La La Anthony and NBA star Carmelo Anthony were married for 11 years until they separated in 2017, reconciled in 2018 and then finally split up for good. La La filed for divorce in June 2021.
A major impetus for La La filing was Carmelo’s alleged infidelity. In 2019, Carmelo was accused of being unfaithful when people saw him on a yacht with another woman on La La’s birthday. What a blow! He denied he was doing anything wrong.
Could La La claim infidelity on her divorce papers? Absolutely not. She claimed she wanted to divorce for “irreconcilable differences.” That is the only category that fit her situation. Why couldn’t she single out bad behavior in her initial papers? California is a no-fault state.
The reasons for divorcing have to be pleaded generally (“irreconcilable differences” or “permanent legal incapacity to make decisions, etc.”) See Family Code § 2310 for more information.
You can’t allege “specific acts of misconduct.” If you do, you risk the pleading being stricken or otherwise disregarded by the court. (See Family Code § 2335; Code of Civil Procedure § 436.)
The bar on pleading “specific acts of misconduct” honors the “no fault” spirit of California divorce law. Any specific acts of misconduct are inadmissible. (Family Code § 2335; see Diosdado v. Diosdado (2002) 97 Cal.App.4th 470, 473-474.)
Bottom line – get over the bad behavior and check off the boxes available to you. The Court will summarily process the initial papers without needing to dive deeper.
If you would like help filing the initial pleadings and starting a divorce or legal separation case, schedule a free initial consultation now with the Law Offices of Jane Migachyov.
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