Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Marriage is a contract, and adultery is a violation of the marriage contract and grounds for divorce....simple contract law.
The offending party should forfeit alimony and child-support as well as the children.
While I applaud your obvious desire for fidelity in marriage, entire contracts are not typically voided just because one specification or condition or agreement therein is broken. If they were, there would be no such thing as a 'government contractor' because they would all have had their contracts voided long ago. And I've never seen a marriage vow that anticipates the termination of the contract should one party (or both parties) stray.
I'm actually on your side with respect to the issue, but given that humans are imperfect, it is hard for me to agree to such an inflexible position.
There should only be one legal requirement for divorce - not wanting to be married anymore.
Period.
If we treat adults as capable of deciding they want to be married, and we do, then we must treat them as capable of deciding they no longer want to be married.
Aside from that, it is utterly absurd to think that forcing one to remain married when they don't want to be married is going to result in a marriage that is useful to either person in the marriage or to society as a whole.
Marriage is a contract, and adultery is a violation of the marriage contract and grounds for divorce....simple contract law.
The offending party should forfeit alimony and child-support as well as the children.
Adultery or anything else aside, I don't view marriage as a contract. Doing so, is the first mistake one makes in looking at divorce and it leads one down a blind alley that is useless and often dangerous.
I view marriage as marriage. Its a distinct relationship that is governed by statutory law and not by private contracts. Judges often have broad discretion when it comes to divorce cases and--as long as discretion is not abused--that's the way it should be.
Every circumstance is a little bit different. Perhaps, Spouse A was a good spouse until he was injured on the job and became addicted to pain killing medication and this lead him to cheat on his spouse. Perhaps, Spouse B was cheated on and wants a divorce, but in no way wants custody of the kids. The kids can either go live with the parent who cheated or be placed in foster care. Certainly, innocent third parties should not suffer because of the actions of others.
Alimony is given less and less these days and rarely, if at all, to an adulterous spouse.
The role of the courts in divorce cases is not to choose sides and adjudicate one spouse morally contemptible and the other blameless. Rather, the role of the court system is allow for an orderly break up of marriages in appropriate cases. This orderly break up ideally allows children to be economically and psychologically supported by both parents. It prevents violence, by allowing people who don't get along to separate in an orderly fashion. It allows people who meet their obligations to move into new relationships if they so desire.
Maybe we need to look at it little differently.
You have to get a license to get married, how about getting the license suspended or revoked or being declared a negligent operator when it is no longer a privilege to hold that license like they do with all the other licenses.
Marriage to me and my husband also means that we only are going to sexually involve with each other. If one of us would break it, it would mean the end. No way I would touch him after he would be another, no way I would let him touch me after that, yuck. Sex with another is the end.
Marriage is a contract, and adultery is a violation of the marriage contract and grounds for divorce....simple contract law.
The offending party should forfeit alimony and child-support as well as the children.
Where in anyone's "contact" have they declared "i promise not to have an affair?" Is it on the marriage liscence? Adultery may be part of an implied contract, but that's all.
And just because someone had an affair because something broke down in their marriage, that doesn't mean they are the worse parent. For all you know the "non adulterous spouse" could be abusive to the kids.
The purpose of marriage is, and always was, for a man to be able to identify his children as his own. It revolved around support of those children, and the inheritance of the man's estate by his proper heirs. Thus it became necessary for the wife to remain absolutely faithful; in effect, 'property' of her husband. His transgressions were of less import, as he did not have to support or bequeath anything to children born out of wedlock. Thus, the former prohibition against young women having a child out of wedlock.
Of interest is that contractually, a married woman must have sex with her husband, but the husband is not contractually bound to love his wife, nor she him.
Today, all of that is turned upside down. A man can be divorced if he does not love his wife. A woman can have children outside of marriage, and oftimes another man's children while married. And they can end the whole thing whenever they choose. Nowadays we have gay people wanting to get 'married' because they are in love; marriage has nothing to do with love. And round and round it goes....
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
