Can You Be Fined or Jailed For Cheating on Your Spouse in New York?
Listen up low-down dirty cheaters here in New York, you could get hit with a fine or even jail time for your adulterous ways! If you have a "sneaky link" or "entanglement," this warning is for you. If you cheat on your spouse and they want some good "get back" they could have you prosecuted for adultery. According to N.Y. Penal Law § 255.17, adultery is a class B misdemeanor,
A person is guilty of adultery when he engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse.
Not only can you be charged if you're married, but you can also violate the law if you sleep with someone who is married. While it's not widely prosecuted, just know that it could be used against you in a divorce case or by a really vengeful estranged spouse. According to the law firm Proto, Sachs & Brown, you could spend 3 months in jail, get hit with a $500 fine, or receive one year on probation for committing adultery.
Back in 2010, a Batavia woman was charged with adultery,
Suzanne M. Corona of Batavia, N.Y., became only the 13th person in the history of New York to be charged with adultery when she was arrested last Friday along with Justin Amend.
The adultery charge against her was eventually dropped after she to public lewdness. She was, however, arrested again more recently, this time for prostitution, so maybe they should have made the adultery charge stick to teach her a lesson.
It's also illegal in New York State to engage in Bigamy, so don't let a weekend of binge-watching "Sister Wives," convince you to find another spouse if you're already legally hitched. N.Y. Penal Law § 255.15 says,
A person is guilty of bigamy when he contracts or purports to contract a marriage with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse. Bigamy is a class E felony.
If your hubby can't keep it in his pants or your wife is always tripping and falling onto another man, you could use that as cause for divorce in New York. There are 7 reasons you can use to justify splitting up and that is one of them, but there are some exceptions, according to LawNY.org,
This is not a reason for divorce if you do any of the following: encourage your spouse to commit adultery, forgive your spouse by having sexual relations with them after you discover the adultery, or commit adultery yourself. You also cannot divorce because of adultery if it has been more than 5 years since you discovered the adultery. You cannot testify yourself to prove adultery, so you must have a witness who can testify.
The other 6 justifications you can use to get a divorce are:
- Irretrievable Breakdown
- Cruel and inhuman treatment
- Abandonment
- Imprisonment
- Judgment of Separation
- Separation Agreement