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 Wisconsin, claims for alienation of affection and criminal conversation are not recognized by the courts. Wisconsin abolished these causes of action, which means that a spouse cannot sue another person for allegedly causing the loss of love and affection in their marriage due to an affair. While some states may allow for an unequal division of the marital estate based on fault in the breakup of the marriage, Wisconsin follows the principle of 'community property' which generally means that marital property is divided equally in a divorce, regardless of fault. Therefore, in Wisconsin, adultery does not typically affect the division of assets, except in rare circumstances where it can be shown that the adulterous behavior had a significant financial impact on the marital estate.