1. Is there any benefit in the trial of children issues and ancillary relief if the court accepts my spouse's adultery as proof of the ground of the divorce?

1. Is there any benefit in the trial of children issues and ancillary relief if the court accepts my spouse’s adultery as proof of the ground of the divorce?

In general, adultery has no bearing on the determination of child custody and granting of ancillary relief.

The court may take into account obvious and gross misconduct if the matrimonial assets are dramatically reduced by excessive spending, so obviously extravagant overspending on mistress is a type of misconduct taken into account by court when considering the distribution of the matrimonial assets. However, the allegation of adultery without financial impact would have less relevance on the issue of ancillary relief.

There is also no benefit in the trial of children custody even if the fact of adultery is established. The best interest of the child is the priority of court so even a cheating parent could be seen as a good caregiver/parent of the child. On the other hand, the court will also ascertain a child’s wish so if extramarital relationship and inappropriate behaviour are exposed to the child leading to the child’s distress or emotional turbulences, there may be some impact on the issue of child custody (for example, the child may not want to live with the parent and the adulterer).