Alienation of affection and criminal conversation are potential legal claims or causes of action against a person who committed adultery with your spouse—the paramour or lover with whom your spouse had an affair. These claims are based on the idea that the person with whom your spouse cheated destroyed or alienated the love and affection in your marriage.

Alienation of affection claims are no longer recognized by courts in most states—but Hawaii, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah do recognize such claims. And in some states that do or do not not recognize such claims, the cheated-on spouse may seek an unequal division of the marital estate based on fault in the breakup of the marriage.

The details of alienation of affection laws (sometimes called heart-balm laws) vary from state to state among the states that do recognize such claims.

In Pennsylvania, the claims of alienation of affection and criminal conversation are not recognized by the courts. Pennsylvania does not allow for lawsuits against a third party (the 'paramour' or lover) for the breakdown of a marriage. This means that an individual cannot legally sue another person for having an affair with their spouse and allegedly causing the loss of love and affection in the marriage. While some states do recognize these types of claims, Pennsylvania is not one of them. However, when it comes to the division of marital property in a divorce, Pennsylvania courts may consider marital misconduct, including adultery, as one of many factors in deciding how to equitably divide the marital estate. It's important to note that this consideration of fault does not equate to a separate cause of action against a third party for alienation of affection or criminal conversation.