Question #82: I live in the NYC area and have been married for 2 years. My wife and I separated to take time out and decide if we wanted to divorce. She originally left with the intent to divorce but I did not want to. It has been 3 months already and she has confessed to sleeping with someone else. I now want to file for divorce on grounds of adultery but she claims I cannot because we were separated. Do I have the right to file on grounds of adultery although we were separated for 3 months?

Unless you entered into a formal Separation Agreement or were separated by order of the court,

having simply separated informally and gone on your way is not a legal separation

and you are considered legally married. Therefore, if either of you had sexual relations during this period ,

the grounds of adultery would be applicable. Nevertheless, if you are interested in getting on with

your life, and resolving this matter so that you can focus on your future, I strongly suggest you consider

mediation where we would all sit down together and resolve this and all of the other issues that are outstanding in order to formalize the Separation, and prepare and file the divorce papers.

Please call me at 212-370-1660 to arrange for a meeting to discuss mediating your divorce.

Leonard M. Weiner, Esq./Divorce Solutions