A defense to marital misconduct may not change the outcome of the legal proceedings and the ultimate grant of the divorce decree. However, in some states, courts take marital misconduct into account when dividing property and awarding support, and even in deciding custody matters.
Condonation is a potential defense to a divorce complaint that alleges marital misconduct.
Condonation is the approval or forgiveness of the spouse filing for a divorce to the marital misconduct charged against the defendant spouse. The concept underlying condonation as a defense to marital misconduct is that a spouse who has approved of or forgiven the other spouse's marital misconduct should not then be able to divorce on the basis of that misconduct. The spouse who raises the defense of condonation has to establish that the other spouse approved of, or implied forgiveness for, the alleged marital misconduct. Connivance is another potential defense to a divorce complaint that alleges marital misconduct. Similar to condonation, connivance means the secret or indirect consent of the spouse filing for a divorce to the marital misconduct charged against the defendant spouse.