![]() Both she and Adam took turns on the stand describing their marriage. When her courtroom battle began in the summer of 2019, Elizabeth Clark knew what she was up against. Because lawyers are “savvy” about vetting cases, Woodruff says, “most plaintiffs win.” Both men and women sue, typically targeting defendants capable of paying the awards. Experts estimate the state sees about 200 such cases each year. “This tort has a strong lobby,” says Carolyn Woodruff, a North Carolina attorney. The Family Law Section of the state’s bar association has tried to persuade legislators to revoke the tort, but has been repeatedly thwarted by socially conservative organizations. Today, they are allowed in just six states-Hawaii, New Mexico, North Carolina, Mississippi, South Dakota, Utah-but are infrequent in all but North Carolina, which has the highest number of such lawsuits in the nation. The media showed how claims could be used for blackmail, greed, and revenge, and in the early 1900s, states began repealing alienation of affection statutes. Could spouses really be considered property that could be stolen? Over time, many came to believe the markers of a modern marriage-respect, admiration, teamwork-could not be mandated by a court. “The only way to help yourself is standing up for yourself.”īut the move toward equality also caused a reconsideration of the legal tactic altogether. In response to demands for equality, states started to enact Married Women’s Property Acts in the 1800s, granting married women the ability to own property and collect wages-and file alienation of affection lawsuits. (The two settled out of court.) Many believed the lawsuits helped to reinforce good morals, though critics argued such policies were sexist. Even one of the nation’s most esteemed families was ensnared: In 1911, the millionaire playboy Alfred Vanderbilt married a divorcée whose husband threatened to sue for alienation. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, alienation lawsuits flourished in the U.S. A mother-in-law who poisoned a wife against her husband could be labeled as an alienator so could a church that convinced a wife to join the convent. Under common law inherited from England, men (and only men) could sue for harms they faced when women were unfaithful. ![]() The legal argument behind such cases dates back to colonial times, when wives were considered the property of their husbands. Porter and Coker said they thought they could help her, and the next day, Elizabeth found herself sitting in Porter’s office laying out evidence as they explained how she might be able to sue for alienation of affection. One night as she poured beers for two attorneys, Michael Porter and Jose Coker, she told them about how her marriage had ended because her husband had cheated with another woman and gotten her pregnant. The story of how Elizabeth and Adam Clark got to the courthouse that day in August 2019 begins about a year earlier at a restaurant in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where Elizabeth was working as a bartender. ![]() overall, but they are somewhat common, though controversial, in North Carolina. But, she says now, “The only way to help yourself is standing up for yourself.”Īlienation of affection lawsuits are rare in the U.S. As his testimony went on, Elizabeth couldn’t help but break down crying. To defend herself against the lawsuit’s claims, Kimberly argued Adam’s affection couldn’t be alienated if it didn’t exist in the first place. For such a claim to be successful, the plaintiff has to show that some degree of love existed in the marriage that this existing love and affection was alienated and destroyed and that the malicious conduct of a third party contributed to its loss. overall, but they are somewhat common, though controversial, in North Carolina, where Elizabeth and Adam live. In particular, she sued Kimberly for “alienation of affection,” a legal term used to describe the breakup of a marriage by a third party.Ĭases like hers are rare in the U.S. So much so that she sued Adam and Kimberly. At the time of their separation, he had told her how much he truly cared about her, and she believed him. As he spoke, Elizabeth tried not to look at anyone but the lawyers and the judge. Though Adam and Elizabeth had been sharing custody of their two children since they separated, she hadn’t really seen Kimberly “face-to-face,” just brief flashes through car windows and the like, not “in the flesh.” But now here was Kimberly, seated to Elizabeth’s left, while her husband of nearly eight years sat on the witness stand answering questions about the demise of their marriage. That was the first time that Elizabeth Clark was in the same room as her ex-husband, Adam, and his new partner, Kimberly Barrett, the woman he’d cheated with. “You’re saying you didn’t love your wife.” Of course I would have said that at the time.” ![]() “Did you say things like you love Elizabeth Clark?"
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