Criminal Conversation

I learned a new term today: "criminal conversation," which, according to this article is the legal term for extramarital sex.

I like that term. It sounds so much more sophisticated than adultery.

I was actually reading a story on Black America Web about how Fantasia's baby daddy Antwuan Cook admitted that he cheated on his wife with the American Idol winner. If you recall, Cook's wife sued Fantasia for "alienation of affection."

So while looking up the term "alienation of affection," I came across "criminal conversation."

According to the website LegalFish.com, an alienation of affection lawsuit is "one in which a deserted spouse can sue the alleged third party if his or her partner leaves the relationship for another person and causes the marital relationship to fail."

The site notes that as of 2003, you can sue for alienation of affection in eight states: Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota and Utah.

interesting...

Anyway, the article says to win an alienation of affection suit, a spouse has to prove that:
 1) There was love in the marriage before the third party came in the picture
 2)  The marital love was "alienated and destroyed as a result of the relationship" with the third party
 3) The third party's conduct was "a malicious interference with the marital relationship."

The author of the article writes that a spouse only has to show that the "third party engaged in conduct that was foreseeable to impact the relationship in a negative manner."

You know, stuff like trips to the Bahamas, expensive gifts or criminal conversation.

holla at me...