Virtual Flirting can still lead to Divorce

Unreasonable behaviour, where one spouse has acted in such an unreasonable manner the other can no longer tolerate living with them, is one of the two facts that can be used to avoid a period of separation before petitioning for divorce. The divorce petition has to show what the unreasonable behaviour is or was and how it has affected the other person because the court has to be satisfied that the unreasonable behaviour is of sufficient seriousness to have caused the marriage to breakdown.

What is unreasonable behaviour? It includes extreme behaviour such as domestic violence and abuse, but can also cover behaviour such as excessive drinking, addiction, financial extravagance, and milder behaviour such as lack of help around the home and with children, lack of emotional support, refusal to socialise with a spouse’s friends or family or devoting too much time to a career. This list is not exhaustive.

How do you show that the unreasonable behaviour is intolerable? What’s intolerable to one person may seem perfectly reasonable to another. For example, flirting, including sending flirtatious messages via social networking sites such as Facebook, may not seem serious and by itself is not a strong enough factor for an unreasonable behaviour petition. However together with other types of behaviour it could be included in a petition for divorce based on Unreasonable Behaviour.

If one spouse had discovered that the other had had an affair and the unfaithful partner had agreed to stop flirting so the marriage could be re-built; then inadvertently discovers flirtatious emails sent by the unfaithful partner to someone else, it could be shown that the unfaithful partner’s behaviour is causing distress and demonstrates a lack of emotional support. It’s easy to believe that flirting via email isn’t “real” because it’s on-line, but an aggrieved spouse may consider it as bad as flirtatious behaviour in real life.

However, there has to be a pattern of unreasonable behaviour, a one-off event is not sufficient and an unreasonable behaviour petition usually contains several examples of unreasonable behaviour. Thus the on-line flirting could be factor, along with others, that could enable a divorce petition to be prepared.

To discuss any aspect of divorce or separation, please contact James Haworth on 0116 212 1080.