Adultery

Texas Appeals Court Reverses Wife’s Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress Judgment Against Husband

Published on: June 30, 2025 | by Kelly McClure

Sometimes parties to a Texas divorce can get embroiled in litigation beyond standard divorce claims. A spouse may file a tort claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress (“IIED”) in a Texas divorce case. To succeed on an IIED claim in Texas, a plaintiff has to show intentional or reckless conduct that was extreme and outrageous and caused emotional distress that was severe. Hersh v. Tatum. The Supreme Court of Texas has stated that IIED is intended to allow recovery in unusual circumstances where the victim does not have another remedy. Moser v. Roberts. In a recent case, a wife pursued an intentional infliction of emotional distress (“IIED”) claim against the husband, as well as a separate lawsuit against his alleged affair partner, who had been an employee of their business.

The parties owned a plastic recycling company. The wife petitioned for divorce based on adultery in 2019 and made a claim for IIED against the husband.

IIED Claim

The jury awarded the wife $1.5 million for past and future physical pain and mental anguish pursuant to her IIED claim. The husband ultimately appealed.

Texas Appeals Court Affirms Disproportionate Property Division Despite Wife’s Adultery

Published on: June 30, 2025 | by Francesca Blackard

A Texas property division must be “just and right,” but that does not necessarily mean equal. A court may consider a party’s fault in the division when determining how to divide the property, but it may not use the property division to punish the at-fault spouse. A former husband recently challenged his divorce decree, arguing in part that the court abused its discretion by not considering the wife’s adultery in its property division.

According to the appeals court, both parties were from India, but the husband was working in Texas prior to the marriage. The parties got married in India in 2004 and wife moved to Texas with the husband. They had two children together.

The husband petitioned for divorce on the grounds of adultery in October 2018. He asked the court to award him the marital residence. In her counterpetition, the wife alleged the husband had committed acts of cruelty. Both parties alleged fraud on the community by the other spouse.

Texas Appeals Court Upholds Divorce on Insupportability Ground Despite Evidence of Adultery

Published on: April 13, 2025 | by Kelly McClure

In Texas, a court may grant a “no-fault” divorce if the marriage has become insupportable due to “discord or conflict of personalities. . .” Tex. Fam. Code § 6.001. The court may also grant divorce in favor of a spouse, if the other spouse committed adultery. Tex. Fam. Code § 6.003. In a recent case, a former wife appealed her Texas divorce decree, which was granted on the ground of insupportability instead of adultery.

According to the appeals court, the parties got married in 2014 and the wife petitioned for divorce in 2022. She alleged insupportability and adultery by the husband as grounds for the divorce and sought a disproportionate share of the community estate. In his counterpetition, the husband alleged insupportability and sought an equal division of the community estate.

Trial

At trial, the wife testified she made more than $100,000 per year in the military but was now receiving about $88,000 from retirement and disability benefits. She said that the parties generally maintained separate finances and separate bank accounts during the marriage, but she primarily paid the bills out of her own account and was reimbursed by the husband for his share. They also had a joint account for bills.

Texas Divorce Involving Adultery

Published on: April 19, 2024 | by Francesca Blackard

Although Texas has recognized no-fault divorce since 1970, it also still recognizes fault-based divorce on grounds including adultery, cruelty, and conviction of a felony. Proving an at-fault ground for divorce can affect property division, spousal maintenance, and other matters in a divorce.

A spouse seeking divorce based on adultery must prove by “clear and convincing” evidence, beyond just suggestion and innuendo, that the other spouse had sexual intercourse with someone else during the marriage. Evidence may include text or email messages, phone records, photos, or financial records. Adultery can occur at any point during the marriage, even after the spouses stop living together.

Property Division

The court in a Texas divorce must divide the community estate in a “just and right” manner. A court has broad discretion in formulating a just and right division, and may consider a number of factors in doing so. One of those factors is fault in the breakup of the marriage. A spouse alleging the other committed adultery may therefore seek a disproportionate share of the community property based on the alleged affair.

Texas Wife Not Awarded Disproportionate Property Division Despite Allegations of Cruelty and Infidelity

Published on: June 6, 2023 | by Kelly McClure

A court’s division of property in a Texas divorce must be just and right. A just and right division does not have to be equal and may be disproportionate in some circumstances, including fault such as adultery or cruelty. A wife recently challenged a property division in which the trial court did not award her a disproportionate share of the community estate in light of her allegations of adultery and cruelty.

Alleged Cruelty and Infidelity

The wife testified the husband had multiple affairs during the marriage, according to the appeals court’s opinion. She also testified he had physically abused her. She said he had beaten her after she had surgery, resulting in her stitches breaking open. She further testified that he started hitting her again when she came home from the doctor and she got a kitchen knife to defend herself. She said she held the knife in front of her and “just the point of the knife” cut the husband when he got in her face, but she did not deliberately stab him. She testified the injury only needed a bandage, but the husband went to the doctor so he could later use it against her.

She testified she did not have any documentation of the husband’s alleged affairs. She also did not offer any documentation of her alleged injuries.

Texas Default Divorce Judgment Requires Supporting Evidence

Published on: October 24, 2021 | by Kelly McClure

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Sometimes, people served with divorce papers do not respond. They may be unsure what to do or they may not want to face the realities of divorce. Failing to respond will not prevent the divorce, however. If a respondent fails to file an answer to a Texas divorce petition, the court may still grant the divorce through a default judgment. Although the petitioner must submit evidence supporting their material allegations and the property division must still be just and right, the divorce may be granted on terms that are unfavorable to the respondent.

A husband recently appealed a default judgment that granted a divorce on the ground of adultery. The parties married in 2008 and had two children together. They entered into a post-marital agreement in 2018. Under that agreement, if the wife filed for divorce because of the husband’s adultery, she would get conservatorship of the children without a geographical restriction, spousal maintenance, and certain property in which the husband held a separate property interest. The wife petitioned for divorce the next year and alleged adultery. The husband did not file an answer.

Default Judgment is Entered

The wife submitted an affidavit to prove up the divorce that incorporated the post-marital agreement by reference. She asked the court to approve the post-marital agreement as the agreement of the parties. The trial court granted the divorce on the ground of adultery. The husband appealed.

Evidence of Adultery and Drug Use in a Texas Custody Case

Published on: February 14, 2021 | by McClure Law Group

Evidence is important in any case, including a Texas child-custody dispute. In a recent case, a father challenged a trial court’s divorce decree based on the exclusion of certain evidence at trial. iStock-818445486

Texas Court May Order Primary Custodial Parent to Pay Child Support

Published on: December 18, 2020 | by Francesca Blackard

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A court may order one joint managing conservator to pay Texas child support to another joint managing conservator. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 153.138. The child’s best interest is the primary consideration in determining child support. There may, therefore, be occasions where a court orders the parent with primary physical custody to nonetheless pay child support to the other parent, when they are both joint managing conservators. A mother recently challenged an order to pay child support when she had been awarded the exclusive right to determine the child’s primary residence.