Divorce
French judge rules that online flirtation is grounds for divorce
Online dating is now grounds for divorce in France, a judge has ruled. A landmark court case means that husbands or wives who sign up to match-making websites are now at risk of having their vows annulled - even if it doesn't lead to physical contact.
The precedent was set after a 45-year-old mom-of-three, known only as Nathalie, was found to have cheated on spouse Bruno, 43, after getting busted flirting online with men she'd never met. A family court judge in Aix-en-Provence granted Bruno the divorce last month.
He agreed that the 2008 break-up, after 18 years together, was down to Nathalie's online infidelity via the Belgium-based Netlog site, reports The Local. Disregarding Nathalie's defense that she was depressed at the time, the judge said it was not a factor in her online activities.
"Everyone agreed there'd been no physical infidelity," Bruno's attorney Helene Poivey-Leclercq said after the hearing. "But the judge considered the act of seeking an extra-marital relationship was offensive behaviour towards the husband," she added.
(Published by NY Daily News – May 12, 2014)