I am looking at bringing a criminal conversation suit against a women that was recently involved in an affair with my husband. As it is we are currently in counseling trying to work things out.
My question is this. How much detail would be required to bring this suit? Would a written affidavit from my spouse stating that intercourse occurred x number of times be enough, or would the suit require nitty gritty details of what occurred during those times. If those details are needed, would I need to be present when they are presented in court. Although I want justice in this matter, I do not want to torture myself with specific details of the intercourse between them. Please help me with some of these details so that I can make an informed decision in this matter.
As the plaintiff you would need to be present in court. The elements necessary to prove your claim are:
The paramour and the offending spouse engaged in an adulterous relationship during the marriage;
To be awarded compensatory damages: the aggrieved spouse will need to prove the paramour’s wrongful and malicious conduct was the proximate cause of harm in that the paramour has cast dishonor on the marriage bed, alienating the affections of the offending spouse and that paramour destroyed the domestic comfort, causing loss of consortium (sexual relations), loss of support, including present and future earnings of the other spouse, emotional distress. The costs of litigation can also be included, including attorney’s fees.
To be awarded punitive damages it must be proven that the paramour’s conduct was willful, malicious, wanton, and oppressive.
Thank you for explaining what must be proved. However, in the AA/CC article, it mentioned something like a bad relationship between the married couple was no defense against CC. What about situations where the plaintiff had shown years of domestic violence/abuse, and had also engaged in sexual relations outside the marriage just a year earlier? (please pardon my paraphrasing)
Is infidelity by Both spouses a defense against CC?
No, criminal conversation is a strict liability tort, there is no defense to having sex with another person’s spouse, no matter how bad the relationship was.