North Carolina Bill Seeks to Abolish Heart-Balm Torts

 

This guest post is from Katrina Sumner, Regent Family Law student:

On April 1, 2021, a bill was introduced in the North Carolina Senate that will abolish the common law causes of action for alienation of affection and criminal conversation if passed. North Carolina is one of only six states that still permits these lawsuits that allow a spouse to sue a third party for the break-up of his or her marriage.

 For the alienation of affection cause of action, a spouse needs to show that there was a loving relationship that a third party alienated or destroyed. While the third party in such suits is often involved in an extra-marital affair with the plaintiff’s spouse, the lawsuit can be brought against anyone whose alleged actions caused the break-up of a marriage such as a spouse’s in-laws or friends. Criminal conversation refers to adultery. For this civil cause of action, the spouse bringing the suit must show that there was a valid marriage and that a third party had sex with his or her spouse during the marriage. In North Carolina, lawsuits for alienation of affection and criminal conversation need to be brought before a couple has separated with the intent that the separation will be permanent. They also need to be brought within three years of the last act which prompts the lawsuit.

The majority of these claims are brought in North Carolina which sees up to 200 cases per year. These suits might not garner much attention were it not for the sizeable awards that have been given. For example, in 2011 a judge awarded an ex-wife thirty million dollars in her alienation of affection lawsuit against her former husband’s current wife. She was awarded ten million dollars in compensatory damages and twenty million dollars in punitive damages. The award was the largest recorded in North Carolina for this type of action. Also, in 2018, a judge required a woman’s lover to pay her husband over eight million dollars.

           While these actions are meant to protect the sanctity of marriage, most states abolished these tort claims for a variety of reasons, including the way in which they can be pursued for revenge. Yet, they do provide a remedy for spouses whose marriages were destroyed due to the interference of third parties. Persons living in Hawaii, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah should be mindful of the availability of these civil actions.