If you have a criminal conviction on your Louisiana record and are divorcing, it might affect things. You should know how your divorce settlement could be impacted.
How Does A Conviction Affect Divorce?
In a divorce case, the judge will consider various factors to make decisions on your eventual settlement. One spouse having a criminal conviction is a major one that could determine a number of issues. However, what happens with your divorce settlement depends on the nature of the crime.
Louisiana is a state that allows both fault and no-fault divorce. As a result, your spouse could file for divorce based on your conviction if the crime was classified as a felony.
What Specifically Might Be Affected In Your Settlement?
With a criminal conviction being a factor in divorce, it’s fair to wonder what could happen with your settlement. Property division is not affected by a conviction. Louisiana is a community property state, which means that all property is equally divided between you and your spouse when you get a divorce. Debt might be a special situation if your criminal conviction involved a financial crime. In that scenario, you might be completely responsible for the debt.
Child custody and visitation is often affected by a criminal conviction during a divorce. However, it depends on the crime and whether it involved violence. Obviously, if you were convicted of abusing your child, it would significantly impact your ability to get custody. In that situation, if you were allowed visitation, it would most likely be supervised.
A conviction for DUI with your child in the vehicle is also scrutinized during a divorce. If you are a repeat offender for any type of crime, the judge will heavily take that into consideration when deciding on your chances of child custody and visitation.
Child support could also be impacted by a criminal conviction. With a record, you might have trouble finding a job, which could directly affect child support payments if you are not the custodial parent.
Divorce could be more complex when a criminal conviction is a factor.