Should People Who Cheat in Marriage Receive Nothing in Divorce?

It is obvious that we have severe marriage problems in our day and age, with the divorce rate hovering around 50 per cent. In my recent article, "Should Divorce be Made Illegal, Except for Unfaithfulness?" I explained why divorce should possibly be disallowed altogether except for reasons of infidelity.

In "5 Secret Reasons Why Marriages Fail," I elaborated on some flaws in the wedding ceremony, as well as the insincerity of a lot of people. Many take marriage lightly, and think nothing of disregarding the vows they make before God and man.

It has occurred to me that we should address what should happen when a person actually does cheat, and this brings about the break-up. Is there really a reason that the person committing the betrayal should receive anything?

I strongly recommend and encourage that the divorce laws be changed in the United States and in every other moral country. The adulterous partner receives nothing in the divorce settlement - this keeps it short and simple.

Such a change would discourage people from heedlessly entering into a marriage with the consideration that divorce is always an option if "things don't work out." It would help to make people aware that there must be a resolve, a commitment and a determination to be responsible and to not abandon a marriage because of selfishness or the convenience of simply "giving up." People used to understand this on their own and they didn't follow the counsel of liberals to simply "move on with their lives."

Needless to say, a strict policy would be of tremendous benefit to children, who often become the real victims of broken homes. If what I'm proposing actually were to become the law, imagine how many people would try to save their relationship.

The divorce problem is so serious that I would even take this one step further. If possible, I would disallow prenuptial agreements to provide for a cheating partner to receive anything. The law I am advocating would trump any such contract, and not vice versa.

Any possible bias would cease to exist in adultery cases, as judges would be bound to rule according to the new law. It's really sort of similar to sentencing guidelines that some states have implemented for criminal matters.

Even though all of this might initially seem disagreeable to many, I believe it would greatly influence marriage for the better in the long run, as it would have a slow-release, ongoing effect. The divorce rate would almost certainly revert to all-time lows, in my opinion.

Here is the bottom line, or a summary of what I've recommended:

1. Disallow divorce altogether, except for the reason of adultery.
2. When divorce does occur because of adultery, the disloyal partner will receive nothing.

I can just hear all of the women's rights groups complaining about not being able to "get out of an abusive relationship" when they're a married to a "man behaving badly." Please, zip it for now...and look: An abusive man is probably going to be disloyal 99 per cent of the time; and for the small per cent of the time he's not disloyal, separate from him short of divorce. Then, within two weeks he'll likely become disloyal and you can proceed with filing for divorce as planned, and gain a stronger position in the divorce court because of his actions.

All of this seems great to me, not to brag. The more I think about it, the more i love it!