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In the common law tradition, a heartbalm tort or heartbalm action is a civil action that a person may bring to seek monetary compensation for the end or disruption of a romantic or marital relationship. A heartbalm statute is a statute forbidding such actions.
Heartbalm actions in the United States typically include seduction, criminal conversation, alienation of affection, and breach of promise to marry. Of these, criminal conversation and alienation of affection are marital torts, originally restricted to husbands but in many states later made available to spouses regardless of gender. Seduction and breach of promise are nonmarital torts.
In England and other common law jurisdictions, additional heartbalm actions were traditionally recognized, such as
In the common law tradition, a heartbalm tort or heartbalm action is a civil action that a person may bring to seek monetary compensation for the end or disruption of a romantic or marital relationship. A heartbalm statute is a statute forbidding such actions.
Heartbalm actions in the United States typically include seduction, criminal conversation, alienation of affection, and breach of promise to marry. Of these, criminal conversation and alienation of affection are marital torts, originally restricted to husbands but in many states later made available to spouses regardless of gender. Seduction and breach of promise are nonmarital torts.
In England and other common law jurisdictions, additional heartbalm actions were traditionally recognized, such as enticement
''Enticement'' is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by George Archainbaud and starring Mary Astor, Clive Brook, and Ian Keith.
Plot
As described in a review in a film magazine, Leonore Bewlay (Astor), recently grown into womanhood, wh ...
and wrongful harbouring (tortious refusal to allow a husband to visit a wife who has left him). A claim for damages based on loss of consortium is also sometimes considered a heartbalm action in England and elsewhere.
In the United States, heartbalm actions were widespread until high-profile stories in the early 20th century about heartbalm claims being abused for blackmail
Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...
and extortion led to calls for repeal. The first state to abolish all heartbalm actions was Indiana, with “An Act to promote public morals” in 1935. By 1952, 16 more states had followed its example. Many states that abolished other heartbalm torts retained the tort of seduction, however; of the ten states that had abolished heartbalm actions by 1938, four allowed minors to sue for seduction and three more kept the tort of seduction intact.
Following a report by the Law Reform Committee in 1963, England abolished all of the remaining traditional heartbalm torts (excluding loss of consortium) by statute in 1970.
In the United States, as of 2016, seven states still allow heartbalm actions: Hawaii, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah. However, such actions are uncommon even where they are still allowed.
Works cited
* *See also
*Heart balm (German law)
The obsolete German legal concept ''Kranzgeld'' (literally "wreath money") is heart balm (see breach of promise) rewarded as compensation to a woman of "immaculate reputation" if a man broke off his engagement (or caused it to be broken off e.g. th ...
References
Family law Tort law {{law-stub