sister in CA in precarious position

[sister]

Is there any way in which a husband, who has cheated on his wife, and continues to do so with his own half cousin, can be held at fault in CA in order to get a better settlement for the wife? Even after being confronted he refuses to end the affair. Wife has suffered mental abuse and gave up well-paying corp job 10 years ago to marry and raise 2 children (ages 4 and 8). He is a VP with a large corp and makes between 150K to 200K depending on bonuses. They have been married 10 years and are still living together but probably for not much longer. The wife has little current skills to go back to job without classes or training. He wanted her to stay at home when they got married, and have and raise kids. This is the second marriage for both, and she had a 4 yr old by her previous marriage when they married. Now a teenager this has also caused great mental anguish for him since he found out about the affair. Also, if the husband tries to hide assets in other accounts or not allow her a part of his latest bonus earned in Jan ( but is just now being paid), can she use social security number or anything to track the money? This no-fault divorce rule seems inherently unfair. The person who truly has no fault in the situation, the wife, should get most of the assets since she was left without a career and was not the cause of the divorce. Are there ever any exceptions where the spouse can be made to pay for the pain and suffering he has caused by his unfaithful actions?

 

[seniorjudge]

Have you filed the lawsuit yet?

 

[sister]

Not yet but probably before June. He told her yesterday he will want the children 50% of time after they divorce. Probably just yanking her chain to try to pay less in support. He is not even home 50% of the time now. Youngest son has issues as well such as OCDs and phobias which could be worsened by going back and forth between two homes. Are there any cases in CA in which the wife could fare better than 50% custody of the children and half of their property and assets?

 

[Duranie]

Well we are only hearing one side of the story here. But your sister needs an attorney. You cannot say that she deserves everything, even though Dad earned it, just because there was an affair.

She probably will get some alimony and child support. Dad is certainly entitled to joint custody if he wants it. Because he had an affair does not mean he should pay through the nose, and lose his kids and lose everything. She is likely entitled to equitable distribution and half of everything. Since only one child is his, she will get child support for that child and she should file for child support from the father of the other child.

Mom needs an attorney. If she had a good paying corp job then it sounds like she is employable, but she likely will get a couple years alimony out of him. If he is the sole breadwinner, she can petiton the courts for Dad to pay her legal fees.

No matter how bitter and angry she is, she needs to remember there is a child involved and the divorce laws of CA will decide what sort of a settlement she gets.

 

[sister]

The two children ages 4 and 8 are his. Her 15 yr old is from her first marriage. She has not been in the work force for 9 yrs and after being in the tech industry, that is a major problem with getting back into the same kind of job and position she had before. She will no doubt need additional classes or training. He has been very uninvolved with the children, especially in the last year since he began the affair.