Discovering that your spouse has been unfaithful is painful enough without having to decode how the law treats it. If you are thinking about a divorce based on adultery in Singapore, you probably have two immediate questions: is adultery a crime, and how do you prove it?
The short answers: no, adultery is not a crime in Singapore, and proving it is harder than most people expect. This guide walks through ten things you should know before you rely on adultery in divorce proceedings, including the strict time bar, the role of private investigators, and what adultery does (and does not) change about assets, custody and maintenance.
1. Adultery is not a crime in Singapore
Adultery is not a criminal offence in Singapore. Your spouse cannot be arrested, charged, fined or jailed for having an affair, and making a police report about the affair itself will not lead to prosecution. The same goes for the third party involved.
Instead, adultery matters in the civil courts. It is one of the facts you can use to show the Family Justice Courts that your marriage has broken down irretrievably, the sole legal ground for divorce under the Women’s Charter 1961. In other words, adultery has consequences for your marriage, not for anyone’s criminal record.
2. Adultery is one of six facts proving irretrievable breakdown
Singapore has only one ground for divorce: the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. You prove that breakdown through one of six facts set out in section 95A of the Women’s Charter: adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion, three years’ separation with consent, four years’ separation, or divorce by mutual agreement. You can read about all six in our guide to the grounds for divorce in Singapore.
Adultery here means voluntary sexual intercourse between your spouse and a person outside the marriage. Kissing, flirting, emotional affairs and intimate texting do not meet the legal definition, however hurtful they are, even though they may support a different fact, as you will see below.
3. You must also find it intolerable to live with your spouse
The adultery fact has two limbs. You must show that your spouse committed adultery and that you find it intolerable to live with them. The second limb is rarely disputed (most plaintiffs who cite adultery genuinely cannot continue the marriage), but it is a separate requirement, and your court papers must state it.
One more point: you cannot rely on your own adultery. Only the innocent spouse can cite the other’s affair as the fact supporting the divorce.
4. The standard of proof is high
Because adultery is a serious allegation, the courts require convincing proof, a higher standard in practice than for most civil claims. Suspicion, rumours or a spouse who suddenly guards their phone will not be enough if the adultery is denied.
Direct evidence is rare. Courts therefore accept strong circumstantial evidence: proof that your spouse and the third party had the inclination and the opportunity, such as checking into a hotel room overnight. A written confession from your spouse, or the birth of a child fathered by someone else, can also establish the fact.
5. A private investigator’s report is the most common evidence
If your spouse denies the affair, most people engage a licensed private investigator (PI). A PI report documenting your spouse entering and leaving a hotel or the third party’s home, with timestamps and photographs, is the classic way adultery is proved in the Family Justice Courts.
Before hiring a PI, consider a few things. Surveillance is typically charged by the hour or by the assignment, and as a guide a full investigation often runs to several thousand dollars, so weigh the cost against simply citing unreasonable behaviour instead. Use a licensed agency, be clear about what the report must show, and never resort to illegal methods yourself: hacking your spouse’s phone or email can expose you to real legal risk even though the adultery itself is not criminal.
6. A 6-month time bar applies after you learn of the adultery
This rule catches many people out. Under section 95A of the Women’s Charter, if you continue living with your spouse for a period of more than six months after you learn of the adultery, you can no longer rely on that adultery for your divorce. The law treats the continued cohabitation as a sign that you do not truly find it intolerable to live with your spouse.
Living together for six months or less after discovery is disregarded: the law gives you room to attempt reconciliation without losing your right to file. But if you discovered an affair a year ago and have stayed under the same roof as a couple since, you will likely need to rely on a fresh act of adultery or a different fact.
7. You can name the third party as a co-defendant
When you cite adultery, you may name the person your spouse had the affair with as a co-defendant in the proceedings. They will then be served with the court papers and can respond. You can also ask the court to order the co-defendant to pay some of your legal costs.
Naming a co-defendant is not compulsory: if you do not know the person’s identity, you can say so in your papers. Many plaintiffs choose not to name the third party at all, because doing so tends to raise the temperature, invite a contested fight and slow the case down for little practical gain.
8. Adultery generally does not affect the division of assets
A common misconception is that a cheating spouse forfeits their share of the matrimonial assets. In reality, the court divides assets under section 112 of the Women’s Charter based on each party’s financial and non-financial contributions to the marriage, not on who was at fault. Our guide to the division of matrimonial assets explains how the structured approach works.
Conduct only enters the picture in limited ways: for example, if a spouse dissipated family money on the affair, the court can take that spending into account. But adultery by itself will not typically shift the percentages.
9. Custody and maintenance are decided separately from fault
The same logic applies to the children. Custody, care and control and access are decided on one question only: what is in the best interests of the child. A parent who was unfaithful to their spouse is not presumed to be a bad parent, and the affair will matter only if it affected the children’s welfare. See our overview of child custody in Singapore for how the welfare principle works.
Maintenance is similarly needs-based, not punitive. Spousal maintenance is assessed on factors like each party’s income, earning capacity and the standard of living during the marriage, not as compensation for the affair.
10. Unreasonable behaviour is often the practical alternative
If you cannot prove the affair to the required standard (or do not want to pay for a PI and fight about it), there is usually an easier route. The improper association itself (the secret meetings, the intimate messages, the lies) can be pleaded as unreasonable behaviour: conduct that means you cannot reasonably be expected to live with your spouse. You do not have to prove sexual intercourse took place.
In practice, many divorces that start with a discovered affair are filed on unreasonable behaviour for exactly this reason, and many proceed on an uncontested basis. Remember, too, that the usual rules still apply: you generally must have been married at least three years before filing, and the case follows the normal divorce process from originating application through to final judgment.
