If you are the party having an affair or dating before your divorce is final, the judge cannot punish you by making you pay more to your spouse. Does adultery affect alimony?Īlimony is called “maintenance” in Wisconsin and it is not affected by adultery. This also means that parties typically will not be able to elicit testimony about the adultery in court and cannot call a party’s paramour to testify about the adultery. How does adultery affect divorce in Wisconsin?Ĭourts cannot consider adulterous acts when making decisions in a divorce. Very often, charges of adultery formed the basis of that “fault.” Since 1977, Wisconsin courts cannot consider who is at fault when granting a divorce-therefore adultery can no longer be the basis for granting or denying a divorce. The adultery statute is a throw-back to a time when parties had to prove “fault” to get a divorce. There is virtually no chance the district attorney will prosecute it.

If your spouse is cheating and you call the police, it is entirely unlikely the authorities will take a report or arrest your spouse. This is an archaic statute that exists on the books but not in practice. In Wisconsin, adultery remains a Class I Felony under section 944.16 of the Wisconsin Statutes. But are you likely to be charged with adultery if you start dating before your divorce is final? No. Is it illegal to cheat on your spouse in Wisconsin? However, that statute section has been abolished–meaning there is no longer a basis for filing a law suit for “alienation of affection.” As a practical matter, this means you cannot sue for adultery in Wisconsin. Under this statute, the victim of adultery could even sue his or her spouse’s paramour. Wisconsin used to have a law against “alienation of affection.” This allowed a party to sue anyone thought to be responsible for the breakup of their marriage–including therapists, clergy members, or mothers-in-law.

Washington law infadelity