Pennsylvania Legislature Rejects Removing Adultery from Alimony Consideration

Two Pennsylvania legislators, Senators Linda Short and Brad Hutto, were reportedly unsuccessful last week in their effort to amend Pennsylvania law to remove adultery from consideration as a factor in awarding alimony.  Under their proposal, family court judges could excuse marital misconduct “as grounds to deny alimony once a temporary hearing has been held on a divorce proceeding — a much earlier point in the process.”  The proposal was voted down in the state senate by a vote of 26-16.  Supporters of the proposal argued that spouses involved in a divorce action may “string out” court proceedings in order to “catch” their partner in adultery. “Then, the partner — usually the man — can then use the misconduct to deny alimony.”  Source:  Roddie Burris, centredaily.com. Please click here to read the complete story (last visited March 5, 2006, reo).