Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
How does separation of property get affected when a wife has been living with somebody else for a year now for the reason of infidelity and the husband hasn't been living with somebody else since the time of separation? Wife is a part time nurse and studying to become a nurse practitioner. Husband is financially supporting their 14 year old child whose custody being shared by both of them. They only have their house as a huge property they acquired within marriage. What are the chances of being maligned by his wife's infidelity prohibits the latter from making too much demands? Thank you.
1 Answer from Attorneys
I analyze these issues from the perspective of the trial court and then work backwards from there.
At trial, infidelity has little value in terms of division of property, particularly if you have no children between you. Based only on the few facts in your question, if you cannot reach agreement, the court will order you to sell the house and divide the net proceeds 50:50 or maybe 45:55, if the infidelity is the only cause of the breakup of the marriage. You know the equity in your house and should consider whether an extra 5% is worth going to trial over. If you have $1MM in equity, an extra 5% would be $50,000 so it might be worth it. If you have $100,000 in equity, an extra 5% would be $5,000--definitely not worth going to trial over.
Because it has little trial value, it normally has little negotiation value.
If the house is the only major asset and you both have jobs and their aren't any kids to fight over, I would encourage you to settle your case out of court BUT make sure you hire a family law attorney to review the final decree of divorce before you sign it.
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