3.6.2 Adultery

Adultery can be proven by direct, indirect, or circumstantial evidence.1 However, “if circumstantial evidence alone is relied upon, then the proof must be so convincing as to exclude any other reasonable hypothesis but that of guilt of adultery.”2

Many attorneys elect not to file for divorce based on adultery due to the additional expense of litigation. The attorney will often have to hire a private investigator or pursue testimony from the litigants’ friends who “don’t want to get involved.” Moreover, the length and cost of the trial can be prohibitive as such trials devolve into a he-said, she-said. 

• 1Tidwell v. Tidwell, 49,512 (La. App. 2 Cir. 11/19/14), 152 So.3d 1045.
• 2Id.