Financial Infidelity Can Lead To Divorce

 Posted on December 17, 2013 in Divorce

Infidelity doesn’t only pertain to an act of physical cheating. Emotional affairs have long been a major factor in divorce rates across the country, in which one or both partners embark on an intimate relationship with a person of the opposite sex outside of the marriage, but in which no actual physical infidelity occurs. According to InfidelityFacts.com, 41 percent of people in American marriages admit to having either a physical or emotional affair. Considering that statistics citing physical infidelity are much lower, one can conclude that emotional or non-physical affairs are a component of thousands of American marriages.

According to US News and World Report, however, there’s another type of infidelity: financial infidelity. One of the most important foundations in a marriage, according to US News and World Report, is trust. A significant amount of trust needs to come from both sides in a marriage, especially when it comes to shared finances. Marriages are built around shared goals, and usually married couples have jointly made budgetary decisions. "When you discover that your partner has been making financial moves that undermine that hard work and those goals," reports the US News and World Report, "it can be an incredibly bitter pill to swallow."

Financial infidelity can refer to a number of offenses: that one partner is making financial moves of which the other is unaware; that one partner is far outspending the other on personal items such as clothing or recreation; that one partner is not keeping up his or her end of the budgeting bargain, such as a failure to pay bills on time.

Sometimes the root of the financial infidelity goes deeper than the marriage. "Is an addiction at the core of it?" asks US News and World Report. Understanding the reasons for the misspending is the first step toward seeking a resolution. "You may find that you actually understand much of the problem before the confrontation," reports US News and World Report.

If an issue of financial infidelity cannot be rectified, divorce may be the best possible solution. If you or someone you know is considering divorce in the Chicago area, contact A. Traub & Associates Attorneys at Law today.