Business, Legal & Accounting Glossary
Extra-marital sex between a male and female, at least one of whom is married to another person. In most countries, adultery is a legal ground for divorce.
Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse.
n. consensual sexual relations when one of the participants is legally married to another. In some states it is still a crime and and in many states it is grounds for divorce for the spouse of the married adulterer. The criminal charges are almost never brought, and in those states in which there is no-fault divorce (or dissolution), adultery is legally not relevant. Until the 1970s, in community property states adultery was grounds for giving the person cheated upon most of the couple’s property, often resulting in lurid and long trials and grist for scandal newspapers.
Consensual sexual relations by a married person with someone other than his or her spouse. In many US states, adultery is technically a crime, though people are rarely prosecuted for it. In states that have retained fault grounds for divorce, adultery is always sufficient grounds for a divorce. In addition, some states alter the distribution of property between divorcing spouses in cases of adultery, giving less to the “cheating” spouse.
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This glossary post was last updated: 5th December, 2021 | 4 Views.