'm in another country and not sure how it works in US, however my solicitor has advised that our Courts will hammer me if I expose the affair to the children.
it works the same. EVERY attorney in the US scares the hell out of the betrayed spouses about exposure because their goal is to facilitate the easiest divorce possible. They don't care about your children, they care about making their job easy. However, very few judges actually advocate lying to children. Keep in mind, the moral responsibility for your children falls to YOU and not some unnamed judge or court bureaucrat. It is in your childrens best interest to know the truth but the court does not have their best interest at heart. Their main concern is to facilitate an easy divorce. They don't give a damn about your kids and will never answer for their upbringing because the buck stops with you.
Of course my wife is scared of anyone else including the kids finding out about her affair, however as we are in Court the matter becomes more difficult to keep exposing. In time our girls will find out she had an affair and they can make their own conclusions.
What will be the "conclusion" if their mother teaches them that wrong is right and their father gives his endorsement by his silence? Who will teach them right from wrong? Your children are being taught that adultery is acceptable and you are not countering that corruption. They will learn that their instincts about right and wrong are the problem here and will learn to QUESTION their own instincts about right and wrong. That is gross dereliction of duty as their parent.
Why is it ok for your wife to tell them lies but not ok for you to tell them truth?
It is your job to give your children moral guidance, not leave them in the hands of a corrupt parent who is teaching them wrong is right while you hope that they "come to their own conclusions." How will that happen? By osmosis?
Kids who are morally neglected by their parents CAN come to their own conclusions
on their own if they take the initiative to learn right from wrong on their own as adults. But what if they don't?