I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus: Is an Eyewitness Necessary to Prove Adultery in South Carolina?
To obtain a divorce on adultery grounds you will need more evidence than telephone records and e-mails. But, you don’t need an explicit sex tape, a pregnancy, or an eyewitness to prove your case for adultery.In Prevatte v. Prevatte (297 SC 345), our Court stated, “Because adultery, by its very nature, is an activity which takes place in private, it may be proved by circumstantial evidence.”Sufficient proof of adultery must establish that your spouse had motive and opportunity to have an affair. Proof of motive shows there is a romantic relationship your spouse is involved in. Proof of a date with another person, holding hands while walking through the park, telephone records showing numerous calls and text messages to one another. That’s motive.Opportunity is where your spouse and his/her new “friend” are together, privately, in a place where they have a chance to consummate the affair.
Adultery: What Proof is Required
One of the most common threats I discuss with prospective clients is framed in one of two ways:
- What do I need to be able to show to prove my spouse is having an affair? or,
- My spouse is threatening to file for divorce on adultery grounds, can he/she do that?
When this is the case, my initial instinct is to believe that the proof of such an affair is thin at best or non-existent at worst. Perhaps a the prospect has caught the spouse engaging in an "emotional affair" with an old classmate on Facebook that expands into text messages or telephone calls or maybe it is a internet pornography addiction.So what level of "infidelity" is required to substantiate a divorce on the ground of adultery in South Carolina?South Carolina law requires that the spouse seeking a divorce on the ground of adultery to show their spouse had the (1) inclination (or motive) to have an affair and the (2) opportunity to have an affair. Inclination can be proven by showing the text messages, telephone calls, dates, public displays of affection, and so forth. But that isn't enough. We must also show that the offending spouse had the opportunity to complete the affair. In our fact patterns above, our proof of opportunity is lacking. While there may be some bad behavior going on, there isn't proof of an affair.The other side of the coin is this: the law doesn't care what your spouse was doing while they were alone with their girlfriend/boyfriend, as long as they were alone for a time long enough for the affair to occur.
Infidelity Stats: 20% of Men and 10% of Women
Came across this infidelity infographic on the Fast Company website this afternoon in an article about Tiger Woods. Interesting...One interesting stat on this infographic is that 90% of people who have had online affairs get addicted to them and begin another immediately after the current one ends. With the advent of Facebook and other networking sites, it is easier and easier to "hook up" online these days. While an online affair may not be enough to lead to a divorce on adultery grounds in South Carolina, the nature of this activity is such that it is a slippery slope that leads to adultery.
Via: OnlineSchools.org