Cheshire Cheaters

Adultery in Cheshire is booming according to a survey conducted by a leading dating site for married people.

Illicit Encounters report up to 14,236 people in Chester are having an affair. An increase of over 2,000 people last year.

Illicit Encounters claims to have more than one million registered users and asserts a 25% surge in registrations in the last five years.

Statistically, the site claims the number for people currently cheating on their spouses in Wilmslow is 958, whilst in Nantwich the number is 600, in Crewe 512 and in Knutsford 508. The good news is there appear to be happier marriages in Northwich with just 338 registered users.

Not meaning to sound sceptical, we aren’t entirely convinced that if you were having an affair that you’d be honest in such a survey?

Christian Grant (not Grey) a spokesman for Illicit Encounters said “Lots of couples in Cheshire cannot afford to divorce due to the cost of establishing two new homes, so they are sticking with their spouse and adding some spice to their marriage by discreetly having an affair”.

It is no secret that divorce can be costly, but is that a reason to put up with your spouse’s extramarital activities?

The first thing we would say to clients considering a divorce is that it does not have to cost you your life savings; and above all, the aim should be to keep any legal costs proportionate to what it at stake.

At Maguire Family Law we provide clients with regular cost updates and offer reasoned cost estimates regarding any anticipated work. We also inform clients of the hourly rate of every fee earner who will be involved in their matter and delegate appropriate tasks to junior fee earners (where possible) in order to keep costs to a minimum. This ensures that clients are kept informed of the costs as their case progresses. Our Solicitors range in experience and personality and it’s important to establish the best possible working relationship between you and your family lawyer. Meet our team here.

Having reassured our client’s from a cost perspective, we hopefully then have the opportunity to focus on our legal advice. There are technicalities about what constitutes adultery. The definition of adultery is that a spouse has had sexual intercourse with a member of the opposite sex and that the other spouse cannot continue to live with them. Because the court takes into account whether or not you can bear to live with your spouse once you have discovered the adultery, there are time limits in place in terms of when you find out the adultery and continuing to live together afterwards.

At Maguire Family Law, we generally only recommend to petition on the grounds of adultery if your spouse is prepared to admit to it. This is because where a spouse denies adultery matters can become protracted and costly, requiring you to provide proof and potentially attend hearings in order to get the court to accept your petition.

One of the most common assumptions around divorce is that if a spouse has had an affair, that it will impact on any financial settlement. Conduct is something that the court will only consider where it would be unfair to disregard it. The courts have generally found that adultery per se does not constitute conduct that should be taken into account. Sometimes issues connected to the affair may be relevant – for example if vast amounts of family money have been diverted as part of the new relationship. For all cases, regardless of the cause of the breakdown of the relationship, the starting point for division of assets is 50 / 50 and the court will then take into account all the individual circumstances of the case, with first consideration being for any children under 18 and a significant focus on the parties’ respective needs.

At Maguire Family Law we know the decision to separate from your spouse is difficult and life changing and we are here to support you. We also recognise that often an initial enquiry takes courage and once sought there is never any pressure to pursue a path of action until it is right for you. If you would like to speak to a member of the team please contact us.