Guide · Divorce · British Columbia
Does adultery affect custody in BC?
On its own, no. BC family law is no-fault. Here's the short version of what the court actually cares about, and the narrow situations where a new relationship matters.
BC family law is no-fault
British Columbia's Family Law Act and the federal Divorce Act are both fundamentally no-fault. Parenting orders, child support, spousal support, and division of family property are determined without regard to which spouse caused the separation or was faithful during the marriage.
What the court looks at instead
For parenting: the best interests of the child under s. 37 of the Family Law Act, the child's safety, needs, history of care, and each parent's ability to meet them. For property: equal division under Part 5, regardless of conduct. For spousal support: compensatory and non-compensatory factors under s. 15.2 of the Divorce Act, with s. 15.2(5) expressly excluding misconduct.
The one place misconduct still lands
Where a spouse's conduct causes a specific, quantifiable economic loss to the family, hidden accounts, dissipated assets, an expensive parallel household paid from family funds, the court can adjust the division to account for it. That's about the money, not the affair.
When a new partner matters
A parent's new relationship becomes relevant only when it affects the child. Evidence that a new partner has been violent, uses substances around the child, has a criminal history, or that a parent is introducing partners in a destabilizing way, can and does move the parenting analysis under s. 37.
Common questions
Frequently asked.
- Is adultery a ground for divorce in Canada?
- Yes, adultery is one of the three grounds for divorce under the federal Divorce Act, alongside one-year separation and cruelty. In practice virtually all Canadian divorces proceed on the one-year separation ground because it is faster and doesn't require proof.
- Does adultery reduce a spouse's share of property?
- No. BC divides family property equally regardless of fault. Conduct is not a factor unless it caused a specific loss to the family estate (e.g., a spouse gambling away joint savings).
- Does adultery affect spousal support?
- Almost never. Section 15.2(5) of the Divorce Act specifically prohibits the court from considering misconduct in a spousal-support determination. Entitlement and quantum turn on economic factors, not fidelity.
- When does a new partner matter?
- When the new partner is around the children and their behaviour, criminal history, or substance use raises a safety concern, or when a spouse rushes to introduce a partner in a way that destabilizes the children, the court can and does respond. The issue is the child's best interests, not the affair.
- What about hiding assets on an affair?
- That does matter. Money spent hiding an affair, a second apartment, a car for the new partner, luxury travel, can be traced and, if the amounts are significant, treated as compensable dissipation of family property.
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