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 Washington, claims for alienation of affection are not recognized by the courts. Washington follows the trend of most states in the United States, which have abolished this cause of action. Alienation of affection laws, historically known as 'heart-balm' statutes, allowed a spouse to sue a third party for willfully interfering with the marital relationship, leading to the loss of affection or love. However, Washington does not provide legal grounds for a lawsuit based on the claim that another person caused the end of a marriage by having an affair with a spouse. Regarding the division of marital property, Washington is a 'no-fault' divorce state, meaning that misconduct such as adultery is generally not considered when dividing marital assets, unless it has economic implications on the marital estate.