Alienation-of-affection law gets tougher: Harder to sue your spouse's lover

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North Carolina Alienation-of-affection law changes

The opportunity to sue over alienation of affection in North Carolina is narrower.

The Winston-Salem Journal reported that a state law that went into effect last week limits the circumstances in which a spouse's extramarital lover can be sued. Under the new law, any extramarital affair that occurs while acouple is separated is no longer grounds for a lawsuit.

North Carolina is one of only a few states that still recognize lawsuits on the basis of alienation of affection.

An average of about 230 such lawsuits were filed annually between 2000 and 2008.

The law allows a spouse to ask for monetary damages from a third party on the basis that the third party contributed to ending a couple's marriage. "Alienation of affection" almost always includes "criminal conversation" — the legal term for extramarital sex.

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Information from: Winston-Salem Journal, JournalNow.com

I never got the point at getting mad and seeking revenge against one's spouse's lover anyway. That person did not make a commitment to you, and it's the spouse who has betrayed you. Why go after the lover? I think I may have come up with one reason so many non self respecting people do this.

It's because if they remain angry at the spouse, there is a chance there will never be a reconciliation. It's easier to be mad at and lash out at the stranger involved because there is no emotional tie.

Suing a spouse's lover should be considered yet another frivolous lawsuit that gets thrown out of the court system. In the Bahamas, the court system doesn't allow for such utter foolishness. The person who alienated the affection was the spouse him/herself. NOT the "other woman/man".

When are we going to stop clogging up our court system with emotional drama? Courts are like moms these days. When we were little, when we couldn't handle something, we'd say "I'm telling my mom!". Now it's "I'm taking you to court and airing our dirty laundry!". People need to grow up and handle things on their own.