Can you please tell me why opposing counsel may want to put on testimony regarding marital misconduct if both spouses had affairs and apparently neither are apparently considered condoned?
I was under the impression after reading NC statutes that if the supporting spouse has an affair and the dependant spouse does not alimony is awarded and if the dependant spouse has an affair but the supporting spouse does not alimony is denied…if both do than it basically (for lack of better terms) puts both parties on equal footing and all the other elements come into play such as length of marraige, earing capacity of both parties, health, age etc…
We are at a point in all of this mess where we are talking settlement…Origionally consel agreed to going into litigation (if need be) on a need vs ablitiy basis. All of a sudden today I found out that opposing counsel has changed their mind and is now talking marital misconduct testimony. Could this be an attempt to intimidate me into accepting the rediculous amount that they offered?? I was married 20 years, am in poor health, with no education, no job, nothing. I was recieving $4,000 a month in PSS and they just offered me 950 a month for a year which my attorney is advising we decline.
One further question…opposing counsel got a statement from the man i had an affair with. It is my honest belief that they did this by intimidation (IE alienation of affection suit) …will this along with the fact that he is a convicted felon and was recently picked up on an outstanding warrant be of any use to my attorney in discrediting any testimony? Is it worth trying to discredit testimony in a case like this?
Thank you very much for helping me to understand what is going on…this is all very taxing to say the least.
Your reading of the statutes is correct except that if both parties have an affair, they are not necessarily placed on equal footing and rather whether or not to award alimony is up to the discretion of the judge. The other side will want to present evidence to enlighten the court on all the facts in hopes of persuading the judge to rule in their favor.
I believe the facts you list regarding your paramour could be useful as impeachment evidence, but again, it is up to the judge to decide how much weight the impeachment evidence will carry.