Can you raise a defense against fault grounds?

If you live in an area that recognizes fault divorce, you may someday find yourself having a divorce brought against you where the things you are being accused doing of are not true. Fortunately, it is possible to defend yourself against these charges. In such situations, whether or not you want the divorce is actually irrelevant, as you may simply not want the charges on record against you, or you may not want to be listed at fault because that tends to tip things away from your favor during property division.

How to Defend Yourself Against Fault Grounds

Defending yourself against fault divorce charges largely involves the same process as defending yourself against any legal claim. You will need to have witnesses and other types of reliable information as defenses in order to prove that what your spouse is accusing you of is false.

Keep in mind that in a very large percentage of fault divorce situations, both sides are claiming that the other is at fault. In this case, it is less like a trial and more like a mediation, where the judge decides which of the two has a stronger case.

Common Fault Defenses

While every case is different, there are some examples of common fault divorce defenses:

• Connivance – defends against adultery, i.e. if your spouse knew about it and let it go on, or even encouraged it, he or she cannot use it against you in divorce.
• Condonation – the act being claimed against you was accepted, forgiven, and moved past by the other spouse (often used in adultery).
• Recrimination – the spouse is doing the same thing they accuse you of doing. If both spouses did the same thing, neither can use the action in court against the other.
• Provocation – the spouse led you into the act, or forced you to do it by their own actions.
• Collusion – this is a special situation (but not uncommon) where the spouses agree to create a story to take to court in order to get the divorce.

Getting Help

If you are involved in a fault divorce, you need to have a lawyer on your side to help you understand your rights and to help ensure the divorce goes as smoothly as possible.