Question

[Nowastepmom]

What does "doctrine of unclean hands" mean?

Thanks

[socrateaser]

>What does "doctrine of unclean hands" mean?

Ordinarily, I don't answer questions without associated facts, but you caught me at a good moment (must be the mocha frappaccino I just had).

Clean Hands Doctrine is the legal axiom that a petitioner to a court of equity (i.e., court of fairness, which is what all family law courts are considered to be) who falls upon the court for equity, must have dealt fairly with the respondent in the transaction before the court. Example:

If a man comes to court claiming that his new spouse married him for the sole reason of getting his grandmother's 1 million dollar flawless diamond engagement ring and then immediately sued for divorce, then the man better not have tricked her before the wedding by switching the stone with a diamond worth only 10K, because the court will say that he had unclean hands and will let her keep the ring, even if she admits to the fraudulent marriage.

There is one huge exception to this: the petitioner can have been an absolute monster in any other unrelated transaction and still receive equity.  For instance, he could have beaten the crap out of her for an entirely unrelated reason, and the court may not consider this evidence as unclean hands, unless it is directly related to the issue of the ring transaction.

He who seeks equity (fairness), must do equity.