Hollis v. Hollis
Court of Appeals of Virginia
427 S.E.2d 233 (Va. Ct. App. 1993)
Mr. Hollis (plaintiff) filed for no-fault divorce, and Mrs. Hollis (defendant) testified he had committed adultery; Mr. Hollis admitted the affair but testified Mrs. Hollis had consented to it, supporting this with a letter in which she encouraged him to be happy and specifically recommended he start a relationship with the woman he eventually saw. The trial court granted the no-fault divorce based on this consent, and Mrs. Hollis appealed, arguing Mr. Hollis never formally pleaded connivance (consent to misconduct) as a defense and was therefore barred from relying on it.
Whether a spouse who consented to the other spouse's misconduct may nonetheless seek to use that misconduct against him in a divorce proceeding.