Alienation of Affection Attorney

Experienced Cary Family Law Lawyers

An individual can seek damages in an action for alienation of affection against a third party who "alienates" the affections of one spouse from the other spouse. These actions are typically brought by the innocent spouse against the guilty spouse's alleged lover, but can be brought against any third party.

For example, if a spouse's in-law advised the other spouse to leave his or her marriage, the in-law can find him or herself held liable in an alienation of affections lawsuit. There is a three-year statute of limitations for alienation of affections claims, which means the innocent spouse must file his or her claim within three years of the act.

Criminal Conversation

A criminal conversation action allows the filing party to seek damages for the act of sexual intercourse between the spouse and a third party. Each act of adultery can give rise to a separate claim for criminal conversation.
In a criminal conversation trial, the innocent spouse has to prove four things:

1. That the innocent spouse is legally married to the adulterous spouse.
2. That when the act(s) occured the adulterous spouse was not physically separated from the innocent spouse.
3. That the act(s) of sexual intercourse took place between his or her spouse and a third party.
4. That the adulterous act(s) took place within the three-year statute of limitations.

So long as the the act(s) can be proved to have occurred prior to the date of separation, there is only one defense to a charge of criminal conversation - the innocent spouse's consent to or encouragement of the adultery before it actually took place.

The defending third party cannot use the defense of being seduced or that there was consent between the parties, or ignorance of the spouse being married. Nor can the defendant claim that that adulterous spouse was unhappy or being mistreated in the marriage.

Comparing Alienation of Affection vs. Criminal Conversation

An action for alienation of affections does not have to be based on adultery. This tort is based on the wrongful, malicious acts of a third party with the intention of destroying a marriage or alienating one spouse's affections from the other. To be liable for damages, the plaintiff must prove the third party's wrongful acts caused one spouse to lose affections for the other spouse.

In these cases, it is possible for the defendant to claim that he or she did not know that the unfaithful spouse was married, that he or she did not know the spouse was married or that his or her actions were never intended to alienate affections within the marriage as defenses.

Alienation of Affection & Criminal Conversation Laws in North Carolina

The majority of states have abolished or severely curtailed the torts of alienation of affections and criminal conversation. In North Carolina, however, these torts are very much "alive and kicking."

• In 2010, a jury in Guilford County ruled that a female paramour had to pay 9 million dollars in damages to the innocent spouse.
• In 2010, a Pitt Couny Superior Court Judge, presiding over a trial without a jury, awarded a 5.9 million dollar "bench verdict" to the innocent spouse.
• In 2011, Wake County Superior Court Judge Carl Fox ordered a 30 million dollar "bench verdict" in favor of the jilted wife. In this case the defendant did not appear to defend herself in court.

If you need legal advice, contact our attorneys at (919) 348-2317.