Marital Misconduct in St. Louis
Marital misconduct comes in many forms:
Physical, Emotional, Sexual, Financial
Misconduct during a marriage and during the litigation of your divorce can greatly change the outcome for a party and these far-reaching consequences are not often understood.
Misconduct comes in many forms: Physical, Emotional, Sexual, Financial. All of them can cause substantial damage to a party and to your children and should be addressed by a court. Some common examples of marriage misconduct are:
- Gambling
- Affairs
- Addiction
A court can consider marital misconduct to provide one spouse a greater share of assets than the spouse who committed the misconduct.
An Order of Protection can protect your interest during the litigation and expose the other spouse to criminal charges if they are found to have violated that order.
Marital misconduct is not only physical conduct but can also be the monetary cost of a gambling addiction, an opioid or drug addiction, or alcoholism. A court can order a spouse to repay losses from gambling, the costs of maintaining an affair, and emotional or physical damage of spouse or children that are shown to have been caused by mental or physical abuse/misconduct.
Recent legislative changes have given great power to circuit court judges at this early stage of a divorce. If YOU have been accused of misconduct, we can defend your interest and prevent an Order of Protection from being issued. Once issued, a full Order of Protection can affect your employment opportunities, your rights to possess firearms, and your ability to travel outside of the country.
Don’t take this stage of the case lightly, as it may be one of the most important parts of divorce litigation today.