Legal Grounds for Divorce: Adultery 离婚的法律依据: 通奸

Adultery is one of five grounds to establish that a marriage has broken down irretrievably. It is also the most difficult ground to establish. We will explain in detail below.

What is adultery?

Adultery is when a married person has voluntary sexual intercourse with someone who is not their spouse. If there was no sexual intercourse, you cannot establish adultery.

Adultery alone is not, however, sufficient. The law further states that the person seeking the divorce (the plaintiff) must also prove that the adultery made it intolerable to live with the defendant. The court will look at the circumstances and the personalities of both parties to determine whether it is intolerable for the plaintiff to live with the defendant after the adultery. The court’s test is whether a reasonable person would find it intolerable.

Proving adultery

The courts in Singapore require a very high standard of proof to succeed with a claim of adultery. The plaintiff must prove sexual intercourse with another person on a balance of probabilities. Mere intimate conduct alone, such as kissing or embracing, is not sufficient to establish adultery.

Unless the defendant admits and confesses to the adultery, the plaintiff will have to rely on other sources to provide evidence. It might be necessary to engage the services of a private investigator to get direct evidence of the adultery. If there is no visual evidence of your spouse having sexual intercourse with another person, you may offer circumstantial evidence showing that the defendant had the opportunity to commit adultery. Photographs or video evidence, for example, of your spouse and someone else entering a hotel room or spending time in a hotel room may assist your case.

Similarly, evidence of emails, SMS’s or other forms of social media communications may serve as circumstantial proof of adultery. Other forms of evidence like air tickets, hotel bookings, restaurant receipts, etc., can be helpful evidence to strengthen your claim of adultery. Written testimonies of people who saw the couple and can confirm that their interaction was indicative of an extramarital affair could assist the plaintiff in meeting the burden of proof.

The existence of an illegitimate child and DNA evidence to prove that the child is not yours will be solid evidence of an extramarital affair.

Once adultery is established, the court is likely to find it intolerable for the plaintiff to live with the defendant.

Time limit within which to file a claim based on adultery

There is a time limit that a plaintiff must file the claim based on adultery: within six months from first becoming aware of the adultery. If the plaintiff continues to live with the defendant for more than six months after finding out about the adultery, the plaintiff can no longer file for divorce based on adultery.

How will a finding of adultery impact the ancillary matters of your divorce?

Adultery alone usually does not have a negative impact when the court decides on the division of matrimonial property, maintenance, or the care and custody of the children. The court may order the adulterer to pay the costs of the divorce proceedings, but it remains in the court’s discretion. Adultery is also not a crime in Singapore, and “fault” is not a factor when the court decides on ancillary matters. When deciding on the division of matrimonial assets,  the court will order the property division in proportion to what the court thinks is just and equitable. When dealing with the welfare of the children, the paramount consideration is the best interest of the children. If the adultery does not affect the defendant’s ability to be a good parent, it will not be considered.

If the defendant’s lifestyle is, however, such that it may negatively impact the children, the court will take it into account. For example, suppose the defendant is a serial adulterer or leads a promiscuous life that will harm the children’s moral upbringing. In that case, the court will take it into account when making orders relating to the welfare of the children.

From the plaintiff’s viewpoint, adultery is not a pathway to getting a “better deal” or not the best way to obtain “revenge” on the cheating spouse. The court will act according to the law.

What if you cannot prove adultery?

As the evidential burden on establishing adultery is very high, the Women’s Charter provides an alternative ground for divorce: the Women’s Charter provides that the court may hold the marriage broken down irretrievably if the defendant has behaved in a way that the plaintiff cannot reasonably be expected to live with the defendant. This ground is also referred to as “unreasonable behaviour“. Behaviour such as constant flirting or behaving intimately with a third person may satisfy the requirements of “unreasonable behaviour”.

We will elaborate in the next article on the ground of divorce, unreasonable behaviour. Call our divorce experts at +658780-2499 for more information on adultery.

通奸是证明婚姻已经无可挽回地破裂的五个理由之一。这也是最难建立的地面。我们将在下面详细解释。

什么是通奸？

通奸是指已婚人士自愿与非配偶的人发生性关系。如果没有，你就不能确定通奸。

然而，仅靠通奸是不够的。法律进一步规定，寻求离婚的人（原告）还必须证明通奸使与被告一起生活变得无法忍受。法院将审查双方的情况和个性，以确定原告在通奸后与被告一起生活是否不可容忍。法院的检验标准是一个理性的人是否会觉得无法忍受。

证明通奸

新加坡法院要求非常高的证据标准才能胜诉通奸指控。原告必须在权衡可能性的情况下证明与他人发生性关系。仅仅亲密行为，如亲吻或拥抱，不足以确定通奸。

除非被告承认并承认通奸，否则原告将不得不依靠其他来源提供证据。可能有必要聘请私家侦探的服务来获取通奸的直接证据。如果没有视觉证据证明您的配偶与他人发生性关系，您可以提供间接证据证明被告有机会通奸。例如，您的配偶和其他人进入酒店房间或在酒店房间度过时光的照片或视频证据可能有助于您的案件。

同样，电子邮件、短信或其他形式的社交媒体通信的证据可以作为通奸的间接证据。其他形式的证据，如机票、酒店预订、餐厅收据等，可以成为有用的证据，以加强您对通奸的主张。见过这对夫妇并可以确认他们的互动表明婚外情的人的书面证词可以帮助原告履行举证责任。

私生子的存在和DNA证据证明孩子不是你的，将是婚外情的坚实证据。

一旦通奸成立，法院可能会发现原告与被告生活在一起是无法容忍的。

以通奸为由提出索赔的时限

原告必须根据通奸提出索赔有时间限制：自第一次意识到通奸之日起六个月内。如果原告在发现通奸后继续与被告生活超过六个月，原告不能再以通奸为由提出离婚。

通奸的发现将如何影响您离婚的附属事项？

当法院决定婚姻财产的分割、赡养费或子女的照顾和监护权时，通奸本身通常不会产生负面影响。法院可以命令通奸者支付离婚诉讼的费用，但仍由法院自行决定。通奸在新加坡也不是犯罪，“过错”不是法院裁决附属事项时的一个因素。在决定婚姻财产的分割时，法院会根据法院认为公正和公平的比例下令分割财产。在处理儿童的福利时，首要考虑是儿童的最大利益。如果通奸不影响被告成为好父母的能力，则不予考虑。

但是，如果被告的生活方式可能对子女产生负面影响，法院将予以考虑。例如，假设被告是一个连环通奸者或过着滥交的生活，这将损害孩子的道德教养。在这种情况下，法院在下达有关儿童福利的命令时会考虑到这一点。

从原告的角度来看，通奸不是获得“更好交易”的途径，也不是对出轨配偶进行“报复”的最佳方式。法院将依法行事。

如果你不能证明通奸怎么办？

由于确定通奸的举证责任非常高，《妇女宪章》为离婚提供了另一种理由：《妇女宪章》规定，如果被告的行为方式不能合理地期望原告与被告生活在一起，法院可以无可挽回地裁定婚姻破裂。这种理由也被称为“不合理行为”。不断调情或与第三者亲密的行为可能满足“不合理行为”的要求。

我们将在下一篇文章中详细说明离婚，不合理的行为。请致电+658780-2499联系我们的离婚专家，了解有关通奸的更多信息。