An alienation of affection lawsuit is one in which a spouse can sue a third party if his or her partner leaves the relationship for another person.
To win, an alienation of affection lawsuit needs to prove that:
* Love between the married spouses must have existed.
* The marital love must have been alienated and destroyed.
* The third party's conduct has to be proved to be malicious interference with the marriage relationship.
Most states in the United States have abolished this type of lawsuit as it is considered to be archaic and an unacceptable form of revenge.
Historically, the alienation of affection law was based on the belief that a wife was the property of her husband. Therefore, when a woman was emotionally or sexually involved with another man, she was considered to have been stolen.
Those who want the alienation of affection laws to remain believe that alienation of affection lawsuits protect traditional marriage. Also Known As:
Examples: As of January 2008, the only states in the United States that allow alienation of affection lawsuits are: Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah.
Yes, the problem is that the one party (the husband or the wife) consents to the violation of the marriage.
OK, so maybe the wayward SPOUSE should be civilly or criminally liable? I mean, they have violated a contract, no? Which has led to financial hardship and emotional suffering of the betrayed spouse?
Hell, in most states it's not even grounds for divorce anymore. Unbelievable.
Hi Puppy...my thinking was charging the VIOLATING party..not the wayward spouse or the abandoned spouse.
My suggestion was to make the violation of a marriage criminally punishable.
Let me put it this way. If you sleep with a minor, its rape, even if there is consent.
So, why can't we expand this to say, its rape if you sleep with someone who is married or living with someone?
The underage person concented too.
MOST women who have visited here and who have cheated are very quick to admit that they were emotionally volatile at the time and easily manipulated by the third party.
This to me seems along the lines of child molestation or underage rape, or date rape.
Just because a married woman says yes does that mean she's rational and the third party is not doing anything criminal?
Underage girls say yes but it is still a crime, why not wayward spouses with a marriage that's having problems? Why can't we protect spouses like we protect children?
I am not suggesting to charge the sposue, my angle is on the third party.
I know that's what YOU were saying, but I'M saying that the cheating spouse is an adult, and unless you can prove she (or he) is flat-out incapable of making right-and-wrong decisions (plead -- and prove -- insanity, or some other mental illness) that I'm not buying the "ooh, I was weak and manipulated" argument. They're ADULTS, and very different from your molested child example, which is very different.
My point was a different one -- that the CHEATING SPOUSE should be able to be held accountable, legally. At LEAST with a "fault" grounds on the basis of adultery.
Speaking as an almost WAW, I know how wrong "I" was in my EA, and in spite of all that....I still want to be treated as an ADULT who is responsible for her own decisions. Don't put us back a couple of centuries and treat us as if we don't have enough sense to think for ourselves and it takes a court full of men to do it for us. BTW, it may sound like I'm a women's lib here or that I hate men, but not so.
I think many years ago it was breaking the law if M people committed adultry. I'm not sure what the punisment was, but I think that it has been known that men went to jail for adultry. Not sure that H's put their W's in jail b/c she was probably needed at home to do the work too much to rot in jail.
Just passing by and thought you men needed a female touch to the place.
Sandi
It is not about what you feel should work in your M. It is about doing the work that gets the right results. Do what works!
Sandi, not sure who you're responding to, but if you read what I wrote, I AGREE with you that the wayward adult should be treated as an adult, and held accountable for their actions. I'm not buying Clark's assertion of "oh, I was manipulated!"
I dont buy it either. Manipulated? How many times? For how long, over what period of time? And most women and men probably did feel "vulnerable" at some point and opened the door to a third party. I think that we are all human and make mistakes and really I am not the type to judge, especially the cases where it was a mistake (proven by the choices after the affair). But I cant call mistakes the repeatitive cheating and the lying and I cant agree that the WAS had no choice or was temporarily insane. We can all smell trouble when it comes our way.
And by the way, I believe most people at some point in their M hit a low, how come not everyone "breaks the contract" as Puppy says? It would be so much easier if we could blame it all on the OPs...
Cheating should be a reason for divorce and should affect the financial settlement. It sucks that it doesnt. K
I hate the whole "I made a mistake" thing anyway. My wife kept using that term when she was having her affair, and one day I finally called her on it. "Please stop saying it was a 'mistake'," I said. "A mistake is when you leave your car window open all night and it rains, or when you forget to write a check in the checkbook register. Or -- while this wouldn't be right either -- a one-night stand. But what you're doing is waking up every single day, day after day, and DECIDING to continue to have an affair, and to lie to your family about it. That's not a 'mistake' -- that's a CHOICE."
Sandi, not sure who you're responding to, but if you read what I wrote, I AGREE with you that the wayward adult should be treated as an adult, and held accountable for their actions. I'm not buying Clark's assertion of "oh, I was manipulated!"
Oh, I forgot to mention that... but yes it was his post. No offense Clark, but JMHO.
I agree with the "making a mistake" thing also. Sin is not a like a "mistake" where you aren't aware of what you're doing. Sin is wrong and it is by one's choice made out of their free will. A mistake is when you mispell a word or add up a row of numbers wrong. WAS get off too easily by saying they made a "mistake" and should be man enough or woman enough to admit it was a sin and that they knew exactly what they were doing. I could have found all kinds of "excuses" for why I got swept into what I did, but never was I at a place that I didn't know what I was doing. Yes, it is very hard to admit that, but truth is truth and let's say it like it is.
Sandi
It is not about what you feel should work in your M. It is about doing the work that gets the right results. Do what works!
but yes it was his post. No offense Clark, but JMHO.