Although the law may seem old-fashioned, adultery remains legally a criminal offense in Michigan. Despite that fact, Michigan prosecutors rarely charge anyone with adultery, so the statute is largely irrelevant in criminal law. However, adultery can impact a divorce case in various ways.
Adultery and Criminal Laws in Michigan
Is adultery a felony in Michigan? Technically, the answer is yes. Anyone who commits adultery in Michigan is guilty of a felony. However, that doesn’t mean they’ll likely be charged with a felony, convicted, and punished. Adultery can destroy relationships and inflict intense emotional pain on the betrayed spouse, but adultery charges are something prosecutors are very reluctant to pursue.
In some ways, cheating laws in Michigan are a vestige of an earlier time when the law tended to make different assumptions about men and women. As such, Michigan adultery laws for women are different from what they are for men.
According to the Michigan penal code, a married man or woman who commits adultery is guilty of a crime, and a single man who sleeps with a married woman is guilty of the same crime. However, a single woman who sleeps with a married man is not guilty of a crime. When the law was written, it was assumed that if a single woman slept with a married man, he must not have told her he was married.
How Adultery Can Affect the Divorce Process
If you cannot realistically have your spouse charged with adultery, is there anything you can do? Michigan is a no-fault divorce state, so you do not need to allege adultery as a reason for the divorce. However, the court can take adultery into account during divorce proceedings when considering alimony, property division, and child custody.
When determining alimony or spousal support, the court can increase the amount of alimony it orders if the spouse who would be paying spousal support committed adultery. If the cheating spouse doesn’t have the money to pay extra alimony, the court can award more property to the betrayed spouse instead. On the other hand, if the spouse requesting alimony was the one who committed adultery, the court can deny alimony or decrease the amount.
When considering marital property division, the court could consider the adultery or affair as fault for the break up of the marriage. However, the aggrieved spouse should have been aware of the affair during the marriage. The aggrieved spouse would need to testify how she or he knew about the affair during the marriage.
The court can also consider a spouse’s infidelity in assessing each parent’s moral fitness when deciding child custody. However, child custody decisions are ultimately based on the child’s best interests.
Get Help from Our Experienced Michigan Family Law Attorneys
Adultery is a sensitive matter. If your spouse cheated on you, your emotions may be raw, and you may want to lash out. Even though adultery is a crime in Michigan, you probably cannot have your spouse criminally charged. However, you can still ask the court to consider your spouse’s adultery in the divorce case.
If you are dealing with issues related to adultery, contact the attorneys at Kraayeveld Family Law for professional advice today.
