Opinion ID: 2283146
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: adultery

Text: The power of the Superior Court to dissolve a marriage and make financial orders incident thereto is granted and defined by statute. General Statutes §§ 46b-40 to 46b-87; Kennedy v. Kennedy, 177 Conn. 47, 49-50, 411 A.2d 25 (1979). In 1973, the legislature substantially revised the statutes concerning the dissolution of marriage. Public Acts 1973, No. 73-373. Adultery is one of ten causes upon which a decree of dissolution shall be granted. General Statutes § 46b-40 (c) (3). The trial court may either specify the cause of action on which the decree of dissolution is based or dissolve the marriage on the basis of irretrievable breakdown. General Statutes § 46b-51 (b). The defenses of recrimination and condonation have been abolished. General Statutes § 46b-52. The statutes list the factors which the trial court shall consider in awarding alimony and counsel fees. General Statutes §§ 46b-62, 46b-82. Adultery is not listed as a factor to be considered unless it is one of the causes for the dissolution of the marriage. Id. The only Connecticut case cited by the defendant which directly supports his contention that it would be error for a trial court to award alimony to an adulterous spouse is Geer v. Geer, 8 Conn. Sup. 279 (1940). Geer relied entirely on Allen v. Allen, 43 Conn. 419 (1876). In Allen we denied an award to the guilty spouse based on the statute then in effect which provided that a woman divorced for her misconduct may be ordered to return to her husband any property he gave her in consideration of marriage or of love. Statutes, 1875, p. 189 § 6; Allen v. Allen, supra, 424-26. The successor to that statute was repealed in 1973. Public Acts 1973, No. 73-373, § 43, repealing General Statutes, 1958, § 46-22a. [1] Furthermore, the holding in Allen also can no longer be followed because of Public Acts 1973, No. 73-373, §§ 20, 21 (now General Statutes §§ 46b-81, 46b-82), which provided that the causes for the dissolution of the marriage be only a factor for the court to consider in ordering an assignment of property or an award of alimony. Vogel v. Vogel, 178 Conn. 358, 361-62, 362 n.3, 422 A.2d 271 (1979). Thus, there is no longer a foundation for the claim that as a matter of law it is an abuse of discretion to award alimony and counsel fees to an adulterous spouse. The statutes governing the award of alimony and counsel fees do permit the trial court to consider the causes for the dissolution. General Statutes §§ 46b-62, 46b-82. Here, the trial court explicitly found that any adultery by the plaintiff had nothing to do with the breakup of the marriage. [2] The facts concerning the plaintiff's conduct were hotly contested at trial. It is the role of the trial court to assess the credibility of witnesses and to find the facts which the evidence supports. Dooley v. Leo, 184 Conn. 583, 586, 440 A.2d 236 (1981); Johnson v. Flammia, 169 Conn. 491, 497, 363 A.2d 1048 (1975). The factual determinations of the trial court will be disturbed only where they are unsupported by the evidence or clearly erroneous in light of the whole record. Pandolphe's Auto Parts, Inc. v. Manchester, 181 Conn. 217, 221-22, 435 A.2d 24 (1980). A review of the record shows that the trial court did not err in finding that adultery was not the cause of the breakdown of the marriage. There is, therefore, no basis in the statutes for the trial court to have considered any adultery by the plaintiff in making its award of alimony and counsel fees and the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it made those awards.