Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Family Part, Monmouth County · 1992 · Family Law
Family LawDivorceAdulteryadulteryhomosexual relationshiplesbian relationshipgrounds for divorcefault divorce
Facts
The parties were involved in a divorce case in which the husband alleged in a counterclaim that his wife had entered into a lesbian relationship. The wife denied the allegation but also argued that, assuming the relationship existed, it could not amount to adultery under New Jersey divorce law. The governing divorce statute listed adultery as a ground for divorce but did not define the term. The court was therefore required to decide whether a homosexual extramarital relationship could qualify as adultery.
Issue
Whether a spouse's homosexual relationship can constitute adultery as a ground for divorce under New Jersey law. More specifically, the court had to determine whether adultery depends on the gender of the third party or on traditional heterosexual intercourse.
Rule
For purposes of divorce, adultery exists when one spouse rejects the other by entering into a personal intimate sexual relationship with any other person, irrespective of the specific sexual acts performed, the marital status of the third party, or the gender of the third party.
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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.
Nina and Caleb are married and live in Newark, New Jersey. Caleb files for divorce alleging that Nina has been in an ongoing intimate sexual relationship with Marisol, a woman Nina met through a local art collective, and Nina moves to dismiss the adultery count because the relationship is not heterosexual.
How should the court rule on the motion directed at the adultery claim?
Explanation. The majority defined adultery for divorce purposes as one spouse rejecting the other by entering a personal intimate sexual relationship with any other person, irrespective of the third party's gender. The court rejected the older narrow view limiting adultery to heterosexual intercourse. Because the allegation is an out-of-marriage intimate sexual relationship, the adultery count is legally sufficient.