In a 2003 decision, titled In the Matter of Blanchflower & Blanchflower, the NH Supreme Court limited the definition of “adultery” for the purposes of Annulment, Divorce, and Separation, RSA 458:7, to “sexual intercourse between persons of the opposite sex.” The Court has now overruled this definition.
In a decision titled In the Matter of Molly Blaisdell and Robert Blaisdell, issued April 1, 2021, the NH Supreme Court plainly stated its intent to overrule Blanchflower. The Court redefined “adultery,” for purposes of RSA 458:7, as “sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than that person’s spouse, regardless of either person’s sex or gender.” The Court explained that the New Hampshire legislative structure governing marriage had changed in such a way as made the Blanchflower definition of “adultery” discordant with the current understanding of marriage.
The Blanchflower definition of adultery was based on the historical connection between adultery as a reason for divorce and adultery as a crime. The crime of adultery referred to “intercourse from which spurious issue may arise,” and the Blanchflower Court relied on this definition to conclude that homosexual relationships did not meet the definition of adultery under RSA 458:7. Six years after that decision, in 2009, the New Hampshire legislature legalized same-sex marriage. The US Supreme Court, in its 2015 Obergefell decision, declared unconstitutional all laws prohibiting same-sex marriage.
The NH Supreme Court recognized that these changes in the understanding of marriage necessitated redefining “adultery” in the context of divorce. The Court explained this change ensured that same-sex couples have the right to enter into marriage “with all of the responsibilities, protections, and grounds for divorce” that come with that legal status.
Click here for the full decision: In the Matter of Molly Blaisdell and Robert Blaisdell
