Interference with a Premarital Relationship

Although there have been causes of action in the past for breach of a promise to marry based on contract law, there has never been a cause of action in tort for alienation of affections with regard to an engaged person or for sexual intercourse with an engaged person.

An engaged person is not entitled to maintain an action against a third party for alienation of affections. It does not matter whether the third party is a parent of the engaged person or whether the third party is competing for the affection of the engaged person. Also, it does not matter if the third party has ill will towards the engaged person.

The reason that an engaged person is not entitled to maintain an action against a third party for alienation of affections is that alienation of affections requires an existing marital relationship. If the engaged person is not married to another person, he or she is not entitled to maintain the action.

An engaged person is also not entitled to maintain an action against a third party for criminal conversation or for sexual intercourse with the person with whom he or she is engaged. It does not matter whether the third party had the consent of the engaged person. It also does not matter whether the engaged person did not learn of the act of sexual intercourse until after he or she was married or whether the engaged person did not marry the other person as a result of the act of sexual intercourse.

The reason that an engaged person is not entitled to maintain an action against a third party for criminal conversation is that the engaged person is not entitled to damages for loss of his or her exclusive sexual relationship with another person or for the other person’s services or support until he or she is married to the other person.

Copyright 2012 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.