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 Rhode Island, adultery is considered a factor that can influence the distribution of assets during a divorce. While Rhode Island is not a community property state, it does follow the principle of equitable distribution, meaning that marital property should be divided fairly, though not necessarily equally, between spouses upon divorce. If a spouse has spent marital assets on a paramour, the non-cheating spouse may raise this issue in divorce proceedings. The court may consider the dissipation of marital assets when making decisions about property division. The non-cheating spouse can request reimbursement for the marital funds spent on the affair, and the court has the discretion to order the cheating spouse to return the value of the gifts or compensate the marital estate with separate property funds. However, the specifics of each case can vary, and the outcome will depend on the circumstances and the judge's discretion.