Will Adultery Impact My Security Clearance?

This topic is part of Adultery and Fault-Based Divorce.

In this article

1. How clearance adjudicators look at it
2. Virginia law still treats adultery as a crime
3. What adultery means in the divorce
4. Employment consequences
5. Practical guidance

Updated September 2026. For current answers, see the Frequently Asked Questions on the homepage and the Executive & Government Contractor Divorce page.

Clients who hold security clearances often ask whether an affair, or an allegation of one made in a divorce, will cost them their clearance. The honest answer is that adultery is not automatically disqualifying, but it can raise concerns that an adjudicator will weigh, and a divorce can bring those concerns into the open in ways the client does not control.

How clearance adjudicators look at it

Eligibility for access to classified information is decided under the federal adjudicative guidelines in Security Executive Agent Directive 4 (SEAD 4). Adjudicators apply a “whole-person” analysis rather than a checklist. Several guidelines can come into play when a marriage breaks down:

• Guideline D (Sexual Behavior): the concern is conduct that makes a person vulnerable to coercion, exploitation, or duress, or that reflects a lack of discretion or judgment.
• Guideline E (Personal Conduct): the concern is concealment, dishonesty, or questionable judgment, including failing to be candid with investigators.
• Guideline B (Foreign Influence): relevant where the relationship involves a foreign national.
• Guideline F (Financial Considerations): often the more practical risk in a divorce, where support obligations, arrearages, or new debt can create financial pressure.

The guidelines also recognize mitigating conditions. One of the most important is that the conduct no longer creates a vulnerability to coercion, for example because the spouse and others already know about it. In practice, concealment tends to be treated more seriously than the underlying conduct.

Virginia law still treats adultery as a crime

Adultery remains a Class 4 misdemeanor in Virginia under Va. Code § 18.2-365. For most clients the criminal statute is not the practical concern. Its more immediate significance is in the divorce itself: because the conduct is criminal, a spouse asked about adultery in discovery or at trial may be able to assert the Fifth Amendment privilege, which carries its own strategic consequences. See Adultery and the Fifth Amendment.

What adultery means in the divorce

Since July 1, 2026, adultery is a ground for divorce only if it occurred before the parties’ last separation. Va. Code § 20-91(A)(1). It can also affect spousal support: permanent support is generally barred for a spouse against whom an adultery ground exists, unless the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that denying support would be a manifest injustice. Va. Code § 20-107.1(B). See Changes to Virginia Divorce Law on July 1, 2026.

For a clearance holder, the more important point is that whatever is alleged in pleadings, testimony, and exhibits becomes part of a court record. Whether to plead fault, how allegations are framed, and how discovery is handled should be decided with the clearance in mind from the start.

Employment consequences

Federal employees can also face agency discipline for off-duty conduct where the agency can show a connection between the conduct and the efficiency of the service. Contractors are subject to their employers’ policies and their own reporting obligations. These are separate from the clearance adjudication and from the divorce, and they should be considered together.

Practical guidance

• Know your reporting obligations and follow them. A late or incomplete disclosure is often more damaging than the underlying event.
• Be candid with your security officer and, where the concern is significant, consult clearance counsel alongside your divorce attorney.
• Keep financial obligations current during the case. Missed support payments and new debt create a separate clearance issue.
• Assume anything you put in writing to your spouse may be read by a judge, and possibly by an investigator.

Every case turns on its own facts, and clearance adjudications turn on the individual’s full history. If you hold a clearance and are facing a divorce in Northern Virginia, the time to coordinate your divorce strategy with your clearance is before anything is filed.

This article provides general information about Virginia law and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. The application of the law depends on the specific facts of each case.