Hello. I'm new to this whole idea of seriously thinking getting a divorce from a cheating husband. We have a 6 year old son. My husband is the provider for the family, I am a staying at home mom and I'm currently taking my national board exams to become a RRT and currently unemployed too. I would like to receive please some advice on what road to take, to know what are my legal rights over our son and how could I be the primary custody parent? If anyone out there can share some advice and information I will humbly take it in consideration. Thank you.

Sorry I have no idea on this but I wanted to offer my encouragement and support. You can do this - finish your exams while still with him if you can and are safe to do so. Get a job and live the life you want :)

Diana: You can either wait until you are employed and hire a Lawyer (I recommend a Family Lawyer, they are best when kids are involved) or see if you can get free legal aid or seek free legal help with the nearest Bar Association. Sometimes the first consultation with a Lawyer is free. If you have a women's services Center in your area, see if they have any free legal help. Most custody arrangements these days are 50/50 unless your husband is a criminal, addict, abusive, etc. He will most certainly have to pay child support and that is probably why he hasn't filed for divorce. I was divorced in 2009 - had a family lawyer and my father wanted to pay for most of it - found an Attorney who worked out of her home and didn't charge a lot (less than his Attorney who had office expenses.)

Whatever you do, don't finish your test until later. And file soon. You want to be unemployed when they calculate your alimony and child support so you get the most out of his paycheck. Claim you need alimony to live, and then delay as long as possible getting a job. This is like what I did. And while my ex tried to go back later and recalculate my alimony and support, status quo was established and he didn't get a significant decrease!

Another poster told you 50/50 is the norm - that's statistically inaccurate. While true in a few jurisdictions where the woman agrees to it, most states are still every other weekend for dads if that's what the woman says. Since you were the stay at home mom, the judge will almost certainly grant you primary custody. Then what you want to do is move far enough away from the dad so that he can't ever possibly have more than every other weekend. This is what you want because it maximizes the child support you get (more time with the kiddos means you get more of his paycheck). And with no job, single women with kids go to the front of the line for state assistance, so you can get even more money that way.

Hi Diana, I've been divorced 9 years now and have been through the cheating partner. 2 wrongs don't make a right so don't lower yourself and cheat. You are better than that and will stand tall and feel proud that you didn't as time goes by. Get proof he is cheating, pictures etc. This will help you in the case you do separate or get divorced. You will want to go to a lawyer and find out all of your rights. In canada if I had proof then I wouldn't have had to pay her spousal support. I myself didn't find out about the cheating until my ex left. Our child was 6 1/2 when she walked out. It's tough to raise a child yourself at that age but you can do it. I never thought I could do it but I did and its very rewarding. Be strong and surround yourself with family and positive friends who will help you. I'm not one to keep a spouse that cheats, once the trust is gone that's it for me. But if you feel that you want to work it out then get some counseling and find out the root why he cheated. I used to listen to doctor joy brown and people would call her as ask advice if they should leave their spouse and her famous line was "If you won the lottery" would you stay or leave...if they said leave then she would reply then leave now don't wait. Life is so short, since my divorce I live each day with no regrets and the best thing about life is no matter what happens today you have the opportunity to change it tomorrow. Good luck and hope everything works out for you...