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 New York, adultery itself is technically considered grounds for divorce, but it does not automatically impact the division of marital property unless certain conditions are met. New York is an equitable distribution state, meaning that marital property is divided in a way that is equitable, but not necessarily equal. If a spouse uses marital assets to buy gifts for a paramour, the other spouse may argue that such spending constitutes 'wasteful dissipation' of marital assets. If the court agrees, it may order the spouse who spent the assets on a paramour to reimburse the marital estate. This reimbursement could be in the form of returning the item if it retains value, such as jewelry, or by compensating the marital estate with an equivalent amount of money from the cheating spouse’s separate property. However, the burden of proof lies with the non-cheating spouse to show that the expenditures significantly affected the marital estate. It is important to note that the emotional aspect of adultery has less legal significance in the division of assets unless it can be shown to have a direct impact on the financial situation of the marital estate.