Should you, or can you, date during your divorce?

 Posted on January 22, 2021 in Divorce

If you’re unhappy with your marriage, you might start “looking around” on dating sites. Perhaps you will look and see if there is anyone attractive in your area or just go online to see what kinds of options you might have if you wanted to date again.

If you think that you’re going to divorce, it may be a good idea to put those actions on hold. If your spouse discovers that you’ve been chatting with other people or that you are actively looking to meet with a date, then you could be at a disadvantage during your divorce.

Should you date when you are already planning to divorce?

Dating before you approach the idea of a divorce with your spouse is not something you should do. If you’re caught committing adultery, it might not have an impact on the case in court, but it could make it harder to separate. Your spouse could ask for a greater portion of your marital assets or for alimony, for example, because they believe that you were spending down assets on dates with someone else.

If you’re dating during your divorce, what should you know?

Dating during a divorce could hurt your ability to seek out spousal support. It may affect your settlement if your spouse proves that you committed adultery or that you’re already living with a new partner.

If you plan to date during your divorce, talk with your attorney about how that could affect you. Most attorneys are likely to suggest that you wait until your divorce is finalized, but if you intend to date anyway, they can help you understand how that may impact your case.

If you have children and decide to date during your divorce, remember that doing so could impact your custody case, too. Your spouse may argue that you’re a bad influence or that you’re not putting your children’s needs first, which could hurt your request for custody time.

In the end, it’s usually better not to date during your divorce and to wait until you have the final divorce decree to move on. You may feel impatient, but your case will go more smoothly if you don’t have outside factors influencing it.