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 South Carolina, the causes of action for alienation of affection and criminal conversation are not recognized. South Carolina law does not provide a legal basis for a spouse to sue another person for allegedly causing the loss of love and affection in their marriage due to an affair. While these claims are still recognized in a few states, South Carolina is not one of them. However, when it comes to the division of the marital estate upon divorce, South Carolina is an equitable distribution state. This means that the court will divide marital property in a manner that it deems fair, but not necessarily equal. Although alienation of affection is not a recognized claim, marital misconduct, including adultery, can be considered by the court as a factor when deciding on the division of assets. An attorney can provide specific guidance on how adultery might impact divorce proceedings in South Carolina.