interested in dating or have already begun dating. Many people are concerned having an affair during divorce could affect the results of their divorce case. Tampa divorce attorneys are often asked about the potential impact of extramarital affairs during their divorce proceedings. Like so many other things with family and divorce law, it depends. There are essentially two primary situations where extramarital affairs can affect your divorce proceedings.
First, if you are expending marital assets on your mister/mistress, this can be brought up by the court during your Tampa divorce trial. For example, if during the divorce proceedings, you decide to take your boyfriend/girlfriend out of the country, the funds spent on this trip can be used against you at a Tampa divorce proceeding. Unfortunately, this is often a point of contention between parties because the parties are obviously upset that that one party has moved on, while the other party has not done so yet, as is often the situation in divorce matters. This can also occur if a party has spent marital assets on gifts and other services for their new boyfriend/girlfriend. Again, this is also a major point of contention during Tampa divorce trials and often frustrates the parties involved because of how personal these allegations are. Florida Statute Section 61.075 regulates the distribution of marital assets and equitable distribution.
Secondly, these issues can arise relating to time sharing if one party makes allegations against the new boyfriend/girlfriend and their ability to be an effective caregiver or influence on a minor child. The easiest way to think of this situation is if the new boyfriend or girlfriend has a prior criminal history and they have concerns relating to that person being around the child. This is also a difficult and frustrating issue to deal with during a Tampa divorce case because of the personal nature of the allegations.
If you have questions concerning your Tampa divorce, contact the Tampa divorce attorneys of Hackworth Law for a free case consultation. We have handled hundreds of Tampa family law matters. If you would like to contact one of our Tampa divorce attorneys immediately, please use the “contact us now” tab in the upper right hand corner of our website. We also have a free chat box located in the lower right hand corner of our website, where you can chat with one of our Tampa divorce attorneys immediately. We also have folks standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer our telephones to connect you with one of our Tampa divorce attorneys. We appreciate you taking the time to check out our blog and look forward to working with you.