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 Tennessee, claims for alienation of affection are not recognized by the courts. Tennessee follows the trend of most states in the United States, which have abolished this cause of action. Alienation of affection, along with criminal conversation, are considered 'heart-balm' torts, which historically allowed a spouse to sue the third party who interfered with the marital relationship. However, Tennessee does not allow these types of lawsuits. When it comes to the division of the marital estate upon divorce, Tennessee is an equitable distribution state. This means that the courts will divide marital property equitably, but not necessarily equally, between the spouses. While adultery may be considered when determining alimony, it does not typically affect the division of the marital estate unless it can be shown that the adulterous behavior had a direct economic impact on the marital assets.