Family Law

Bitter Ex-Spouse Targets Local Politician

By Ben Stevens

A local candidate for County Council finds himself the target of public accusations of breaking up another man's marriage.  The husband claims that the politician had an affair with his wife, and he has been driving a truck around town with a large placard that says "__ WHO IS RUNNING FOR COUNTY COUNCIL DIST. 1 HAD AN ADULTEROUS AFFAIR WITH MY WIFE __."  (Note:  I am omitting the  names of those involved for this post, but they can be found in the article specified in the link below.)

The politician claims that he was only helping a longtime friend who was in an abusive relationship.  He and the wife both deny that their relationship was sexual in nature.  However, the husband was granted a divorce from the wife on the ground of adultery last November, and a private investigator reported seeing the wife and the politician at his home, a restaurant, and a hotel in a nearby town.  Further, the investigator claims that he saw the wife and the politician kissing.

I previously posted a discussion of how nasty divorces can become when they involve a public figure.  This case is a peek into the deep hurt that a spouse can feel when he believes (rightly or wrongly) that his spouse has cheated on him and how tough it is to let those feelings go, even after divorce.  I have found that people get over these feelings at varying rates, and unfortunately some never do.

In many cases, clients want "revenge" against their spouse and/or the paramour.  I caution my clients against such conduct, and I urge them to consider the short term "good feeling" that they might get from such conduct and to weigh that against its long term consequences.  Once they do so, they see that it is simply not worth it to seek such revenge. 

For instance, what if the parties in this news story have children?  What if the husband causes the politician to lose the election, but he is still not satisfied?  Where will it all end?  I would venture to guess that it will end up back in court -- unfortunately that could be any combination of family court, civil court, or criminal court.

You can read much more about this situation in "Spartanburg County Council Candidate Denies Affair Claims" by Robert W. Dalton, published in the Spartanburg Herald Journal.

Full post as published by SC Family Law Blog on April 24, 2008 (boomark / email).