A paramour is a person who is a love or romantic interest of a married person who is engaging in adultery with the paramour. Spouses engaged in adulterous affairs with paramours sometimes give gifts to their paramours, and often spend marital or community property on such gifts. The non-cheating spouse may pursue a reimbursement claim and ask the court to order the spouse who spent marital assets on a paramour to reimburse the marital or community estate—by returning the gift if it retains its value (jewelry) or replacing the funds with the cheating spouse’s separate property funds.

In Hawaii, adultery can have legal implications in the context of divorce proceedings. While Hawaii is a no-fault divorce state, meaning that a spouse does not need to prove wrongdoing to obtain a divorce, the issue of a spouse spending marital assets on a paramour can still be relevant. If a spouse uses marital funds to buy gifts for a paramour, the non-cheating spouse may have the right to seek reimbursement. The court may consider the dissipation of marital assets when dividing property during a divorce. The non-cheating spouse can request the court to order the cheating spouse to reimburse the marital estate. This can be done by returning the gift if it retains its value, such as jewelry, or by compensating the marital estate with the equivalent value from the cheating spouse’s separate property. The specific outcomes and the ability to recover such funds can depend on the circumstances of the case and the discretion of the court.