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.