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 Virginia, adultery is considered grounds for divorce and can impact the division of marital property. Virginia law defines adultery as voluntary sexual intercourse by a married person with any person who is not their spouse. When a spouse uses marital assets to buy gifts for a paramour, the non-adulterous spouse may have a claim for reimbursement. The court may consider the dissipation of marital assets when one spouse uses those assets for a purpose unrelated to the marriage, such as buying gifts for a paramour, especially if it negatively impacts the marital estate. The non-cheating spouse can request the court to order the adulterous spouse to reimburse the marital estate. This can be done by returning the gift if it retains value, like jewelry, or by compensating the marital estate with an equivalent amount of the adulterous spouse's separate property. It's important to note that the specifics of each case can vary, and the outcome can depend on the evidence presented and the discretion of the court.