NC alienation of affection law gets tougher

RALEIGH — 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 a couple 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

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