Thread: $9 Million for an Affair........??

Dang! I didn't know they had this kind of law............





GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - A New York woman ordered to pay $9 million to her lover's wife in North Carolina says she plans to appeal the judgment.


The News & Record of Greensboro reports that 49-year-old Anne Lundquist of Aurora, N.Y., didn't attend the two-day trial in Greensboro earlier this week and wasn't represented by an attorney.


Lundquist says she had planned to represent herself, but the court didn't give enough warning about the case going to trial.

A jury this week awarded 60-year-old Cynthia Shackelford money for alienation of affection and other charges. North Carolina is one of a handful of states that allows jilted spouses to sue over affairs.

Woman to appeal $9M judgment in NC affair case - KGUN 9 On Your Side, Tucson News, Weather & Sports

I know it's against the law to knowingly help someone break the terms of a contract, and that would seem to include marriage, although most states would understandably explicitly exclude marriage.

Originally Posted by katiegrrl0

This should be moved out of chit chat to social issues I think. It is a matter of law.

Anyway, I had no idea that a mistress or lover could be brought to court for damages to a spouse. This is liable to start a trend.

I had no idea either.....I'm sure it doesn't happen that often or we would have heard about this a long time ago..........

Originally Posted by katiegrrl0

Imagine all the families that this has affected and how a law or court outcome such as this could change the nature of the affair and divorce.

I agree, and what about all the families that possibly didn't even know about this law? oh boy.............wonder if there is a statute of limitations? Google is your friend....yep....a three year statute.....and check this out, there's also something called "criminal conversation" whereby the spouse has intercourse with a "third party" and can be sued for each act of adultery!!! Last time I checked NC is still part of the US, or is Allah the new supreme being in NC?

Before anyone jumps down my throat, ((clears throat)), (o: cheating isn't right. Of course not. No spouse should cheat on the other, but hello? ((knock, knock)) it happens every single day, but should we be able to sue the pants off the third party when it was the husband or wife or strayed in the first place? Not right..........

The tort of alienation of affections seeks damages against a third party who “alienates” the affections of one spouse from the other spouse. The lawsuit is usually brought by the innocent spouse against the guilty spouse’s lover. An alienation of affections lawsuit, however, can be brought against any third party. For example, one spouse’s in-law who advised the other spouse to leave his or her marriage can find themselves held liable in an alienation of affections lawsuit. There is a three-year statute of limitations for alienation of affections claims. In other words, the innocent spouse must file his or her claim for alienation of affections within three years of the wrongful act or acts that caused the alienation.

The tort of criminal conversation seeks damages for the act of sexual intercourse between the spouse and a third party. Each act of adultery can give rise to a separate claim for criminal conversation.

The majority of states have abolished or severely curtailed the torts of alienation of affections and criminal conversation. In North Carolina, however, these torts are very much “alive and kicking.” In 1997, a jury in Forsyth County ruled that a female paramour had to pay 1.2 million dollars in damages to the innocent spouse. In Alamance County, a jury gave a jilted wife one million dollars in damages. A deceived husband in Wake County received $243,000 in damages. In 1999, a Durham Court Judge ordered the wife’s lover to pay $40,000 in punitive damages to the deceived husband on his criminal conversation claim.

Cary Alienation of Affection Lawyer, Apex Family Law Attorney, Criminal Conversations, Raleigh, Chatham County