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 the state of Alabama, claims for alienation of affection are not recognized by the courts. Alabama follows the trend of most states in the United States that have abolished this cause of action. Historically, alienation of affection claims allowed a spouse to sue a third party for willfully and maliciously interfering with the marital relationship, resulting in the loss of affection or consortium. However, Alabama does not provide a legal basis for this type of lawsuit. Regarding the division of marital property, Alabama courts may consider adultery as a factor when equitably dividing marital assets during a divorce. While the state does not entertain alienation of affection claims, evidence of adultery could potentially influence the court's decision on the distribution of the marital estate, with the possibility of an unequal division to penalize the at-fault party.